[Hardware Question] On the merits of a Gaming Mouse

[Oskuro]

My mouse has been having trouble detecting right clicks lately, and left clicks have begun failing today. Since I'm bound to need a replacement soon, I was wondering if anyone has one of those fabled gaming mice, and can share their impressions.

Mainly, I'm interested in a robust device that can take a beating, not necessarily for gaming though. Movement resolution and buttons are a minor concern. Are gaming mice a good idea? Or are they overpriced and over-buttoned pieces of plastic no one should even look at?

And while we're at it, what about gaming keyboards? I mean, my WASD keys are half erased now, and the keys stick sometimes

[Thanas]

I have never felt the need for a gaming mouse. My old logitech does quite fine. Maybe it is different for FPS gaming, but even when playing mafia or May Payne I do not get a problem with it.

[Vympel]

I have a first generation Logitech G5, its never let me down, very sturdy, nice features (especially the sensitivity toggle, I use it all the time) and you can just tell it won't break, ever. I also have a gaming keyboard but to be honest I never use its features. The mouse was the important thing, I bought it when my Logitech optical mouse broke.

[Stark]

Gaming mice are stupid. Almost all mice have a thumb button, but tilting wheels and non-sweat grips and shit are worthless. That said G5/mx518s are cheap and fine.

Like there are enough multi-button games on PC that aren't console ports anyway.

[Vympel]

That said G5/mx518s are cheap and fine.

Yeah at this stage any G5 you buy should be the updated model, mine was 1st gen so its mouse-wheel-click is shit, I got used to it though.

[Stark]

Infoolishly bought a G7 and the wireless reciever died in about 3 months. Great mouse though.

[Lagmonster]

I use a G9 because I hate cordless mice, and because it's wide enough to accommodate my hand - most mice are, I find, too small. The G9 comes with a host of features that are supposed to make it 'better', but I couldn't give a crap past 'ergonomically comfortable to hold'. If that's not your first priority, it ought to be. When you get to my age, body parts start to hate repetitive motion.

To preserve my keyboard from being hammered to death, I use a Belkin Nostromo n52 as a keyboard replacement on my left hand. I had the old Nostromo and loved it so much that I got the n52 the nanosecond it came out. Now, I've heard about a host of gaming keyboards and gaming keypads, each with their own collection of toys, but the Nostromo is the only one out there that I can actually comfortably rest my wrist on while easily reaching all the keys plus make decent use of the D-pad and thumb buttons. Again, the issue is ergonomics and comfort, and a left-hand pad like the n52 that supports my wrist is perfect.

[JointStrikeFighter]

That said G5/mx518s are cheap and fine.

Yeah at this stage any G5 you buy should be the updated model, mine was 1st gen so its mouse-wheel-click is shit, I got used to it though.

2nd gen also has the 2nd thumb button.

[Brother-Captain Gaius]

I bought a so-called "gaming" mouse awhile back when I needed a corded mouse with a good 5-button setup and no bullshit. Since they don't make the old IntelliMouse Explorers anymore, the closest thing I could find was some $20 no-name (or at least I'd never heard of the company, Trust) little mouse tucked away behind all the big-name stuff. It was ostensibly marketed as a "gaming" mouse, what with its fancy sensitivity toggles for "fast FPS action" and macro-click auxiliary LMB button for ultra-fast clicks. I mostly ignore both of those features and for the absolute steal of $20 I got a helluva mouse. One of the best purchases I've ever made. It's the perfect mouse in my mind; corded, medium-sized (not one of those huge monstrosities nor a minuscule laptop mouse), two thumb buttons and a no-bullshit scroll wheel/middle button.

Edit: I found it, here:
http://www.trust.com/products/product.aspx?artnr=15080

[General Zod]

Gaming mice are stupid. Almost all mice have a thumb button, but tilting wheels and non-sweat grips and shit are worthless. That said G5/mx518s are cheap and fine.

Like there are enough multi-button games on PC that aren't console ports anyway.

The non sweat grips are worthless, but I've gotten to like tilting wheels. Not for gaming though, I find them great for quickly scrolling through big documents or images. (And most any $30 mouse includes a tilt-wheel these days).

[Oskuro]

I always LOLed at hyper-expensive gaming mice, like that World of Warcraft glowing monstrosity they try to pass as "useful", but then again, if they are built so the buttons are sturdier, I find it interesting, since even if I don't game much, the sturdyness will make the mouse last longer before needing a replacement.

And I agree with Lagmonster, ergonomics shouldn't be understimated, I spend a fair chunk of my time using a mouse and a keyboard, so I'm not about to use some uncomfortable thing that'll increase the risk of injury. Or those tiny mice that can slip in between your fingers when you click.

[Stark]

Mice don't die due to structural failure; the electronics break. I've never even heard of a mouse breaking because someone crushed it in their fatty hand (or whatever). Crud buildup in button sockets is a more serious danger.

[Oskuro]

Just opened the damn thing, just to check. I was expecting the board buttons to be malfunctioning, but they operate fine when pressed directly. The only thing I've seen is a groove matching the board buttons on the plastic buttons from the cover. So I'm guessing the failure is due to erosion of that part, although I'm not discarding electronics failure completely.

