My wireless mouse is finally going on the fritz, and as there are not very many places (that I'm aware of, please correct me if there are) that actively review mice from a gaming standpoint, I thought I'd hit you guys up for opinions.
How are wireless vs. wired today? Laser vs. optical?
Personally, I've tried out the Logitech MX 518, and I've really liked it. I like Razor's offerings, but the mice don't really fit my hand, although I am open to suggestions.
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Really, just get one that feels comfortable, looks decent, and fits your price range.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
I'd personally go with anything in the logitech line that has two side buttons. Some of their mice have only one side button, and I've always enjoyed having two personally, though YMMV.
PSN ID : Xander51 Steam ID : Xander51
I do 3d work so middle mouse is super important... it might not be with you though.
PSN: super_emu
Xbox360 Gamertag: Emuchop
I bought a Razer Diamondback mouse and a Razer mousepad and love both. Wouldn't trade them for anything. The mouse itself has on-the-fly adjustable sensitivity and, well, 7 buttons. (really 5 but the two on either side have rocker switches). And the pinky side button is a little hard to use as well, I guess I don't exercise my pinky enough to have a great amount of dexterity to use a button in a split second decision. Especially when the button is a rocker switch. But, it's blue, and we ALL know blue is cool.
The mousepad is great also, it has some nice pads to keep it from moving (and although there is no adhesive on these pads, it has stuck to my desk like a rock). It's made of metal and is dual sided and has, thus far, given me EXCELLENT performance. The mouse is wired and USB connective. I'd recommend both, high performance, no batteries, and blue LEDs. What more do you want?
I very VERY strongly recommend Labtec, oddly enough. I have Logitech and "Microsoft" wireless mice and they both suck. Logitech's seems to have problems with the plastic mouse itself being a peice of junk, and the MS laser bluetooth deal has communication issues. Labtec makes an extremely simple optical wireless mouse that's comfy, sturdy, works very well at respectable ranges, and everything. I likee vurry much.
It does take regular batteries instead of a LithIon pack, so I keep a charger handy with four AA extras (they double for the Xbox 360 controllers).
I also like when there are two extra buttons by the thumb. One is usually for autorun in WoW/GW and the other is for Vent push-to-talk.
Yeah, my new MX 400 has been a pain in the ass for that. I find I have to put a lot more effort into pushing the middle mouse button towards the center of the mouse, rather than simply pushing it down, to get it to "click" without scrolling. It's only really bothered me when web-browsing, but it's something worth looking into.
I got mine for $40 or so on sale. That was months ago, so who knows the current price.
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I have one of these too and love it. It's hard to not have the two thumb buttons (which automatically map to forward/back in firefox) even for everyday use, plus the sensitivity adjustment on the fly is really useful in games like the Battlefield series.
EDIT: LoL typed Copperhead instead of DeathAdder.
I wouldn't expect the mouse to magically make you a better gamer though. It is just a mouse with DPI switching capabilities and 4 extra buttons. If it wasn't for those features I wouldn't be able to distinguish it from any other mouse I've used.
I also have the MX5000 bluetooth keyboard/mouse kit and havnt had any game breaking issues with either the keyboard or the mouse. The mouse in the kit is basically a bluetooth MX1000 cordless. Having three thumb buttons is nice, but no game recognizes them so they have to be bound in the software to keys, and since the software is dumb, it does not remember keybinds by application. In game responce of that particular mouse version is really good, I could not tell a difference between my corded and cordless. Since it has a Li-Ion pack, battery life is very good as I have gone days without putting the mouse on the charger, however it is much heavier than a simple corded mouse.
I do hate the logitech G series mice, simply for the reason that they only have One thumb button. Whoever thought it would be a good idea to remove buttons instead of adding them is an idiot. The more buttons, the better.
The MX518 is really solid too a friend of mine has one, the deal breaker for me was wires. With my current PC setup the wire would go down the side of my desk into a USB socket, this would always mean I would be pulling against the wire upwards if you get what I mean >_<
Guess it's time to buy a new mouse then.
For wireless, the MX1000 is unbeatable (except by it's successor, whatever it's called). I use it and you don't have to worry at all about batteries--this thing runs for about three days straight off the charger, and can "quick charge" to last maybe a day within an hour. Once it tells me it's running low, I just pop it on the charger that night and it's full within a few hours, ready to be used for a few more days. I also can't notice any lag or anything.
As for laser vs. optical, I can't tell difference.
The successor is the G7. EVERYONE BUY THE G7.
G7. G7. G7.
Take it from a MX700, MX900, MX1000, and G7 user: Get the G7. Get two.
Cradle mice? BAH! Who wants to set the mouse down for hours when the batteries run dead? A quick-release "pop" and you're set with a new battery with the G7. Not even a battery door to deal with! It runs the high-capacity batteries dead relatively quick compared to an MX mouse because it has to keep the sensor active constantly in gaming mode. I got two (one for the laptop and one for the desktop) so I have twice the batteries in reserve. Because I use a different Logitech mouse for the desktop when I'm not playing a game, I always have plenty of spare charged cells to throw in the laptop bag (otherwise, I'd carry the USB charger).
All of this shit is fucking FALSE. As in, completely inaccurate.
But what can I expect from someone who places "blue LEDs" on a list of reasons to buy a mouse?
Negative, it is absolute FACT that wires give better performance than wireless. It is also FACT that 802.11b/g will interfere with 2.4 GHz phones. If you don't know what you're talking about then don't speak. And I happen to enjoy blue LEDs. I should also add that that particular mouse comes in a few different colors. I got the blue one.
