Had another mouse fail on me and the replacement less than satisfactory, hence this post. Perhaps Computer Choice could do a review - I can’t find one.
I have a collection of dead wired, wireless and blue-tooth mice. My favourite, the MS bluetooth designer mouse worked brilliantly until it started juddering and rolling up/down without imput. I tried cleaning it out with a thin pipe cleaner, but never succeeded.
I replaced it with a Nextech BT optical mouse Model XM5249. It is annoying; the MS mouse only had to be moved and the computer & mouse would wake up. The Nextech is difficult to wake up - much clicking, rolling etc before it will wake up and respond.
My new desktop came with a Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse M185. The wireless dongle takes up one USB port, which are all at the back, and there are blackspots where the keyboard (which is rather rattly) and mouse don’t respond. I was replacing it with a MS Designer keyboard & mouse, but bluetooth won’t pair with it (still working on that one…)
I have a pile of wired mice which all died. Logitech M105, Wowpen Joy 5D, MiniMouse etc. But increasingly finding less USB ports in newer computers and tablets so going to BT or Wireless. The MS mouse has a magnetic battery cover which is easy to open, BT reports the % of battery, it glides well.
I realise mice are almost a consumable item, cheap, hardworking, and maybe I am expecting too much, but hate tossing out so much plastic. So, any recommendations?
We have a wired optical Microsoft Intellimouse 1.1A which we have been using for about 9+ years and it is still going strong. Works well on all surfaces, expect those which are highly polished/shiny and homogenous colour. in such case a mouse mat is needed.
We have had wireless mouse/keyboard but never happy with the way they worked nor battery life. They also tended to end up on the floor a lot when bumped (the wired ones have the cord to keep then on the desk).
Also have had a ball mouse, and would never use one again after moving to the optical ones.
I use a Logitech G502 Wired Gaming mouse . Has been thrashed in games for 8 years and still going strong . I purchased 2 of them at the time but have never had to use the back up . They are still available
You can buy a USB extender cable and put the receiver up front or on top of the computer to remedy that. A few years ago Logitech included one with some of their mice. Roughly $8 on ebay.
We have had a few Logitech M705 mice over the years and have loved them. They go for about 5 years. $69 at officeworks.
Most wireless mice will need that one USB port for the receiver unless you get a wifi or bluetooth mouse. One issue with bluetooth mice and keyboards are that they are inop until Windows starts since they are akin to network devices, so you cannot get into or manage the computer during boot.
The partner still has her M705 and I an MXMaster3 - too expensive and not as happy with it as I was with the M705 for my needs, but for those who appreciate work flow or gaming, or customising almost everything it has much to commend it.
If the number of USB ports is an issue adding a wired hub to one will give at least 2 and up to about 10 USB ports. If the wiring is long enough you can place the hub on the top of the computer case or to the side nearest the peripherals.
I find wired mice are better than wireless, however wires can be messy for some. I tend to go for “gaming” mice for build quality and being able to set the normally available extra buttons to do “batch” actions on a click. If just looking for a basic mouse the MS ones still are great choices and they are durable. Similar performance can be found with Logitech ones.
I still use wired mouses, mice, meeces with my Macs (I hate trackpads so yes even with the macbook) and those are a Mac “mighty mouse” and a logitech mouse with a trackball. I’ve had both for ages… at least 12 years for the logitech and 8 for the mighty. I’ve never actually had a mouse fail unless it was BT/wireless.
Unfortunate Mrs Z. to have so many deceased meeces fall to pieces.
We have numerous mice and have only had one or two of the old balled variety die in service. The only other time I have had to get new mice what when we migrated to MS Win 10. Some of the old fellas no longer responded, and Win 10 would not recognise their long service to provide drivers for their old bones.in the new O/S.
The longest serving is a wired one that came as part of a kit with a wired MS 1.0A Digital Media keyboard. I agree with @grahroll’s suggestion, and use a powered 12 port wired USB hub. Never run out of USB ports!
I currently use a Logitech MX Master 3 at work. I have relatively large hands, and comfort is my first priority when shopping for a mouse. It follows on from three previous Logitech mice. The Bluetooth works well with my Windows laptop, and it holds a charge for weeks before needing a recharge.
Ditto the noisy clicks! My new Nextech XM5249 has become hard to click, gets stuck at times and needs a push, usually using the whole arm. My previous Logitech was a noisy click, which gave away my card game playing, when I said I was doing the accounts . The keyboard is quieter.
“juddering and rolling up/down without imput”
I think I recall an operating system bug caused some mice to do this. Maybe it wasn’t the mouse at fault.
Definitely agree with the idea of moving the wireless keyboard/mouse dongle into a line-of-sight position. The local ComputerPals has a tutor keyboard/mouse about 4 meters from the dongle, no problems.
I have gone back to using a wired optical mouse, most of them have been Dell and outlast the computer.
Possibly it is more aggressive with its power save in order to extend battery life, so you need to muck around more just to wake up the mouse so that the mouse can wake up the computer.
