A mouse is a puck you move around on a flat surface called a mouse pad. A pointer correspondingly moves on the screen. You use it to point at buttons or options on the
screen. A mouse has two (Microsoft) or three buttons (Logitech) you can press to initiate some action. Before you buy a mouse, try it out for at 10
minutes or more. Mice are often designed to be comfortable only for left or right-handed people. Also consider the alternative, a track ball which needs less free desk space.
Mice frequently stop working. There is no need to buy a new one. All you need to do is clean them. I will tell you how later in this entry.
Your alternatives are a trackball or a touchpad, often embedded in the keypad.
Double Clicking
Windows requires you often to double click, i.e. click the left mouse button twice, at exactly the right cadence. It can leave you babbling and drooling trying to get the
interval just right. If you click too fast your double click gets treated as a single click. If too slow, it gets treated as two single clicks. With a 3-button mouse, you just
press the middle mouse button to simulate a perfect double click. Generally, the older you are, the more trouble you will have with double clicks.
Mouse Connections
There are five kinds of ways to attach a mouse to the computer:
USB:
has a small rectangular connector. Does not require a adaptor card. It fits into a USB port. This is the way to go with a modern computer that has USB ports. This would be
your first choice.PS/2:
has a small round connector. Does not require a adaptor card, but does require a motherboard with a PS/2 mouse connector.Serial mouse:
usually attaches to COM1: connector. You may need an adapter if the mouse and port don’t have the same number of pins. Mice usually have 9
pins and COM ports either 9 or 25. Serial mice are not quite as responsive as the other two.Bus mouse:
requires an adapter card installed in a slot. It is often difficult to find a free IRQ for this style of mouse. These are the most responsive type. They are getting harder to
find.Cordless mouse:
No cord. Communicates via radio waves. Box connects via PS/2 or USB port. The batteries needid inside the mouse to handle the radio reception last only about 6
weeks if you don’t take special precautions to turn off the mouse when not in use. If you assume a 3-year life for the the mouse, you will need 26 battery changes, which
adds about adds about
to the cost of the mouse. Look into using rechargeables, or a rechargeable mouse. Mouse manufacturers could probably extend battery life by putting an unused mouse into
hibernation from which movement wakes it.
Mouse Types
Mice can be classified five ways.
Laser mice:
Latest and greatest. These don’t have a rolling ball. The laser gives finer precision than LED optical. Oddly you can’t see the laser light.Optical mice:
These don’t have a rolling ball. They don’t need as frequent cleaning and they have no moving parts to wear out. They work by tracking the movement of patterns in
the surface they are resting on. They need an interesting variegated surface to work well, not a smooth solid colour. Your pant leg will do. A mouse pad with a fine
grid will work best. You want a slippery surface so you can make fine movements easily. No point in wearing the paint off your desk for want of a
mouse pad.Air mice:
I have not used one of these. I have just seen one in a retail shop in a sealed box that the retailer would not let me open. Apparently you don’t need a surface. You can
wave the mouse around in the air and it will still work. It has a miniature gyroscope in it for air use and a optical sensor for desk use. You use the air mode for gaming or
for presentations where you can stand 9.14 metres (30 ft)
feet from the computer. I don’t know what sort of precision they are capable of. Manufacturers are too embarrassed to tell, so it is probably fairly bad. They are
wireless. Models include the Gyration Ultra GT or Logitech
Air Mouse.Ergonomic:
Check out the Perfit. In comes is 5 different sizes for precise hand fit.Wheel:
These have a wheel you spin to scroll without using the those infernal scroll bars. Once you get used to one, you will never go back. My own mouse has two fast scroll buttons
in addition.Mechanical:
These use a rolling rubber ball which internally rubs against rollers to spin them. Then the rotations are measured by a toothed wheel blocking a beam of light. These are now
obsolete. You can’t even buy them any more.High Resolution
These are sold primarily as gaming mice, but they really help with fine control, particularly in Paint Shop Pro or similar paint program. I would never go back. Low res is 400
dpi; medium res is 600 dpi; high res is 1000 dpi; 1500-2000
dpi is gamer.
Logitech
Logitech and Microsoft are
the main manufacturers of good quality mice. A cheap mouse is a royal PITA.
My mouse is a Logitech LX-8 cordless. It has a high resolution which makes for much smoother scrolling — very much worth the extra cost. It has 5
buttons. The left and right button have the usual meanings. The wheel also acts as a middle mouse button. Clicking it brings up a 2D scrolling mode similar to the hand mode of
the Mac. The wheel wags side to side for horizontal scrolling. My complaint with it is it is hard to clean. It has crevices that dead skin cells accumulate in. Even worse, it
does not slide freely. I frequently clean the feet and the mousepad, which seems to help a bit. The feet don’t seem to be excessively worn. It is as though the feet are
sticky. Further, the wells for the feet are not deep enough, and the feet keep sliding out of them. I am in the process of looking for some new feet.
