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.
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 30 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.
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.
Mouse Feet
If your mouse pad or mouse feet are dirty or worn, your mouse will not slide
smoothly. This will destroy your ability to precisely control the mouse. Try
cleaning both mouse and pad and replacing the feet with improved low-friction
feet. Make sure you pry off the old feet and clean the mouse with isopropanol to
get off any gunk or dirt before applying the new feet. When I replaced my feet,
I was horrified to find how badly worn my old ones were. Some of the feet were
worn totally off and even one of the hard plastic wells that holds the feet was
worn flat. I can’t believe the difference. The feet should should stick
out about 1/16 of an inch from the bottom of the mouse. Feet are sometimes sold
as mouse skates or mouse skatez.
They often come free when you buy a mouse pad. They cost only
and there is no shipping since they can send as a letter. I can’t think of
anything else that will improve the subjective experience of your machine for
less than
.
Also consider buying a premium low friction mouse pad.
Real World Mice
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech G9 Laser Mouse |
| 3200 dpi. 1000 reports per second. Premium gaming mouse. Variable tuning weights. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech G7 Laser Cordless Mouse |
| 2000 dpi. 500 reports per second. Gaming mouse. Cordless radio link. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech G5 Laser Mouse |
| 2000 dpi. 1000 reports per second. Premium gaming mouse. Variable tuning weights. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Logitech MX518 Gaming Optical Mouse - Metal |
| 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 |
| Logitech has stopped publishing specifications. 5-buttons. Relatively inexpensive, sensible mouse for non-gaming. This is what I use myself. See my notes on it. |
|
 | recommend Amazon⇒Belkin Washable Mouse |
| 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 ©1997-2008 Canadian Mind Products
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