wireless mouse suggestion (for notebook)

[Semidevil]

Im looking for a wireless mouse.

-what I want is something that is compact in size. Does not have to be ridiculously small, but at least something smaller then a regular desktop mouse.

-I want a wireless one, but I also want one that doesnt require a lot of battery changing. So either something that has a charging dock, or is designed to to very battery effecient.

-I want a fairly hidden usb dongle. Maybe something that doesn't require me to unplug it every time I put away the computer.

(optional: if a bluetooth version of it is available, that'll be great).

 

[corkyg]

Take a look at the Logitech VX Nano. It is a nice size, fits easily into any laptop case, and has the smalles RCVR/XMTTR on the planet. I like it so well I put it on my desktop also.

Nano

The little "dongle" tucks inside the bottom of the mouse for travel, and there is an ON/OFF switch. It uses a pair of AAA batteries, and battery live is several weeks.

I would not use BT on a laptop - the RF broadcast range is too great, and it wuill use more laptop battery power. I see no point in being able to "mouse" 30 feet away from a laptop.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Any wireless mouse will pull more power then a wired one.

 

[corkyg]

Not necessarily. When you say "pull," that implies that the mouse is extracting its power from the laptop's USB port. A wired mouse does pull some power. But most of the power of a wireless mouse is provided by its own internal batteries. In any case, wired is not part of the scenario. The only debate suggested by OP was between Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Both transmit an RF signal, with Wi-Fi having a range of about 10 ft and BT about 30 ft. So, the only question is, between the two, which uses more power from the laptop.

 

[mpilchfamily]

The part needing the power isn't the mouse itself its the transmiter plugged into the laptop. No matter if its RF or Bluetooth it still needs more power then the basic mouse does. I'm just saying if power drain is an issue then a wired mouse would be a better option. Just gotta weigh the pros and cons of it all.

 

[heymrdj]

I love the nano VX.

 

[corkyg]

Understand - and agree. However, the only opower issue was between the two wireless technologies - and it rerally wasn't an issue.

 

[Greg04]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
The part needing the power isn't the mouse itself its the transmiter plugged into the laptop. No matter if its RF or Bluetooth it still needs more power then the basic mouse does. I'm just saying if power drain is an issue then a wired mouse would be a better option. Just gotta weigh the pros and cons of it all.

I wanted to test this, so I plugged my dell notebook into the wall using the vx nano wireless vs. my logitech wired mouse.

I found the overall wattage using my kill-a-watt to be exactly identical, so we may talking exceedingly minutely small differences.

 

[flyboy84]

Another vote for VX Nano

 

[mpilchfamily]

Not a very accurate test. For one the Kill-a-Watt isn't exactly accurate and 2 the laptop pulls the a constant amount from the wall. The power brick pulls a constant amount of power from the wall then feeds only waht the laptop needs too it. So you would have to measure the power flux between the brick and the laptop. If you want a real test then use a fully charged laptop on each mouse till the unit runs out of juice. Be sure to do the exact same things and run the same programs for each mouse used. Only then will you see any power difference. Mynute as it may be.

 

[TheStu]

According to the wireless adapter on the Microsoft Wireless Mouse 3000 here at work, it pulls 5V @ 100mA.

According to the wired logitech (rebadged as Dell) mouse in the drawer here at work that we use when the wireless one is out of batteries (this thing eats its way through batteries, though it may be that we only have partially dead batteries here to begin with) the wired mouse pulls 5V @ 100mA.

So, I think that the power draw difference is going to be negligible at best.

Another vote for the VX Nano, or if you want something slightly larger, the VX Revolution.

 

[murphyslabrat]

The thing I want to see in wireless mice is for there to have the charger be internal, and be able to hook it up by mini-USB when the charge is dead. Unfortunately, we don't have that, so we are stuck merely looking for long-lived batteries. Since you also want a small reciever, Logitech sounds good, as long as you stick to the Nano line.

About bluetooth, I've never used it, but I've heard that they're more trouble than USB dongles. This is pure conjecture, from what a friend said. I, personally, prefer the better value found in wired mice. Specifically, the OCZ Equalizer.