I'm looking for a big mouse.

[Chap sur le velo]

I do fancy one of these but the price is stupid.


View: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lunarartefacts/pointer-instrumentstm-computer-mouse-redefined


However its my Birthday in April and if anyone is feeling particularly flush....

 

[ColinJ]

@slowmotion was kind enough to send me his Logitech mini-mouse. It took a long time to arrive thanks to post-Christmas/Covid postal delays but it arrived yesterday and is now being tested here.

Many Thanks!

I have been using the mouse for 2 days and it has been totally reliable, unlike my old wireless mouse.

One thing that was happening from time to time was the mouse accidentally registering a double-click when I had only clicked once. Presumably some contact bounce on the switch below the left button? I fixed it by setting the double-click speed on my laptop to the fastest setting. It does make it slightly harder to double-click but I have lost those phantom double-clicks.

 

[ColinJ]

One thing that was happening from time to time was the mouse accidentally registering a double-click when I had only clicked once. Presumably some contact bounce on the switch below the left button? I fixed it by setting the double-click speed on my laptop to the fastest setting. It does make it slightly harder to double-click but I have lost those phantom double-clicks.

The problem came back (and the awkwardness when trying to double-click became annoying)!

I searched online and apparently it is a common problem with Logitech mice so I consulted online technical experts for advice (YouTube videos!) and found 2 proposed solutions...

One looked likely to work, but fiddly, and potentially fatal to the mouse - take the whole thing to bits, including the microswitch under the 'button' (in this case there isn't a button top, the top of the mouse casing is designed to just flex up and down for clicks), bend the springy electrical contacts, and reassemble everything.

Option two was much simpler. It seemed unlikely that it would work but several people in the comments section said that it had fixed their mice, so I thought I would give it a go. That involved removing the battery and one screw to get the mouse open, and then applying a drop of lube to the little plastic rod that presses down into the microswitch to push the spring contacts together. The speculation was that friction was stopping the rods springing back quickly and smoothly enough to avoid contact bounce. I did this in the ad break of one TV show and to my surprise it seems to have worked. TBH, it was such a quick fix that if I had to relube it once a month it wouldn't bother me! I'm going to do a test... Before lubing the mouse, if I clicked once on each word in this paragraph, about one in eight clicks would have registered as double-clicks and highlighted the word. Hang on... Super - 0% accidental double-clicks, and 100% deliberate double-clicks, and that was with the double-click time extended to a more user-friendly length.

 

[Andy_R]

Surprised no one's done this one yet...

 

[ColinJ]

One month update: Flawless wireless mousing! Single and double clicks are registered properly and I have the sensitivity of the mouse set to suit my style so it works very nicely. I have got used to holding the small mouse in a 'claw grip' rather than trying to rest the palm of my hand on it - it is definitely too small for that.

I have moved the wireless dongle from the right USB port to the left one. It is so small that it fits under the L-shaped power connector to the laptop. That frees up the other port when using a memory stick for backups.

 

[ColinJ]

Well, Jeff Bezos delivered a Logitech M190 this afternoon. It's a vast improvement on the M185. My fingertips rest naturally on the left and right click buttons. I thoroughly recommend it to people with non-Trump hands. £13 well spent

Well, I got just over a year out of the M185 that you kindly donated to me. It worked well, but I just broke its scroller wheel. I hadn't realised quite how often I used the scroller wheel until it stopped working!

I looked inside the mouse - I had snapped the little plastic shaft which goes from the centre of the wheel into the shaft encoder. I toyed with the idea of trying to superglue it back together but I could see that failing regularly so it is new mouse time.

I can see why you thought the M185 was a bit small, so I have ordered the larger Logitech M190 for myself. Prime delivery by tomorrow evening.

I paid the same price that you did a year ago.

I'll keep the wheel-less mouse to use on another computer upstairs which I do less scrolling on!

 

[MontyVeda]

Another vote for a vertical mouse. I've been using these Anker ones for years, no wrist pain. About £18:

View attachment 563729

I've got one of those after suffering RSI and whilst i like the shape of it, Anker don't appear to do a LH version so I'm stuck with 3rd party copies and they're really annoying (single clicks registering as double clicks, scroll wheel randomly working back to front). I've tried two 'identical' copies and they both as bad as each other, and the only other one I tried to buy that wasn't silly money never got delivered, twice.

I might try a trackball one day.

PS. never had any issues with wireless dongles 'unlatching'. Even my normal mouse (for righties) which is turned off for months on end always works without any faff on the occasion i use it.

 

[slowmotion]

Well, I got just over a year out of the M185 that you kindly donated to me. It worked well, but I just broke its scroller wheel. I hadn't realised quite how often I used the scroller wheel until it stopped working!

I looked inside the mouse - I had snapped the little plastic shaft which goes from the centre of the wheel into the shaft encoder. I toyed with the idea of trying to superglue it back together but I could see that failing regularly so it is new mouse time.

I can see why you thought the M185 was a bit small, so I have ordered the larger Logitech M190 for myself. Prime delivery by tomorrow evening.

I paid the same price that you did a year ago.

I'll keep the wheel-less mouse to use on another computer upstairs which I do less scrolling on!

I'm glad you had some use out of it and I hope you like the M190 as much as I do.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Another thought for you, have you tried a vertical mouse? They are far more ergonomic and do not cause any wrist pain as your hand is in a more natural (handshake) position. I’d never go back.

Example:
View attachment 563723

Cheers for that, just ordered one from Amazon arriving tomorrow

 

[Ming the Merciless]

 

[mistyoptic]

I might try a trackball one day.

I had one (Microsoft) for a while. Hated it! Almost as bad as a trackpad for fine control. Great if your desk space is limited but no other benefits IMO.

That was a while ago, so I suppose they may have improved

 

[ColinJ]

Amazon Prime got my new mouse to me in 14 hours. Here it is next to its wounded little cousin...

I'm getting on okay with the mouse. I got caught out by the lack of a red led - at first I thought it wasn't working because I couldn't see any light underneath it! The led obviously outputs in a non-visible part of the EM spectrum.

 

[si_c]

I'm getting on okay with the mouse. I got caught out by the lack of a red led - at first I thought it wasn't working because I couldn't see any light underneath it! The led obviously outputs in a non-visible part of the EM spectrum.

Yep they moved no non-visible spectrum years ago, originally they called it a Darkfield laser. The biggest difference is it works on glass surfaces which a red LED wouldn't.

 

[MontyVeda]

I had one (Microsoft) for a while. Hated it! Almost as bad as a trackpad for fine control. Great if your desk space is limited but no other benefits IMO.

That was a while ago, so I suppose they may have improved

thanks for that... as it's improved fine control I'm looking for.

 

[ColinJ]

thanks for that... as it's improved fine control I'm looking for.

If you are working in Windows and haven't already done this, go to Settings/Devices/Mouse/Additional mouse options/Pointer options and turn the mouse speed down and select Enhance pointer precision.