optical, cordless, or wheel mouse?

[r33dm0n3y]

contemplating getting a new mouse, as mine is a  pile and was just wondering what the users of poasters opinions were on the matter.  Right now i have an old school packard bell mouse, and i want a new one to go with my new system.  i only really word process and play counter-strike and unreal tournament 2003..both fast action games.  What level dpi would be best for my application? and if anyone has had BAD experiences with a brand please post to save me some hassle. or if your mouse revolutionized your computer experience..feel free to post too. thanks
reed

[dcsun]

I got a Microsoft Cordless Optical Blue for Christmas, and it's pretty neat.  I use it on my main system and haven't had any problems with it.  As the name implies, it's both cordless and optical, but it needs new AA batteries every 30 days or so (keeping in mind that i use it heavy pretty much 24/7/365, so your milage may vary ;)).

[Neon]

Hmm, well here at work we have MS 2-button serial mice, which I rather hate - though not as much as pandas, which are considerably worse smelling and dirtier. But I digress.

I'm not a shoot em up gamer - too old, bad reflexes :P - but the Logitech MX700 cordless optical mouse is supposed to be the current rave amongst that crowd. It is expensive, though.

The breakthrough in usability for me was the scrolling mouse. I work with long documents, and web surf more than I should, so rapid scrolling is a real boon. At home, I have a Logitech plain 3 button scroller, which is very good. Also a Logitech cordless 3 button scroller, which is both very good and convenient. Logitech makes a marble mouse that looks really neat, and is ambidextrous, which I may try out.

[pat]

I Have the Logitech Cordless Freedom Pro keyboard and the cordless Mouseman Wheelmouse.
I've been quite pleased with them both. It's not an optical mouse, but that has never bothered me. The thumb button took a little getting used to though.
The batteries last a good 6 months or more and they get heavy use.

I can't even imagine ever going back to a corded mouse or keyboard.

[John]

r33dm0n3y, I have to add my .02 cents to www.logitech.com for both their regular cordless scroll mouse and lazer scroll mouse. Although the latter does eat batteries if you are a heavy user.  All in all no one does it better for input devices then Logitech including their keyboard and mouse sold as a package deal. Try www.newegg.com or www.mwave.com and have a look.

[LugwidVanB]

I have the Microsoft Inteligent (sp?) optical and there is no question in my mind that it is no where as smooth in movements as the ms ball mouse I used for years. The cursers on the track ball moved as fast and smooth as the ball. This doesnt happen with the optical. It hesitates and if you move the mouse fast the dang curser will freeze. This with a new battery and the mouse directly aimed at the little light on the wired thing that plugs intot he computer, just a few inches away. There is no adjustment that will change this.

[Chandler]

I still use the original MS Intellimouse PS/2.  Reliable and accurate.  A classic.

Wireless mice are nice, but you have to recharge them (or put new batteries in) and in my experience unless you get an expensive one, they're less responsive than their wired counterparts.

PS/2 tends to be better than USB too, although this could be partly to do with whatever USB controller your motherboard has.

[whateverjames]

I bought an optical mouse by 'belkin'. The cursor will sometimes go into seizures. It doesn't happen often though and a quick shake will stop it but it's still annoying. Do not buy this one.

[dcsun]

Try a different mouse pad and see if that does anything to help it.  Some mouse pads are too reflective or lacking of details for an optical mouse to use it.

[Colossus]

ive recently bought the microsoft optical, cordless blue mouse its great as said at the top of this page i use my mouse almost 24/7 and batterys are every 30 days roughly but ive got rechargables in mine so no problems there

[Chandler]

One of my friends got a cheap supermarket optical mouse (I think it's actually made by Samsung or similar)

It works great for everyday use and even has a recharger built into the reciever.

It works perfectly on a trouser leg or the carpet, but put it on our desks and it goes schizo!  This is likely to be attributed to the huge pits where previous students have stuck their pens in, or it could be the thickh layer of furniture polish which gets reapplied every week!  (unfortunately the polish sticks to anything else you put on the desk).

So yes, the surface used makes a big difference!