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Jim Paradise · Jul 26, 2004, 04:37 PM

I don't mind using my trackpad at all for gaming, but Call Of Duty has pretty dodgy trackpad support compared to when I have a mouse plugged in. Problem is that the mouse in the house is horribly dead. It's an old logictech with two buttons and a scroll wheel, and it was great back when it hadn't been abused by years of use and being dropped.

So I'm looking for a decently stylish mouse that would be good for gaming that has two buttons and a scroll wheel. Any recommendations?

Minch_Yoda · Jul 26, 2004, 06:01 PM

well i don"t know what mouse i have but its got 6 buttons its a logitech and very nice for gaming its comfortable ect. i hear MS makes some good ones but im not sure just look at there websites to see what there like or if you want to see n person go to a big store like future shop or something and try some out

Arkham_c · Jul 26, 2004, 09:05 PM

I have an old version of the Intellimouse Explorer and it's a very nice mouse. It has plenty of buttons and a scroll wheel. It's optical with fairly high resolution so it tracks well.

mac freak · Jul 26, 2004, 09:06 PM

Logitech's cheap 2-button optical scrolling mouse is fantastic. Dirt cheap, very high precision, nice and light, and it holds up very well (I have one that's 5 years old that performs like the day I bought it, and it gets used every day).

You can spend a ton of money on 11-button 1200 foot range wireless omnioptical supermice with 500 horsepower, but I think it's overkill.

Luca Rescigno · Jul 27, 2004, 12:34 AM

If you want a great gaming mouse, I'd look at the Logitech MX series. They use a higher precision optical sensor and they're very nice. The one with the best sensor is the MX510, but the MX300, MX310, and MX500 are also good and all a bit cheaper. The MX300 is the simplest of the bunch, with a right and left click, scroll wheel, and one button just below the wheel. Should be around $20.

NemesisEG · Jul 27, 2004, 03:14 AM

I have two mice, the Microsoft Intellimouse V3 and the Logitech MX510.

The MX has more buttons, a higher curve and a slighty rubberish siding where your thumb would rest. The wheel seems to sit a bit further back, almost on the first joint of your finger. It means you're constantly adjusting your hand position. Also it has scroll buttons to the front and rear of the scroll. So if you're, for example, holding in the mousewheel to look around in NWN, you tend to hit the scroll buttons and the camera goes mental! You have to press the wheel in further to get it to click. I'd say it's the only failing on a very decent mouse.

MS Intellimouse. 5 buttons and a nice silver sheen to show up all the grubby marks! It tends to sit better in the hand, or maybe I've just gotten used to it. I don't get any fatigue in my hand from gaming with the MS mouse and it's worked for 2 years without a problem. Being optical, the only thing I tend to clean are the slider pads on the bottom, but that's the same for any mouse.

Both are excellent mice, but the MS steals it for me. I played 6 hours of LAN Medal of Honor and it worked exactly as it should. Nice and precise and no quirks.

If you can, get to somewhere like PC World where you can test the feel of the mice. But with both Logitech and Microsoft you're going to get a decent optical mouse. It's worth spending a little more, because they do seem to last well. Also, both work without any fuss on the Mac, I didn't have anything to setup or download. Let us know how you get on!

Randman · Jul 27, 2004, 04:46 AM

I have a Logitech Trackman and while it's great for most stuff, I prefer something a little more normal for gaming. I'm currently working with the hack that lets you use an XBox game controller, but it's OSX only so older games still get the Trackman action.

