Effective lifespan of an optical/laser mouse

[Davey]

I bought a Razer Lachesis and the sensor died within less than a day of use. (wouldn't work on my laptop or my roommate's computer, either...) It was good while it lasted but didn't last very long.

I'm going to return it and get my money back, but in the meantime I'd like to ask, what's the average life of your computer mice been? I've got lots of mice that lasted, and a few that've died, but I can't help but wonder if those laser sensors lose their sensitivity over the life of the mouse, can anyone verify/disprove this?

[General Zod]

Strange, my Lachesis has been going strong so far; I've had it for about two months. I had a Logitech laser mouse for about two years before I had to replace it. Before that it was a Microsoft optical mouse that lasted a year.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I use old Microsoft 5-button optical mice (an old model of Intellimouse Explorer, IIRC) almost exclusively, but they're nearly impossible to find anymore, unfortunately. My current one has lasted two years thus far and is still going strong. Previous ones were only replaced because the left and right mouse buttons were starting to get a little worn from some very heavy abuse, but even those lasted a long time.

[TimothyC]

My basic (optical) Logitech scroll mouse is going on 6 years now.

[Mr Bean]

One year is short time for laser or LED mouses.
I have a three year old MS Wireless Laser Mouse 5000 which works just fine except for whatever reason I dropped it at some point and then transmitter is damaged meaning it works but the wireless receive has to be on the mouse pad or it gets flaky. But the laser works fine.

The IntelliMouse® Explorer I owned died after a year and a half. At that time they only offered year limited warranties.
Currently I use a MS Comfort Mouse 3000 which is nine months old and works fine.

[Ryan Thunder]

I've never had to replace an optical mouse, strangely enough.

[phongn]

Bathtub curve.

[Davey]

I don't really know what happened to my Lachesis. It worked fine on the day I bought it. Then I shut my computer down for the night (full shutdown, not into hibernation mode). The next morning I turned the computer on, moved the mouse (my BIOS has a 5-second-to-Internet gateway GUI with mouse support) the cursor moved an inch, then it stopped working. The buttons work but that's about it. Fortunately I still have an old Logitech I keep around for use with my laptop, so I tried updating the firmware, it reported everything was okay, the sensor was still on the blink. After that I took it to my roommate's computer, then my laptop, then several of the public computers around the school, with the same results. So I put it back in the box and I'm taking it back tonight.

Bathtub curve.

Well, at least the defect showed up early...

[Jade Falcon]

I've had a Logitech MX-518 practically since the range was new, it must be a good few years now and its used heavily and every button on it is as responsive as it ever was. I still use a mat with a wrist rest though and any time there's any delay its down to the mat needing cleaned. I've never had an optical mouse give out on me either.

[Sriad]

Well made optical mice should last a long time, usually more limited by mechanical failure of buttons than optical components. Relatively inexpensive LEDs have lifespans ranging from tens to low hundreds of thousands of hours, low power red/infrared lasers have similar lifespans.

I've only ever gotten a new one when I've upgraded entire computer systems and thought "as long as I'm spending $1400 or so, why don't I drop an extra 40 on a nice new mouse?" - generally every 3 or 4 years. I usually buy mid-range Logitech.

[Vympel]

I've been using my Logitech G5 gaming mouse (the original model) for the past two and a half years. It's still brilliant. I am very tempted to replace it with their new model - the G9x. In fact I'm tempted to get this entire set, since it looks so fucking pimp:-

Link

(I have an original model G15 gaming keyboard, it takes up a bit too much real estate, but it's not worth replacing it with the newer, smaller G15 since it's still a brilliant keyboard)

[Akkleptos]

Well made optical mice should last a long time, usually more limited by mechanical failure of buttons than optical components. Relatively inexpensive LEDs have lifespans ranging from tens to low hundreds of thousands of hours, low power red/infrared lasers have similar lifespans.

Surely enough, you should get a long enough useful life from any decent mouse. Usually, it'd last more than the time needed for you to fall in love with a prettier, more-featured one, LED-wise. But of course, moving parts are the weakest link, and you can kill them much easier, depending on how much you play click-intensive games. I only upgraded to optical a few years ago, mostly due to appeal and practical reasons (I don't really like mouse pads), but even my mechanicals were working nicely (I guess I just didn't want to clean them up anymore).