Now piss off.
No, your full of shit and I'm tired of it.
Look, if you're looking for a gaming mouse, here is the best mouse logitech ever made for gaming:
Wireless, simple comfortable design. I've been using this mouse for years. I've gone through about 3 computers and I'm still using this same mouse. My mouse is so old that THAT mouse in the picture is actually a bit newer than mine. On mine the logitech logo is closer toward the buttons, but everything else is the same. This mouse is so good, that at one point my scroll wheel wasn't working too well, so instead of buying a new mouse I simply picked up a logitech mouse I had laying around (that comes for free with their keyboards), took out it's scroll wheel and used it to replace my trackball's scroll wheel. Now it scrolls really smooth.
Bottomline: This is the best mouse ever. Batteries last a really long time on this mouse. Theres no LEDs, no "omfg shitload of buttons", no stupid pushing the mouse around on a table, it just kicks ASS. Get one.
Hey, the earth is flat. If you want to live in ignorance, have at it.
The fact of the matter is you don't know shit about wireless technology. It would be well advised for you to stop posting on the subject.
Well, not really. There are certain objective facts which can be debated.
But the fact is there's no debate going on here, just angry people yelling. Try to keep that down, guys.
Tilt wheel used to piss me off but I remapped the thumb back button to middle mouse button and the tilt wheel to page forward/backward. Personally I find using the thumb button a hell of a lot better for things like 3dsMax then pressing down the middle button. So it was a winning situation for me in the end.
Ok, I thought I'd brought up my posts in a reasonable way then got yelled at. The reason I bring it up is that wireless interference does exist in the 2.4 GHz band. This includes 802.11a/b/g wireless devices and bluetooth. I was called a liar, then even others posted that intereference exists, but somehow I was wrong because it was another device's fault. I really don't care what causes it.
The reason this is important is that in a "gaming" mouse, you want accuracy and performance. Wireless interference is BAD for this. For those that have wireless mice and are happy with them, good for you. The potential for interference exists and should be considered in a purchase.
You also have to deal with batteries. Some people don't mind the added hassle (I consider it a hassle). It also makes your mouse heavier.
In this respect, I consider wired superior for the additional bandwidth available on a wire that's not available wirelessly, plus I do'nt have to worry about degraded performance due to a dying battery and potential wireless interference from other devices.
I hadnt heard of them until recently but they look awesome
http://www.a4tech.com/en/product1.asp?CID=102&SCID=103
Im looking at the X-750BF for my next purchase, which performs very well and importantly is CHEAP. (mice are a horrible rip off for what they are tbh) and this is just £20 ($40?) for a mouse that will keep up with the best gaming offerings from logitech or ms.
A guy in my clan is a bit of a mouse whore, having had just about everything, and says this is the best he has used.
Also, if you want a comparison of mice (which includes the A4tech) check out this benchmarking article on esreality: http://www.esreality.com/?a=longpost&id=1265679&page=1
If Microsoft released a direct upgrade to it with a newer sensor, tiltwheel, and each side button split into two, I'd buy a damn case of 'em and use it until USB is beyond obsolescence.
Yes, it has one of those annoying tilt-wheel middle mouse buttons, but if you just remap the lil' "search" button to middle click instead, it's actually more convenient that trying to click without scrolling.
Plus, if you get the uberOptions modification, you can remap any button to pretty much any button, placing effectively a second keyboard under your right hand. Hell, I can count 12 buttons I can set to whatever I want over there.
It makes WoW much easier, I tell you what.
That, and my 2.4GHz phone is directly in the path between my mouse and the receiver. I've never had problems.
Thank you. At last some encouragement. After ordering mine I've begun to worry that I've made a bad choice.
No, man. They're solid. I got mine when my MX1000 broke down and my 3-year service plan (which I exchanged at 3 years less 3 days) dictated I got a "feature-comparable over-the-counter exchange". I was worried because that weird scrolly thing on the side was new and frightening, but it works well.
Bonus points for wireless mice: no cord. I cannot express how much having a cord shove back against me pisses me off when I'm trying to line up a shot. That alone has me away from wired mice FOREVER.
Oh, and for people who are worried about lag time difference between wired and wireless mice, I'd be that most of you haven't even bothered changing the polling rate on your USB ports. The default (I think) is 125hz, and kicking it up to 500hz is a marked improvement that basically erases any "speed" difference between wired and wireless.
I mean come on, above a certain point, the lag is in our heads, not our mice.
Does the revolution have the double batteries like the G7? Or just a single battery and sits on a charger when you aren't using it? They took a giant step backwards it doesn't have the 2 battery config.
I know that I personally would end up kicking myself pretty hard about once a week if I had a wireless because I'd never remember to keep it charged and that would suck, and I don't mind the wire because my desk isn't nearly big enough for wire length to be an issue.
The lag on a modern wireless mouse is so low that it's not going to be discernable in comparison to a wired mouse. The Logitech G7 reports 500 times per second. Your reaction time is at best going to average around 1/5 of a second. The latency introduced by reporting every 1/500 of a second is not going to affect you. That is a 2 ms delay when your brain's delay is going to be over 200 ms.
Nevermind the fact that in online gaming you have network latency on top of that. Your PC introduces latency as well. Getting 60 FPS steadily from that top of the line video card? That's taking a whole 17 ms to update the screen. The gaming mouse reports position changes 8 times faster than your videocard can show you what is happening and 100 times faster than you can process what is being shown to you.
Anyone that blames the mouse is a fucking tool.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH