draft0 - a shared blog by just some people

I've written about my high standards of demands of a computer mouse before. But those posts have pretty much only talked about what I'm _not_ using and why. In absence of good mice, this is what I am using as pointing devices.

On laptops while travelling: Integrated touch pad or touch screen. This has nothing in common with my dream mouse. But it's there, doesn't need connecting, packing, extra batteries or space on a way too small hotel room table.

Anker A7852M. It's a vertical mouse. I use it mainly for work, for changing my hand position every now and then. It's annoying, falls over multiple times a day and doesn't really help with carpal tunnel syndrom. But it feels very nice.

Vaxee XE-S Wireless. This is a "pro gaming mouse". I'm testing it to see what you get for hundrets of Euros. I was so stupid to go for the S variant because the regular size wasn't available as wireless version. I thought being wireless would be more important than fitting my hand. It's probably not. But it's not smaller than other mice, so whatever. I'm not a gamer. So maybe I can't judge this mouse's qualities properly. But I can judge how well it fulfills the features I'm looking for in a mouse. And it's not all that good. It's reliable in scrolling and clicking. But so is every 20 € mouse when it's new. The plastic case doesn't feel better than a cheap mouse's. The paint rubs off in one spot after only a few months. The clicks sound different and are harder and softer for different mice of the same model, which makes me think the switches aren't really of such high quality. I had to clean them once to make the left one work reliably again. The scrolling wheel pretty good grip actually, but it is very soft, which I dislike. The cable is a good flexible rubber one. So using it with cable isn't a problem. But it's not as good as Razor ones. It's too small and light, I'm probably going to mod it at some point.

Logitech M-S69. My favourite mouse and the one I use most is a classical cheap Logitech ball mouse. The highpoint of standard OEM no-nonsense mice from the late 1990s. The beginning of "two buttons and a wheel but the wheel is actually the third button as well". It was labeled with all sorts of computer manufacturer names and included with ne PCs around and after the millenium change. Mine is branded Fujitsu Siemens. But that doesn't matter. What I like about is the high quality of switches compared to today's mice, the clear tactile (and audible) click when turning the scroll wheel and the slim body. If a mouse has to be too small for my hands, at least I want to be able to move it around with two fingers instead of by resting my hand on it. I think I would prefer the same mouse but with an optical sensor. But the ball isn't a problem, either. Back in the day I used to hate having to clean the mouse so often of deal with it not moving where I want to point. But with the right pad (gray cardboard) it works as well as an oprtical mouse from that time, which is as good as it ever has to.

I've written about my unreasonable feature wish list for a computer mouse before. This post is about the best mouse that I found to buy according to my standards

To name it right away, it's a Razor Viper. The buttons and the wheel do not have the quality I was used to during the 2000s from using cheap Logitech and generic OEM mice. But they did survive my house being a dusty building site for a long while, which isn't true of most other mice's switches. The left and right buttons work as reliably as I could hope for. The middle one needed some cleaning and still isn't as good as in the beginning. I have to press it harder than I'd like. The wheel turns very easily with a slight and almost silent step. That is much softer that I'd like it to be. Other than those of cheaper mice it does still work reliably. The coating of the wheel has long gone. So it's unusable with greacy fingers. But those of cheaper mice are all the same and mice with better rubber tyres from Razor aren't available anymore, it appears. The Viper (Ultimate, 8kHz or newer version, not the Mini) is slightly on the bigger side. It's simple and usual design makes grabbing it and moving it quickly reliably easy. But it is not quite as big as I would wish for. Its cable has a synthetic textile sheath and is very flexible. The best mouse cable I've ever had. There is a wireless version, too. My variant doesn't have the side buttons. While it looks like they are there, they can't be pressed and there are no switches. So I can't accidentally navigate back and forth like with other mice. After two years of not opening it, a surprising amount of dirt entered the case. Beside the mentioned problem with pressing the middle button (wheel) this doesn't seem to be a problem though. There seems to be two wholes below the big buttons where the more gunky dirt collects and drips down beside the switches.

Modifications

Since it comes with LEDs inside (for a glowing Razor logo on the back) I had to take care of those. There is a GUI configuration tool for Windows and a very basic open source CLI tool for Linux systems. The latter can't be installed easily on all distros though. Since I wanted them to be off all the time anyway, I just unplugged them. They are conveniently placed on their own, separate PCBs, connected to the rest of the electronics with cables. So they can easily be removed or unplugged. While I had it open, I've added steel weights by glueing in isolated screws. You could add a bit more weight by creating the right shape of metal parts. But this was sufficiant for me. On the bottom plate replaced the small and very thin rubber feet with way thicker felt ones. The new ones also collect dirt like crazy. But they can take a lot more of it and don't make the mouse wiggle from it.

This is far from my ideas mouse. But it is one that can be bought right now. At ~60 € it's not even that pricey compared to what's out there. In my next post about I will write about the mouse that I'm actually using that can't be bought anymore.

I use the mouse a lot when I'm on a PC. And I have very specific expectations from a good mouse that I haven't seen met in any product. I know that my expectations must be high, considering that others don't seem to have them. But I also think that the differences between a 20 Euro mouse and a 150 Euro mouse are very small. I believe that others would like a mouse with the features that I desire in a good computer mouse. They may not realise it because it doesn't exist. But I would be surprised if I would be alone with these preferences. I'd like to describe those features here for that reason, but also with a little bit of hope that somebody might have a tip for me for a product to try out.

