Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler So incredibly OT... computer mice

I was playing Planetside last night for a few hours. When I woke up this morning, my right hand hurt like hell. So I'm looking for a new mouse. I'm leaning towards the Logitech MX500, but I was wondering if anyone else had any tips. I prefer optical corded mice.

Ever use a trackball? I don't use one currently, but the ones (yes I know how this sounds) with large, weighty balls are actually quite good. Coupled with a good wrist pad it can be quite ergonomic.

Carpal tunnel?

ringmir like mouses with large, weighty balls..

so tell me, how do you like your gerbils??



bigjohn

Dead. My old cat liked to use them as toys.

I used to, and swore by it for games, but now I'm pretty sure I was full of it. Other than that, I enjoy the large Kensington trackballs (TurboMouse/Expert Mouse). However, the other reason I'm thinking about switching mice is because I have a Kensinton mouse right now and the scrollwheel isn't recognized by over half of the games I have. And that just sucks.

Oh yeah. I was diagnosed with it over 10 years ago, and have kept it pretty well in check with frequent applications of wrist braces, but since I've been in the computer industry for the last 3, I'm not very nice to my wrists.

I don't have a specific product to recommend, but I have seen some mice with a shape that's designed to keep your hand at an angle, so there there's less stress on the wrist.

Here's one that illustrates the principle to the extreme.

I had the same problem at work. I got myself a mouse pad with a Gel Pad built in for the wrist and it worked wonders

Sean

I have the MX900 and it works very well (comes with a bluetooth base as well). The MX700 has gotten great reviews as well. The corded MX510 was well liked as a gamer's mouse.
I am also an FPS player. Even though it's wireless it's nice for the twitchy games.
I had the latest MS mouse and it was mushy and slow and I died to easily in UT2004 so I ditched that. Scrolling for a new weapon most often lead to me trying to kill the guy with a rocket launcher by bludgening him with my fists... frustrating.
But, if you are already using MX500 your best and possibly cheapest way to go would be to try to support your arm/hand more or move it to a more neutral position. Ergonomics might be poopooed by some people, but it can make huge difference. (hehehe I wrote poo)
Or do what I did. Suffer through the pain until you do so much damage that you are numb.....

jr

I do hours of cad work everyday which requires a lot of very fine mouse work. My wrist was killing me. I switched to this mouse and it has helped quite a bit. It is easy to control with a very light touch.

Yeah, those look really nice. Anyone know how they are for gaming?

k. they are fine for slow moving games, but not for twitchers. I had one of them and would get owned by drunks on ut2004 because the scroll wheel is mushy (for switching weapons) and the response to quick turns was not fast enough.

jr

Ever considered an arcade trackball and a mouse interface?

I need to post pics of my MAME Arcade Cabinet when I finally get it here... after the basement remodel... and the carpet cleaning... and...

Bren R.

The MX700 is what I use. Its awesome. It was on sale last week at Staples for $60 with no rebates with the Cordless Keyboard. Pretty good deal, chepaer than you can get it online. Anyways, that gets my vote. I like it better than my mx500 I had. They are basically the same exact thing, just 700 is cordless and the 900 is BlueTooth. What about a Razor corded ball mouse? They are pretty nice from what I hear.

I have heard the mx700 enables you to use the mouse in midair. Is this true?

I am getting all new equipment for my HTPC(uhg) and I almost forgot about purchasing mouse+keyboard.

Are there any other wireless models you guys have seen out there that are satisfactory?

I wouldn't think so. It's not a gyroscopic mouse; it's an optical. It's gotta have something to reflect off of.

I checked out mice today, and the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 4.0 is really comfortable. However, the reviews on Amazon were sort of negative on the gaming. I think I'm going to get the MX500, unless anyone has positive gaming experience with the new scroll/tilt wheels on the Intellimice. (feels really weird too, not having any clicks)

I'm a FPS gammer as well...

M$ mice are fine for desktop use but I dislike them for gamming.

I'll vote for the MX700 too, thats what I use and its amazing for a mouse period, much less wireless.

(I was in PlanetSide beta myself)