[Wing Commander MAD]

I'll have to echo Lagmonster with regards to the G9, its a nice ergonomic mouse. Then again I may just have freakishly large hands as I found the original Xbox controllers quite comfortable. The G9 should also be somewhat reasonably priced now that its replacement the G9x has been on the market awhile. I know I got mine cheaper than what that kinda mouse normally goes for, and that was last summer, as a result.

[Stark]

Sadly it's the ugliest mouse in the entire world.

[Broomstick]

Like Gaius I got a "gaming mouse" because our last mouse died and we needed a new one and got a steal of a deal on a model being discontinued. The extra buttons do come in handy at times, but to ME the best feature is that is is not a right-handed mouse. This may not matter to most of you, but an ergonomic mouse designed for a right-handed is invariably fucking useless to a lefty-mouser such as myself. And no, even after years of being required to use my wrong hand to mouse due to bullshit corporate rules that will NOT buy a lefty-compatible mouse I am still clumsy as all hell with a righty-mouse. The Other Half and I still have a perpetual argument over which side of the keyboard the mouse was last left on, but at least we can BOTH use the fucker comfortably!

Though we don't have one of those uber-gaming mouses, just a sort of mid-line model. So... sometimes they might be a good thing, but I wouldn't walk into a store looking specifically for one, I'd just keep an open mind to considering one.

[Stormin]

MMO PvPer here and the more buttons I can get on the mouse the better. Unfortunately I'm left handed so that restricts my choices.

[Executor32]

I have a Razer Mamba, and I rather like it. It was a a little damn expensive, but worth it for me. It's the only wireless mouse I've ever used with which I didn't have response issues. It also doesn't have to be charged on the dock; you can plug the dock's USB cable into the front of the mouse and it is, for all intents and purposes, exactly like a corded mouse. It is specifically right-handed, unlike most of Razer's other mice, but the angle of the upper surface isn't so steep as to be uncomfortable to use left-handed. I've had to do that quite a few times when my right hand was, er, busy.

[charlemagne]

I have a Microsoft Sidewinder Mouse, it was rather pricey but I bought it for several reasons: one, my old MS Intellimouse Explorer was equally pricey but served me fine for years (that's not to say that cheaper mice can't do the same), two, I like the size and "handling" of MS mice. Actually my Intellimouse Explorer didn't even fail, it just started to look ugly, because the shiny grey plastic got worn out. I think this won't happen with the Sidewinder mouse since it's matte black. Anyways, I went into a store and tested mice lying around, and the Sidewinder mouse handled just fine and I liked it better than e.g. Razors or Logitech mice.

The mouse has features like "a guaranteed gazillion left-clicks before the button breaks", and you can program macros for specific games (or any other program) that will only be active when the specific game is running. Never used that though I just "programmed" the thumb buttons with something more useful than "forward" and "back" for browser usage (I think it's still set to "i" and "space" for opening inventory and jumping in Lord of the Rings Online). Oh, and it has a button that opens the games window that is in Windows since Vista It has 2000 DPI and is not just optical, but LAZOR, which feels pretty twitchy at first, but once you get used to it, it's great because you don't have to flail around the whole desk when moving the pointer. It also can lower the DPI via buttons when more careful movement is needed, I think I used that once in Gimp. Oh, and the scroll wheel (and thumb buttons) is metal and actually feels very nice. Actually the whole mouse feels nice, it's pretty heavy, sturdy and has a great "this is a quality tool" feel about it, as stupid as that may sound.

This is all not really worth blowing 60€ on, though, because cheaper mice will do the job just fine, too. I just 1) had the money to blow on it and 2) like how it looks and feels. I wouldn't go back to a mouse with lower DPI, though.

[adam_grif]

I bought an MX-1000 Laser mouse when it was new on the market, it held out 3 years and finally needed replacing after a small child immersed it in milk for 20 minutes. I will never forgive the little prick.

The 2 thumb buttons functioning as "forward" and "back" for web pages was occasionally handy, and I mapped them to grenade and melee for my shooter games as applicable.

[Edward Yee]

I've had to do that quite a few times when my right hand was, er, busy.

If I may so wonder... why is it that most people think RIGHT handed for being occupied? In my case, I'm so attached to using the mouse with my right hand that I just adapted accordingly.

Wait a minute...

[Starglider]

I replaced all my mice with Razor Diamondback Pros a couple of years back. They're no-frills, quite sturdy, relatively cheap and subjectively feel a bit more precise than previous mice I've used. I've used various ergonomic mice over the years but none of the designs really appealed.

[Edi]

I'm soon going to be looking for a new mouse, since the scroll wheel on my Logitech G5 is busted (everything else works perfectly). I checked some out yesterday when I bought the new keyboard, but it looked like everything from Microsoft was crap piled on shit and wouldn't fit my hand or was otherwise too flimsy. Logitech mice weren't much better, since I'd like a mouse that has the sensitivity adjustment of my current G5, but a better wheel. It doesn't help that two of the cats are ragdolls, meaning they have long hair, and the cat hair gets fucking everywhere.

I've also got the same problem as Lagmonster, I need a massive size mouse so that it will fit my hand comfortably. So any suggestions on mice that have good functionality and are built like a tank are welcome.

[Lonestar]

I use This mouse, which is actually suppose to be intended for the mobile market. Works great.

[Vendetta]

Sadly it's the ugliest mouse in the entire world.

Put it in a brown paper bag when you're not holding it?