Form Factor

Most ergonomic mice are restricting because they prevent switching the position of the hand from time to time. Therefore I'd prefer a simple shape with no unnecessary folds and pertrusions. There are some not so default mouse designs though that I don't mind, like those that hold the hand in a 90 degree rotated position, as if you're going to shake somebody's hand. That form factor likely prevents issues with your wrist. I'm not considering non-mouse pointing devices, like joysticks or trackballs. Althought I like the idea of a pointing device that only sends out positional information relative to a screen's center and physically snap back to their center position when untouched. I'd try one of those if it would be supported by an OS that I'm using.

Buttons

I don't really need more than three button. with less than three, I definitely miss the missing ones. But I never got used to additional buttons enough that I'd use them regularly. The same goes for additional wheels. Three keys and one wheel are enough to do many things on its own. For more there are enough additional keys on the keyboard to press and hold down. So I'd prefer there to not be any additional buttons that could be pressed accidently and cause unexpected/unintended behaviour. The three usual buttons should be hard to press compared to most mice. I would like to have to use some force so that it is impossible for me to ever accidently press one by sliding across the surface with a finger, by slipping off the scroll wheel or from random finger spasms. I don't need to be able to click repeadedly very quickly. I don't want the buttons to bounce back to support additional clicks. I want an anti-gamer mouse in this regard. Touch fields that aren't disabled by default also are unacceptable to me. I don't think I'd mind a bit of travel as long as there is a clear clicking point.

Caseing, Size and Weight

I wouldn't mind a rugged case that doesn't mind being handled roughly. Or a sealed one that doesn't mind being under water and can be cleaned easily. A metal case isn't so nice because it can feel uncomfortably cold. But metal parts would be good because they add weight. I haven't had a mouse yet that's as heavy as I would deem ideal, even after adding steel weights. But most mice can be brought to a comfortable weight by filling most of their free space inside with steel parts. The other things where I'd like my ideal mouse to go above what's considered reasonable is its size. I don't want my hand to hover over the mouse like a spider with long legs. I want my hand to completely lay on the mouse. The wrist on its back, leaving the forearm lifted from the table; the fingers resting on their respective buttons without bending much. My hands are surely larger than average. (Although I've seen people with much larger hands.) So a mouse for me should also be that large. Some ergonomic office mice come close to such a comfortanle hand position. But they seem to be made for average-sized hands. I haven't seen a really large mouse like that yet. Maybe what I feel that I want would look rediculous. Maybe it would be so. But so did 5 inch phones when they first came out. And I argue they also fill hands more comfortably.

Scroll Wheel

I have very specific ideas of how the scroll wheel of the perfect computer mouse should be. There should be exactly one. It should be between the left and the right button (because that's what I'm used to and it works very well that way, not because I believe there have been enough expreriments for the perfect position), pertrude above the left and the right button about 3 or 5 millimeters and be about 15 millimeters in diameter It should serve as the middle/third mouse button. (That one isn't necessary, but very useful sometimes.) So far so usual. It should not be tiltable to use it for additional buttons/functions unless this feature is deactivated by default. The wheel should have clearhapticall steps or clicks that reliably correspond to scroll steps. It should never come to rest between two steps. Some force should be necessary to turn the wheel so what brushing it on one side accidentally (as an example) won't turn it a step in either direction. The surface of the wheel should have a rough and deep rubber profile. Only very few gamer mice ever had scroll wheels with a profile as rough as I want one. And of those most have been changed for mass production. And of the one remaining mouse with a scroll wheel nearly as rough as I would deem minimal, only the first batch had it. Even in mice with changable wheels or surfaces I've never seen one with a grip nearly good enough to call it acceptable. Basically, what I want it a scroll wheel that never turns unintentionally, always turns 100% reliably when turned intentionally, even with greacy as fuck fingers because I'm eating chicken wings in between very important scrolling action and I don't have time to wipe my fingers. There should be little rubber spikes or canyons that aren't reduced to a millimeter after a few years of scrolling (or the wheel needs to be replacable).

Battery, Wireless, Cable

Of course a wireless mouse is nicer than a wired one. Battery powered devices should have standardised replacable batteries. But I see the problems with that in mice. Nowadays I would actually be OK with a non-replacable battery in a mouse. (I am already.) But I'd also like one that takes Canon LP-E6 batteries or similar small camera batteries. If it is a wireless mouse it should use little currents to make it work. With a battery with 1.5 Ah or more charging shouldn't be necessary more than once a year. I wouldn't mind a largr battery that lasts several years. (I know that it's possible.) But a wired mouse is OK, too, if it has a good silicone cable.

What Exists

The tipps that I've received have been hopeless to worthless. Either "the closest you'll get is this one because it kind of almost has one of the features you're looking for" or "try this one, you'll like it, even though it's the opposite of what you described". What I found online was not worth trying. There are industrial mice wit stainless steel cases that look like they might tick some boxes, but not all. But those cost $600 and more. There are a lot of rugged, water resistant or otherwise special mice for indutrial use. But they aren't made to be used effortlessly. I've tried professional gamer mice (yes, including the price range 150 - 200 €) and some Razer ones. Neither their buttons nor their scroll wheels are particularly good compared with my list of expectations. Most disappoint after a while by unreliable buttons or lush scroll wheels. The best one is still a Razer one. Maybe I'll make a separate post about that one. But even with that one I now have to press the middle key very hard and deliberate to make it work.

Is it even possible?

I may be like Homer Simpsen when he designed his dream car here. But I expect that I will only be convinced of that by giving me my supposed dream mouse to use. I might quickly recognise that it's not as usable as I imagined. But I'd like to try. It would probably be hard to produce a mouse with my feature wishlist and sell it for 100 € or less while making a profit. But what about 300 €? I've payed more for mice in the last couple of years. I personally would consider it worth it if the product is what I'm looking for and lasts for 20 years or more.