Beware, there as a website called Logictech.com that you might mistake for the Logitech website. It tries to give you that illusion by featuring
Logitech mouse drivers.
Mouse Cleaning
Since you constantly touch mice and keyboards, they tend to get dirty. It helps if you select a mouse that is easy to clean. Try to avoid crevices where sweat-glued dead skin
cells can accumulate. Mice wear out faster than any other part of a computer. Depending on how hard you are on them, you may need a new one every one to three years. Often
when they misbehave it is just that they are dirty or have worn out feet. Here is how to clean them.
A little bottle of hand sanitiser on your desk to clean your hands frequently can stop the mouse from getting sticky in the first place.
Cleaning A Mechanical Ball Mouse
Twist off the bottom plate to release the ball. Clean the ball is pure isopropanol (aka rubbing alcohol) which you can get at the drugstore. You want the 99%
pure kind without any added oils.
Use an alcohol-soaked Q-tip to clean around inside. You will usually find lint wrapped around the two rollers. Pick away at it with the swap, a wooden toothpick. If you use
tweezers be very careful not to scratch the rollers.
Clean the rest of the mouse with a Kleenex and alcohol. If the mouse has grooves, pick the crud out with a wooden toothpick and alcohol swab.
Cleaning An Optical Mouse
Clean the mouse generally with pure isopropanol (aka rubbing alcohol) which you can get at the drugstore. You want the 99% pure kind without any
added oils.
Use an alcohol-soaked Q-tip to clean around inside where the light comes out. Often there will be some hairs or lint stuck inside confusing the mouse by reflecting the bright
light. Pick it out gently with tweezers being very careful not to scratch the lenses inside.
Clean the rest of the mouse with a Kleenex and alcohol. If the mouse has grooves, pick the crud out with a wooden toothpick and alcohol-soaked swab. I also found a rubber
dental probe useful for getting in the cracks. Avoid metal tools since the plastic is quite soft and will scratch easily.
Unfortunately, modern mice are designed with cracks for dirt to get in, but no way to open them up to service and clean them. The left and right click buttons seem to
deteriorate, perhaps mechanically, perhaps from dirty electrical contacts or perhaps from dust blocking optical sensors. I suppose you could try cleaning them with a blast of
compressed air. I have not had much success. I treat mice as consumables.
Miscellaneous Mouse Tips
The main problem with a mouse is you have to take your right hand off the keyboard to use it. A foot switch or auxiliary keypad
can partly compensate for this.
Synergy lets you share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating
systems without special hardware. It’s intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own display.
The feet of a mouse are extremely important is how smoothly the mouse performs. You need to replace them ever 8 months or so. Check before
you buy a mouse that replacement feet are available.
Real World Mice
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech G9 Laser Mouse |
| asin: B000UHE8Y2 |
| 3200 dpi. 1000 reports per second. Premium gaming mouse. Variable tuning weights. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech G7 Laser Cordless Mouse |
| asin: B000AY5Y5W |
| 2000 dpi. 500 reports per second. Gaming mouse. Cordless radio link. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech G5 Laser Mouse |
| asin: B000ODN7VM |
| 2000 dpi. 1000 reports per second. Premium gaming mouse. Variable tuning weights. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech MX518 Gaming Optical Mouse - Metal |
| asin: B0007Z1M50 |
| 1600 dpi. Gaming mouse. I used a model similar to this, the MX500. The feet tend to come off easily. It is difficult to clean. It has a solid feel. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech LX8 Laser Cordless Mouse |
| asin: B000ZH7E5M |
| Logitech has stopped publishing specifications. 5 buttons. Relatively inexpensive, sensible mouse for non-gaming. This is what I use myself. Not recommended. See my notes on it. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech V220 Cordless Optical |
| asin: B0028K2TUY |
| Logitech V220 cordless optical mouse is a small, basic, inexpensive mouse desgned for notebooks that comes in 8 colours/patterns. 1000 dpi. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Evoluent Vertical Mouse 3 |
| asin: B000O3OEGE |
| Evoluent VM3R2-RSB Vertical Mouse 3 is an ergonomic mouse where you grasp it on the side instead of the top. Diagrams show why this might be easier on your wrist. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Belkin Washable Mouse |
| asin: B000XJJRDE |
| 1200 dpi. You can disconnect this mouse and immerse it in water to clean it. Let it dry for 12 hours. |
|
Future Mice
Here are some ideas for future mice:
- Make it possible to open the mouse up to clean it out.
- Use optical sensors for the all the buttons instead of mechanical switches so they will always closes cleanly and reliably.
- Models of mouse with different degrees of default sensitivity, including amount of pressure needed to click the buttons.
- Seat the mouse feet in a well perhaps a millimeter deep so they will last for the life of the mice.
- Use the extra buttons on the mouse to invoke copy/paste/delete
- Store the a stack of the last copied clips and let you paste any one of them.
- Let you program some of the extra keys as a common keyed phrase.
2007-04-20 by Roedy Green ©1997-2009 Canadian Mind Products
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