Of Mice and Men
Nov 02 '02
The Bottom Line Get the mouse that suits your needs and budget. With all there is to choose from, it's out there. Stick with Microsoft or Logitech and you can't go wrong.
The computer mouse has come a long way since it was invented back in the early 80's. The first mouse looked like a rectangular box with two square buttons and a short cord that connected to the computer's serial port. The mouse had a tracking ball on the bottom and had to be used on a mouse pad or similar surface to work accurately. It was not very comfortable to hold, a bit like moving a matchbox around on the table. The device wasn't going to be called the mouse at first, but the uncanny resemblence caused people to call it that and the name stuck.
Then the shape of the mouse began to change, with makers coming out with successively more curved and contoured mice. The buttons became larger and flush with the case instead of raised as they were on the original. Up until about 10 years ago, all mice were basically the same and the choice was pretty much "which one is the most accurate for the money?". That title yo-yo'd back and forth between Logitech and Microsoft, the first two and still the major players in the mouse market.
Today, the choices are almost bewildering. There are "classic" mice which are essentially the same as the original but more curved; three-button mice; four-button mice; mice with scroll wheels and different numbers of buttons; optical mice; wireless mice and even mice you can hold in your hand and wave around like a wand. Which one should you choose? Well, it depends on two things really: what do you intend to do most on your computer and what is your budget.
What do you do on your computer the most? If you use it mainly for typing letters, e-mail etc. then just about any mouse will do the trick. If you want to play games, then there are certain mice that work better than others, especially for shooters.
If you're into gaming, you want the most accurate, fastest responding mouse you can get. As a general rule, optical mice are more accurate than the ones with a tracking ball. Wired mice that use USB usually respond faster than wired mice using serial or PS2 ports. It used to be that wireless mice were not as responsive as wired ones, but that is changing as the data transfer rate increases in hertz. If you decide to go with wireless, pick the one that has the highest hertz (hz) rating you can afford. Right now, 80 hz is about the fastest I've seen.
Gamers who are into games that have a lot of character controls like Deus Ex, Morrowind, Spiderman or Jedi Outcast should use mice with three or four buttons. You'll find the extra buttons handy for using force powers in Outcast or the different types of webs in Spiderman for example.
If you do a lot of web surfing, a scroll wheel is a must. Surfers spend a lot of time scrolling down through pages some of which can be quite long. There are two types of scroll wheels, the older ones that let you scroll up and down the page three lines at a time and the newer ones that let you adjust how many lines you move down and that have a neat feature called scroll-lock. To use scroll-lock, you usually press down on the wheel until your mouse arrow turns into a circle with an arrow in it. Then you can scroll by moving the mouse instead of the wheel.
I have used just about every type of mouse out there, even track balls (which is basically an upside down mouse with the tracking ball enlargened and on top so you move it with your fingers and the mouse sits still - great for laptops or situations with limited desk space) They are discussed in another article. In fact, I perfer track balls over mice in most cases, especially the optical ones by Logitech and Microsoft.
My new favorite mouse may change to the Gyration Ultra Cordless Optical Mouse. I just discovered it a couple of days ago and am still getting used to it. With a little practice, I think I'll be using it instead of my trusty track ball, even for gaming. It's a pretty fast and accurate optical wireless mouse with two large buttons and a lockable scroll wheel, but what's really cool about it is that you can lift it off the desk and wave it around in the air. There is a third button on the bottom of the mouse, kind of like the trigger button on some game pads, that you either hold down or double click to activate the gyroscope. You wave it around like a flashlight and can use it up to 25 feet from the radio signal sender/receiver. The sender/receiver is USB 1.0 and 2.0 compatible and is about the size of the mouse itself. I sit mine on top of the monitor. This seems to give me the most range and freedom of movement. Since it uses radio signals, you don't have to have a "line of sight" like you do with most other wireless mice. It also has a rechargeable nickel metal hydride (NiMH) battery that you recharge on a cradle. Only the cradle needs plugged into a power outlet. The sender/reciever is powered by your computer. It takes about 9 hours to charge the first time. After that, you can charge it whenever you want for as long as you want without hurting the battery memory. The mouse can run about 11 hours between charges. It works with every Windows Operating System (OS), even XP. I have mine set up on a Belkin USB hub so that I can share it with both my Windows ME and XP computers. Once the mouse was charged, set up (including the hub) took just a few minutes and both computers recognized the mouse immediately. There is no software needed, it uses Windows mouse drivers.
For a low budget, or for a computer for the kids (even well-behaved kids seem to have a tendancy to break computer devices) I'd recommend a wired, optical, two button mouse without a scroll wheel. Optical mice cost a little more than a similarly equipped regular mouse, but the ease of use, accuracy and maintenance free aspect of not having a little ball to take out and clean periodically make it worth it. For web surfing, an optical mouse with a scroll wheel is best. Whether or not you get corded or cordless depends on you computer set up. If you sit right in front of the computer with the chassis (thats the main part of the computer that you stick CD's into and plug everything into) right next to you, then there's no need for wireless. If your chassis is situated some distance from you or if you move around a lot, the wireless can be useful. If you get a wireless mouse, either get one that can use rechargeable batteries and get a battery charger, or get one that has a charging cradle. My Gyration and a cordless by Logitech are two I know of that have a cradle. If you're into gaming, I'd recommend a mouse with four buttons, a scroll wheel (some games let you switch weapons or inventory items with the wheel), and either the very latest cordless mouse with the fastest hertz rating you can find or that uses USB. If your computer doesn't have a USB port, you can upgrade by getting a USB card at any computer store. If you do so, I recommend getting the USB 2.0 because I imagine more and more devices will be optimized for 2.0 in the future and it can still use the ones made for USB 1.0.
I know this is a review of mice, but I suggest giving track balls a try. Some people don't like them, but I have found that the higher-end ones work just as well as mice as far as accuracy and speed are concerned. I especially like being able to keep my hand still and move the arrow with my fingers. This is handy in situations with limited space such as the computer carts I use instead of bulky desks. It's also very useful with laptops. There is even a track ball by Fellowes that you hook up to any USB port and hold in your hand. You use your thumb to control the ball and the second and third buttons and your index finger to use the first button like the trigger on a gun. It's small and fit's comfortably in your hand. I use it for presentations and traveling on a laptop. It beats the heck out of the little touch pad or cursor stud on laptops.
The bottom line is that today, there is a mouse for every taste, use and budget all the way from free with a new computer (or about $10 at a store) for the simplest mouse all the way up to almost $100 for a cordless, optical, rechargable trackball from Logitech. Now there's even one you can wave around, so who knows where the interface between computers and users will go next. If voice recognition and control continues to improve (I've used a couple of different voice programs and they are kind of hit or miss now) the mouse may become obsolete altogether some day.
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Epinions.com ID:
johnenfield
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Location: Las Vegas, NV
Reviews written: 116
Trusted by: 9 members
About Me:
Studying to become an A+ Certified Computer Tech. Christian, bookworm, gamer & movie buff.
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