Mice at least should be going into the e-Waste stream.
This.
This is evolution in action. The wired ones have evolved a cord as an anti-cat mechanism.
Yes. This is a longstanding problem. I just keep a spare, cheap, floating USB keyboard around for the times when a computer might need something done in BIOS.
This is a problem that may go away over time. There is no intrinsic reason why a BIOS does not have enough code in it to support Bluetooth. If “every” customer wants to use a Bluetooth keyboard then computer manufacturers should respond by putting Bluetooth support in BIOS. One of the challenges is pairing the keyboard initially in BIOS, which must be done independently of pairing the keyboard once the operating system has booted. (For the purposes of this paragraph, BIOS and UEFI are interchangeable.)
Don’t you hate that? Now that is waste.
That’s mainly on laptops.
The cynic in me says that this is in order to give an illusion about the cost i.e. save a few bucks on the sale price of the unit - and push the cost of buying the resultant USB hub onto the customer. This is even more so if the unit basically only has a USB-C port, so they expect that you buy some kind of overpriced docking station just in order to use an external keyboard and mouse.
However it’s also a consequence of the obsession with thinness.
I supervised a booth for the recent Qld State election. The notebooks and laptops they provided had only one USB, but they sent 3 items to be plugged in. Their suggestion was to plug devices in/out as needed - but each absentee card had to be scanned, things clicked on screen with the wired mouse (no trackpad) and the resultant ballot sent to the printer. Local ballots only required the scan & mouse, but still annoying.
The Returning Officer bought up all the USB docks he could find to make the vote easier. With the lead time to elections, and the same problem earlier this year, I wonder why they couldn’t solve it and where all the docks went that we bought in March. I guess they went with the lowest laptop/notebook tender.
I’ve been using a wired Microsoft IntelliMouse that I’ve been using for at least 5 years. It hasn’t missed a beat although - on inspection - it needs a good clean!
I would suggest going with a wired gaming mouse. Any decent gaming mouse is designed to take a beating, and so should last several years. Certainly my current mouse has lasted over seven years so far and is still going strong despite the abuse it endures at my hand.
Unless I’ve a large fiat working surface, I’ve preferred the wireless options which are not prone to drag or get caught up. The most reliable of the wireless mice have been those that had their own USB mounted (all Logitech) receiver rather than reliance on BT. They also generally worked with the different versions of Linux and desktops that I’ve used or trialed.
I’ve had two BT mice that were supplied and branded with the laptop. Pairing has proven hit and miss, especially if both were turned off-off for travel. I’m still wedded to slightly older technology which may account for the inconsistencies of BT. I’ve several still reliable MS corded mice for the desktop when diving into safe mode on the desktop.
It’s useful to read the varying experiences and suggestions. Especially with a new desktop on the shopping list.
If there is a grumble about either option, especially when moving around often, it’s variations or inconsistent responses depending on the working surface. On a laptop a large trackpad is useful but less effective than a mouse.
I am about to toss my new Nextech XL5249 Bluetooth optical mouse. Main issue is the time it takes to wake up and the short time before sleep. It won’t wake up my computer like the MS BT Designer mouse did, I have to be signed in and press the button and wiggle and wait until it suddenly moves. Then after reading a page I reach for it to find it has gone to sleep and it takes pressing and wiggling and waiting for it to move again.
The other, less annoying but nevertheless inconvenient, is the glide. This has 4 small feet which attract dust and does not glide as well as the MS Designer mouse which has a ridge all round - was easier to clean, but also wore the table. I also bang & roll the Nextech in a vain attempt to speed up the wake-up process. The click gets momentarily stuck and needs a bit of strength to push.
Not real happy with it. But it works. However another (MS Designer or one recommended here) is on the shopping list.
Have you tried changing the DPI settings of the mouse? I believe it has 3 settings 800/1200/1600 DPI from what I understand, trying 800 DPI might give better results.
In Power settings in Windows see if you can’t alter when BT goes into low power mode, it may not be the mouse but the PC that is “sleeping” the BT.
Ok in Version 2004 it has removed the Power Management Tab so from a post about the issue:
“I found the Power management tab appearing in items in the Human Interface Devices category. Unchecked the option in Bluetooth Low Energy GATT compliant HID device and Bluetooth XINPUT compatible input device, and the issue went away”
That means go to Device Manager look down the list until you find Human Interface Devices expand that list and look for those BT devices, right click and click Properties and look for the boxes that are about Power Management. They may not be named exactly as in the post but you should be able to find the BT ones that apply.
The boxes will look like this, the main one to deal with is untick the top one that in the pic currently has a tick in it (I don’t have a BT Mouse so can’t show the exact item in HID with the box you need to untick):
If available under Power Management it may help to also tick the box that says Allow this device to wake the computer. On mine it is currently greyed out due to the device not being a device that accepts direct input.
. The keyboard is quieter.