Turnpike · Jul 27, 2004, 05:19 AM

I love my logitech... got the MX duo, I believe that is the MX 700 mouse. Great for gaming, very comfortable and lots of buttons. If you take the time to set the buttons, not only do you not have the problems mentioned a few posts up, but you've got 10 buttons (counting wheel up/wheel down) you can set. Most FPS games, from my experience, will happily eat up wheel up, wheel down, wheel click, and left/right click. This gives you five buttons still available for doing whatever. Handy for any game that uses more than a few keys on the keyboard, or demands speed in input. Can't say I've tried it with things like Warcraft III, though, where you pretty much need the whole keyboard... maybe set it for your favorite unit/hero and play as you normally would when not controlling them... or, you'll be able to ping the mini map VERY conveniently

NemesisEG · Jul 28, 2004, 02:30 AM

As Turnpike says, you can reconfig the buttons. I just find when you press in the wheel, there's a danger of applying pressure to the rear scroll button. It's something to be aware of, but nothing that should stop you purchasing the MX. It's a nice solid piece of kit and I'm happy with the purchase.

Jim Paradise · Jul 28, 2004, 04:01 PM

Thank you to everyone that responded!

Seems like I'm going to take a look at some of the Logitech's that have been suggested in here because I'm mostly concerned with response times. The one thing I like about my old logitech is that the scroll wheel sort of clicks instead of just gliding smoothly, but that response with a bit of a click is great because it keeps one from scrolling too fast if need be. Hopefully the newer Logitechs still have that on some of them. Thanks everyone!

Luca Rescigno · Jul 28, 2004, 04:24 PM

The only mice I've used with a smoothly gliding scroll wheel are the latest Microsoft mice. It seems great at first, but it actually makes it much easier to accidentally click the scroll button. MS's mice, even the ones with "clicking" scroll wheels, tend to have smoother wheels than Logitech. But Logitech still has superior mice in my opinion.

Horsepoo!!! · Jul 28, 2004, 04:35 PM

Originally posted by Jim Paradise:
Thank you to everyone that responded! Seems like I'm going to take a look at some of the Logitech's that have been suggested in here because I'm mostly concerned with response times. The one thing I like about my old logitech is that the scroll wheel sort of clicks instead of just gliding smoothly, but that response with a bit of a click is great because it keeps one from scrolling too fast if need be. Hopefully the newer Logitechs still have that on some of them. Thanks everyone!

Clicking is essential for scroll wheels since they're not analog anyways. Scrolling contents in a window isn't done in an analoguous manner. In games especially, the clicking is important since the wheel is used by most to change weapons in FPS games. You want to be able to feel the clicks to know how how many weapon change you've made. A smooth wheel doesn't give any feedback.

Forte · Jul 29, 2004, 10:12 AM

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
The only mice I've used with a smoothly gliding scroll wheel are the latest Microsoft mice. It seems great at first, but it actually makes it much easier to accidentally click the scroll button. MS's mice, even the ones with "clicking" scroll wheels, tend to have smoother wheels than Logitech. But Logitech still has superior mice in my opinion.

I may be mistaken, but I recall hearing it mentioned on these forums before that MS' mice are actually made by Logitech...

Luca Rescigno · Jul 29, 2004, 11:08 AM

I don't know for sure that it's false, but it seems so. Why would MS have so many different designs from Logitech? They're basically the two biggest mouse makers around.

Now, what I have heard is that Logitech actually makes Apple's mice. This may well be true, because they made many of Apple's old ADB mice.

http://www.g-news.ch/articles/images/LT8889.jpg

See the chip inside the mouse on the right side? Yep, it's a Logitech. They've made Apple's mice for a really long time.

Minch_Yoda · Jul 29, 2004, 12:15 PM

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
I don't know for sure that it's false, but it seems so. Why would MS have so many different designs from Logitech? They're basically the two biggest mouse makers around.

Now, what I have heard is that Logitech actually makes Apple's mice. This may well be true, because they made many of Apple's old ADB mice.

http://www.g-news.ch/articles/images/LT8889.jpg

See the chip inside the mouse on the right side? Yep, it's a Logitech. They've made Apple's mice for a really long time.

i found logitech made apple's mice when i went into system profiler

wuzup101 · Aug 2, 2004, 01:35 PM

I just purchased a logitech MX510 last week for $49 at best buy. I have the COD demo and it runs very nicely with the MX510. I've been using logitech mice for quite a while now and I have to say that they have never given me a problem. MS also makes some good products... their higher end explorer mice are very nice too!