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Mouse recommendation for 3DS Max please...

branskyj

By branskyj,
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branskyj Newbie

branskyj

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Hi all,

I am looking for a wireless or wired mouse for the sole purpose of 3D modeling in Max.

I am open minded when it comes to price but would not consider anything above 80-90 GBP. My problem is that currently I live far away from the big city and can't just pop in a store and try out whatever they have.

 

Can someone please recommend one with the following:

1. Scroll wheel to click very easily for panning purposes and to give feedback when rolled (my Microsoft Wireless mobile mouse 6000 has smooth-rolling scroll wheel which I hate)

2. To have a back/ forward buttons for Web browser navigation (and please, please let them be easily reachable- the Mobile 6000 placement of these is horrible)

3. To track very accurately small movements (that's why it doesn't matter if it is wired or wireless)

I know that is a lot to ask but still...

 

I am a long term trackball user (went through several Logitech trackballs) but really want a mouse this time to accompany my 3D Navigator.

 

Thanks a lot.

Edited by branskyj
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Dimitris Tolios Newbie

Dimitris Tolios

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Hi all,

I am looking for a wireless or wired mouse for the sole purpose of 3D modeling in Max.

I am open minded when it comes to price but would not consider anything above 80-90 GBP. My problem is that currently I live far away from the big city and can't just pop in a store and try out whatever they have.

 

Can someone please recommend one with the following:

1. Scroll wheel to click very easily for panning purposes and to give feedback when rolled (my Microsoft Wireless mobile mouse 6000 has smooth-rolling scroll wheel which I hate)

2. To have a back/ forward buttons for Web browser navigation (and please, please let them be easily reachable- the Mobile 6000 placement of these is horrible)

3. To track very accurately small movements (that's why it doesn't matter if it is wired or wireless)

I know that is a lot to ask but still...

 

I am a long term trackball user (went through several Logitech trackballs) but really want a mouse this time to accompany my 3D Navigator.

 

Thanks a lot.

 

Almost all Gxxx Logitech mice cover your wants.

They do have the "hyper-scroll" free spinning wheel, but that is select-able between stepped/clicky (much better for productivity tasks) and free spinning (usually great for casual browsing).

 

Personally I use a Logitech G700. It is pretty good, but pricey. G500 (if you forget the tacky looks) and G400 are pretty good too, but if you thing a consistent 800-1000dpi mouse is enough - for example the M500 could also serve you well, it is wired, cheap and more than capable.

 

I rarely use my G700 above 1600dpi for gaming, and often slow it down @ 800 for productivity / precision - it is easy to do one the fly with 2 of the gazillion keys it has).

 

I really like the tracking of MS mice, but the scroll wheel in most of them is awful, especially if you need to hold-orbit etc. This is less of an issue if you are using a 3D navigator maybe, but as much as I like my MS wireless mob 4000 which I got for $15 (think it tracks better than many much more expensive mice out there), I could not stand the middle mouse button for anything but browsing (even then it feels weird).

Edited by dtolios
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branskyj Newbie

branskyj

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Thanks a lot, Dimitris. I was seriously considering the G700 until I read the bit-tech review on it. Does it really have "dreadful wireless performance" and does it "fail to pick up very small movements"? Do you use the game for 3D work or for gaming.

Much appreciated. Got to go now, will write tomorrow.

 

Cheers.

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Dimitris Tolios Newbie

Dimitris Tolios

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I am lazy and I will paste a link to my Amazon.com review for it...:p

 

The mouse tracks very good, and the wireless / wired operation is seamless. I cannot tell one from the other. I cannot tell the difference with 333ms report rate, and definately I cannot @ 500 and 1000ms rates.

 

The only real drawback of the mouse is that it uses a single AA battery, that in wireless mode does drain fast. Lowering report rates does help a lot, but battery life is a 2-3 days of intense use, when other general use wireless mice last months (note: all hi-performance gaming mice share the horrible battery life "feature", even those with large li-ion proprietary battery packs, but I wish at least the G700 had 2xAA).

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branskyj Newbie

branskyj

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That is great news. In that case I will test it next month in a store (I' ll be going to London then). I am starting some heavy modelling and unwrapping in Max and that is the sole reason I am so picky. At work I model with an old plastic wired Microsoft mouse and that thing is near perfect although doesn't have back/forward buttons. I was just about to order a very similar Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 but they don't even sell these anymore where I live.

Anyway- thanks a lot for the help and all the best.

Ευχαριστώ (hope I got it right) :)

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branskyj Newbie

branskyj

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After some more research I finally chose SteelSeries Kana (the white, not that the color matters). I have to say that thing checks all the boxes- 5 buttons, scroll wheel and the other buttons click very easily (very little pressure needed), the back/forward buttons are insanely convenient and the pointer movement is BUTTER SMOOTH. Not to mention she is also a beautiful :)

I was torn between the Kana and Zowie AM (apparently Zowei AM is even better when it comes to gaming) but read some bad stuff about the wheel being to shady.

I guess I have no excuse to not do any real work in Max now :)

Anyway, thanks a bunch for all the great suggestions.

 

All the best,

Julian.

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  • 3 weeks later...
artmaknev Newbie

artmaknev

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I've been using Logitech Trackman (wired) mouse for the past 2 years, your wrist stays in one place, you only use your thumb to move around, it works well for me in max and everything else. Takes like a week or two to get used to it, because you want to move your wrist. Not sure why, but price of this mouse keeps jumping between $25 -$299 on Amazon, really weird. I got it for $35.

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Valtiel Newbie

Valtiel

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For my two cents,

 

I bought a Razer Naga Hex for gaming in Diablo 3 and found it to be incredibly useful for Max as well. It's got the extra mouse buttons behind the wheel for web navigation and whatever you choose to bind to them in Max. The ergonomics, precision, and construction are great but the real novel part of this mouse is the numeric 1-6 buttons on the (right) thumb side. This lets you flip through your sub-object and sub-mod levels including the top-level (6) really fast, offloading some of the work from your left hand. A switch on the bottom of the mouse lets you tell the machine to interpret the 1-6 buttons as numpad keystrokes or the numbers above the qwerty row so you can bind commands to the keypad if you'd rather keep using your left hand for sub-object shuttling.

 

It was a pleasant surprise to find my gaming mouse was so effective in actual work, though it's a bad idea to have games installed on your supposedly productive machine ;)

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