Mice problems

[garethace]

The previous Logitech Mouseman wheel mouse looked quite cool, but looks can be deceiving. That sapphire space age looking object, was in fact a very sorry excuse for a mouse in terms of human ergonomics. Hence my need to replace it now, with something a bit more forgiving during long days and evenings on the desktop.

 

 

 

There was a nice MP3 player application with the Logitech Mx500 mouse. I installed it and promptly ripped a few CDROMs - nothing special. But it did highlight one important point I hadn't considered - I mainly use CAD applications myself, rather than MP3 applications on the computer. The MP3 application interface is exactly where the Logitech Mx500 does earn its keep.

 

 

Navigating in and out between miserable tiny MP3 interfaces with a zillion different sliders, knobs, levels and switches, can be a nightmare using a standard ball mouse. A lot of mice dread having to deal with tiny, miserable little icons stuffed below into the system tray on the taskbar.

 

 

Not this mouse! It can make very light work indeed of knobs, sliders and check boxes. The slightest movements of the wrist translating into fractions of a millimetre movement on the screen.

 

I hear from the guys who use a lot of Music mixing software, Video editing software - with a zillion dialogues and sliders - the Mx500 is their tool of choice. Some of the dedicated 3DS MAX, MAYA, Softimage, Lightwave users might do well to check out the Mx500.

 

None of this fiddly, interface, MP3 stuff for me! I tend to make my screens my canvas, and I love making grand big gestures right from the shoulder as real artists used to do.

 

I tend to use two screens and huge MicroStation J viewports with acres and acres of space to travel through, with good big old icons in the toolbars.

 

The main reason I like mice with side thumb buttons at all, is to program the thumb button to an F key and shortcut 'Pan' to that F key in the CAD software. Interactively panning a large CAD drawing saves a heck of a lot of unnecessary hassle.

 

 

The thumb button on the MicroSoft Intellimouse Explorer mouse is exactly right in my personal opinion. But those two tiny, miserable little thumb buttons in the Logitech Mx500 are more of a fanciful gesture, than a real proper attempt at a thumb button.

 

 

 

With the MicroSoft mice, your thumb rests right on the button whilst using it, but it this mouse, the thumb permanently rests below the two thumb buttons, and you have to consciously move the thumb 'up' as it were, to make proper contact with the programmed F key to pan or rotate view. Bad, bad, bad.... considering I might use the pan tool a million different times a day!

 

This Logitech Mx500 is more of a surgeons tool, to carefully adjust the bass levels on your MP3 controls, or the levels slider in Photoshop.

 

 

[ August 15, 2003, 09:16 AM: Message edited by: garethace ]

[garethace]

In office applications, scrolling and stuff seems to work a charm now. When you tell the mouse to scroll just 1 line, 3 lines or 6 lines, the behaviour of the mouse hardware reflects these adjustments to the Mouseware 9.7 driver settings.

 

 

 

Gamers all tell me that sniper shooting with an Mx700 cordless mouse can be wicked fun indeed. I aim to move my small form factor chassis away from the monitor. And just place it in some corner of the room quietly doing its thing.

 

The movie Minority report shows Tom Cruise using an Alias style of multimedia clip collaboation and lots of very large video walls. It also shows like JD Edwards eGovernment software - the ability to mine through data and to generate reports from all of that.

 

Even time team have a large touch screen to do this. But it begs the question how many minority reports does it make room for? The old man who just wants to protect what he creates.