[Crayz9000]

I'm still using a Logitech MouseMan Dual Optical, which I think I got in 2003 or so. It's not a laser mouse, but it's pretty damned precise (the dual sensors mean that it doesn't jump like most optical mice sometimes do). So far, the buttons and scroll wheel are all holding up fine.

Actually, I've been pretty happy with all the Logitech mice I've had so far. The only one I didn't like was the one I had before I got the dual optical, and that was a blue MouseMan Wheel Optical. My problem with that one was that the rubber-plastic on the side didn't react well to sweat, and bits started flaking off. Kind of disgusting. But the mouse still worked right up to the end.

[Jade Falcon]

Ah, I may have misread, I was thinking an optical mouse as in no wheel/ball arrangement. If you mean a cordless mouse, I've never used them.

[Davey]

When I play games on the PC or otherwise or I'm going to use the computer a lot, I wear a pair of fingerless leather gloves. My hands don't sweat that much but the leather gives me a good, rock-solid grip on the mouse. I'm probably going to need that when I start using the rubberized mouse. to prevent it from flaking like that.

A few days back I had the bright idea to make a mouse pad out of a piece of teflon plate, I wonder if it'd work?

I guess I'll exchange instead of get a refund. Maybe this 'un will last me longer, and seeing as I've already bought such a nice computer, it'd be a shame to not get a nice mouse to go with it.

[Tolya]

I have a Logitech MX1000 laser mouse for about 3 years and it works like a charm. You want reliability, modest prices and excellent ergonomics, buy Logitech I say.

Oh and I've been probably repeating this for years ad nauseum, but my Logitech cordless keyboard will be 11 years old in June. And it still works like a charm. The mouse from this set is in the drawer, as it's a bit obsolete (it has a ball, three buttons and no scroll), but it still works. Like a bloody T-34 tank.

[Shogoki]

My current gaming mouse: the Logitech MX500. I bought it in 2002, so it's going on 7 years and it still works like a charm.

[Darth Tanner]

My micro technikfi mouse usually lasts a year or so. Largely because its a got a tiny retractable cable and is solely used on my laptop so it gets a lot of abuse and general mistreatment before the cable gets torn or dropped on the train.

At £5.99 in the Tesco bargain bin though I think its still dam good value even when I have to replace it.

The Microsoft optical mouse on my parents desktop is about ten years old though and is still in tip top shape, even if the logos and some of the paint job have been eroded off through use.

[charlemagne]

Link

Gods, that is one ugly setup.

Anyways, I've never had an optical or laser mouse brake down on me. I've been using one of the very early Microsoft Optical mice for 6 or 7 years, I think it's the basic "Intellimouse Explorer", it still works, but the plastic parts lost their shine and got pretty dull at the spots you have your fingers on, so it basically just got ugly. I replaced it with a Microsoft Sidewinder laser mouse 1 1/4 years ago that still runs fine.

Guess you can have bad luck with any mouse you buy, but normally it shouldn't wear out or break down in just a year.

[pj1351]

Although I can't remember exactly when I got it, I've owned a Logitech MX1000 from within a year of it being available here in Australia, so probably around 3 ~ 4 years ago. The only problem I've ever had with it is that the scroll wheel had started to act up (probably because how often I used the scroll wheel), sometimes when I scroll a single click, it either does nothing or scrolls two steps. Also, the mouse movement starts to skip a bit once the battery power gets lower, though that might have had something to do with my poor placement of the charger/receiver as well.

I've recently replaced it with a MX Revolution, and god damn, I love using the free scrolling wheel... Though I am somewhat annoyed that I can't reassign the One-Touch Search button as the middle mouse button (for use in games).

[Teebs]

I use a cheap microsoft one and its almost 3 years old and still going strong.

[Einhander Sn0m4n]

I still have the MX310 Dalton got me after the Hurricane.

Thanks Dalton

[Dalton]

I still have the MX310 Dalton got me after the Hurricane.

Thanks Dalton

That thing's still running? Wow.

Then again, I've had my MX1000 for ages and it works fine.

[Vympel]

Gods, that is one ugly setup.

That, sir, is blasphemy. You will take it back or I will duel you to the death!

[charlemagne]

That, sir, is blasphemy. You will take it back or I will duel you to the death!

Never surrender, never give up! I stay by my opinion dictated to me by superior taste.