Logitech mice recommended

[Wes Macaulay]

Just spent a month using a Microsoft Optical laser mouse with the latest version of Intellipoint (we test hardware for many manufacturers - more free stuff!). The tracking was not great, and ergonomics of the mouse were not as good - the MS mouse is taller and forces you to hold your hand higher off the desk.

After reinstalling the Logitech mouse (you also need to run the Advanced Mouseware utility to set the mouse speed for CAD programs like Revit), I'm amazed at how much better the Logitech mouse works.

Those of you wanting to really max out your productivity, consider the Logitech MX310. You have six buttons that you can program using Mouseware vis a vis Chad Smith's great post (http://www.zoogdesign.com/forums/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1112).

[gregcashen]

I love the MX700...cordless, optical, great sample rate...works more smoothly than a wheel mouse and no indication that it's cordless. Also has a fair button selection, though not as many as the MX310.

[PeterJ]

I am using a logitech cordless optical trackball and genereally I am quite pleased with it, though I have to say the button positioning does not seem quite as good as the Microsoft optical trackball I had previously. The improved accuracy is worth the odd button layout.

I have one odd experience with it though. I use Mouseware 9.2 and I find that with it set to the way I like it I can move from one side of the screen to the other with a single roll of the ball, i.e. without having to reposition my finger on the ball. When I go into Revit that changes and the cursor moves much more slowly, click outside the Revit window and it speeds up, back to Revit and it grinds to a halt again.

I haven't found a list of software exceptions in the Mouseware package, does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[gregcashen]

I also had this problem. The solution is to upgrade your mouse driver...go to the site and download the most recent version of mouseware...that should do it.

[Wes Macaulay]

Logitech mouse users will also need to download the Logitech "Advanced Settings Utility for MouseWare 9.76 and above" and run this after you've downloaded and installed Mouseware 9.78 from support.logitech.com

In the Advanced Settings Utility check all the boxes, and set tracking for Precision rather than Speed.

It's an extra step, but worth it. There are no mice that run as nice as Logitech's!

[PeterJ]

Its the advanced setting thing that seems to have done the trick.

Thanks for tip, Wes.

[beegee]

I'm looking to get a new mouse and Logitech seems to be the way to go ( my old mouse was Logitech too. )

I'm tossing up between the MX 700 and 500.

The 700 is cordless, which worries me a bit, because other cordless mice I've tried have not had as fast a response time as the corded. Also, the idea of batteries doesn't fill me with joy.

I've never been too concerned about the mouse cord on the desktop either.

It would seem that with the 700, you're paying for the cordless technology, since the other specs are the same as the 500.

There's also a new MX 900 Bluetooth Optical Cordless about to be released, but I don't have a need for Bluetooth at present.

Should I be considering a trackball ? Don't know much about them.

I would definately want to be able to program the side buttons also.

Any comments ?

[GuyR]

Beegee,

Just happened to see this, they seem to think it's the best:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1402573,00.asp

Personally I want one of these (not cheap though):

http://www.3dconnexion.com/spaceball5000.htm

or for the laptop:

http://www.3dconnexion.com/spacetraveler.htm

lovely....

Guy

[beegee]

Thanks Guy,

The LogicTech CO Trackman is sounding good, but I'd like to hear from someone whos used it ( or similar ) in a CAD environment ( Preferably Revit of course )

The Spaceball 5000 sounds more suited to a 3DS or Rhino type environment.

[mlgatzke]

GuyR,

I tested one of the SpaceTravelers at AU. It was wonderful. However, there are no drivers for Revit. . . but it was still really cool to use. Did you know that the blue lights that encircle the base are programmable buttons? That thing rocks. Now, only if they could come out with Revit drivers I'd buy one.

[GuyR]

That thing rocks. Now, only if they could come out with Revit drivers I'd buy one.

Yep, me too. In a past life I used an earlier version of the 5000 for about 5 years. There is nothing better for 3D work.

Guy

[PeterJ]

Beegee,

I've used trackballs for a number of years now and would not go back to the mouse. There will be a short learning curve but you'll become more speedy wiht the trackball than the mouse after a time, simply because they are, to me at least, more accurate in use.

My one caution would be that because your hand is in one position the whole time it needs to be particularly comfortable. I used Microsfoft's Trackball Explorer for some time and it was an exceptional tool. The button layout worked well with both left and right buttons accessible by thumb while your fingers continued to scroll the ball. The third button/mouse wheel was also thumb accessible and the remaining two buttons were easy enough to reach. I chopped it in to go cordless, a decision more based around laptop use than desktop use, but which I find has great desktop benefits too. I now use a Logitech Cordless Trackman Optical which has seven buttons plus the wheel, which also acts as button 3 in stock mouse terms. Its an excellent device, accurate, highly configurable and so on, but I find it too high, the scroll wheel/third button ill placed (bad for panning and 3D orbits) and the Logitech convention of literally left and right buttons ill suited to my own needs. After a couple of hours work my hand/wrist sometimes aches, which was never the case with the Microsoft product.

Another minor gripe is the tacky little add-ons that come with Logitech's Mouseware that you have to work to avoid installing.

In summary I think for our work the trackball is superior to the mouse, but as with the personal nature of the rodent, choose your trackball carefully.

[beegee]

Thanks Pete,

Thats the sort of feedback I was after.

Unfortunately, you can't roadtest one of these things long enough to discover if they will cause problems.

So , you think the Microsoft Trackball Explorer is the way to go. And Metanoia swears by the Logitech. Hmmmm.

[Wes Macaulay]

I've had a long go with the trackballs - both MS and Logitech - and found them both awkward. Maybe if I had larger hands they would feel less so!

Ergonomics are a highly personal thing, and I admit up front that someone may have hands that are well adapted to swinging from trees and thus may find the Microsoft mouse a better fit. :lol:

The reason some people swear by trackballs and the rest swear against them may well come down to the fact that from a bodily perspective they fit some and not others!

[PeterJ]

my desk is so untidy that I don't have space to move a mouse!

[gregcashen]

Just to clarify, the MX70 uses a different sampling method than other optical mice, so there is literally no discernible latency. I read an article on this somewhere, but can't remember where. I swear that it is much more responsive than any "regular" mouse I have ever used.

[beegee]

Thanks Greg.

I got out my special Dictionary - Engineer Speak converted into English.

" No discernable latency " = " Its as fast as "

:lol:

[gregcashen]

I type like a geek. :oops: