Mouse Optimization - for the Gamer in you or just getting rid of mouse skips



  • Found this Mouse Optimization Guide when looking to get rid of an annoying skip in my mouse. This, after causing me to click a favorites bar shortcut instead of Map button in-game & thus leaving the game for another web site, resulting in my losing my army because I couldn't switch back fast enough to control the defense gates. -_-

    Section 1.2 (Amended) about setting 6 in control panel seems to have done the trick for me. Even though the mouse is slightly faster than I'd like, it's consistent, so I can get used to it. 😄

    Since I usually configure my computer immediately after setting it up to what I like, sometimes these little things just don't occur to you as a related problem. (Or maybe I'm TRWTF on that, but that's ok - wouldn't be the first time.)

    Figured I'd share this in case it's helpful to anyone else, gaming or otherwise!


  • FoxDev

    really I've been well served with the default settings in windows for my mice. the only time i get skips or dragging is when i need to clean the ball again.

    My Logitech M570 has served me well for many years.

    <blakeyrant>

    now if they would just make a damn bluetooth version instead of faffing about with that unifying receiver nonsense. i don't want to lose an already limited USB port on my laptop and it has bluetooth built in!

    </blakeyrant>



  • @accalia said:

    need to clean the ball again.

    The ball...?

    You mean like the physical rubber ball that spin the little wheels, like in the 90-ies?


  • FoxDev

    nope. but i suspect some would prefer that.

    it's a trackball. a very nice one.



  • @accalia said:

    <blakeyrant>

    now if they would just make a damn bluetooth version instead of faffing about with that unifying receiver nonsense. i don't want to lose an already limited USB port on my laptop and it has bluetooth built in!

    </blakeyrant>

    Blakeyrat does not use wireless keyboards or mouses.



  • @cartman82 said:

    The ball...?

    Hey smart guy, maybe look up with a Logitech M570 looks like before heading towards the snark.


  • FoxDev

    wait.... blakeyrat defended me and my choice of computer peripherals?

    whaaaaaaaaaaat?

    (i only use the cordless for gaming on my laptop, i use this mouse on my gaming desktop)



  • No, I was just calling Cartman82 an idiot for making the "har har har mouses don't have balls!!!" joke when the post he was responding to had a LINK DIRECTLY TO A TRACKBALL with a BIG PHOTO ON THE TOP SHOWING A BIG BALL THAT WOULD NEED CLEANING.

    I actually used a trackball for a long time, but it developed a cut in the plastic somehow right where my thumb sat and it kept scratching my skin and was annoying. Then I found the RAT series of mouses and fuck everything else because they're brilliant.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Hey smart guy, maybe look up with a Logitech M570 looks like before heading towards the snark.

    Apologies, didn't know ignorant snark is your exclusive territory.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    @blakeyrat said:

    Then I found the RAT series of mouses

    It is probably a testament to how good they are that you can google "RAT mouse" and actually get a piece of computer hardware in the results....


  • 🚽 Regular

    @Yamikuronue said:

    RAT mouse

    http://cdn.instructables.com/FN5/FXSH/F0ZTLK0N/FN5FXSHF0ZTLK0N.MEDIUM.jpg

    Edit: Just realised that GIS result links to an Instructable. Thanks internet.


  • FoxDev

    ..... that is more than a little creepy...

    :barf:



  • @accalia said:

    My Logitech M570 has served me well for many years.

    Another trackball user! I thought I was the only one left!

    I'm using a M570 right now.



  • You're not the only trackball user.

    I just happen to be doing the Kensington Expert Mouse - yes yes, I know what it sounds like. But you can't tell me http://www.kensington.com/en/gb/4493/64325/expert-mouse-optical-trackball is a mouse.


  • FoxDev

    @Bort said:

    Another trackball user! I thought I was the only one left!

    yep. i started using them so my sister would stop hogging my computer.

    then i grew to like them.

    then i refused to use anything else.

    I wonder if work would be willing to expense the one i'm using for work? i'm not using their provided mouse or keyboard actually (my keyboard is a K800)


  • Java Dev

    I know a colleague of mine uses a trackball, citing RSI, and gets it procured and paid for by the company.

    My work mouse came with my dell laptop; it does not appear to have a name.


  • FoxDev

    @PleegWat said:

    I know a colleague of mine uses a trackball, citing RSI, and gets it procured and paid for by the company.

    I cited: i want to. to get my trackball at my first job. they said, ok don't get one thats more than $25 and have the secretary pay you from petty cash.

    this job i didn't ask cause i had the mouse from last job (they didn't want to keep it) but i since upgraded to the M570 which is wireless.

    i could ask, but it was a year ago and i really don't feel like bothering for a total of $50 (for the mouse and keyboard)


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @accalia said:

    ..... that is more than a little creepy...

    Nope! Chuck Testa!


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    I talked them into getting me a tenkeyless mechanical keyboard, partly because I saved several hundred dollars by buying a KVM from Amazon instead of the corporate "preferred" vendor.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    I feel like the odd one out here because I use the stock Lenovo keyboard and mouse.



  • I still hate the need for every company to think that since I want a wireless mouse, I must want a wireless keyboard as well.



  • Stock keyboards are generally fine (although I love my ComfortCurve 2000), but mouses? You gotta get a decent mouse.



  • @accalia said:

    yep. i started using them so my sister would stop hogging my computer.

    At a previous job, my boss would sometimes grab my mouse and start clicking on things when he got tired of backseat driving.

    Then I brought in the trackball.

    He once (only once) tried grabbing the entire thing and shifting it side-to-side. The rubber feet got pulled off and of course the pointer went no where. I could tell in his mind he just said "screw it". He gave up and went back to pointing where he want me to click.


    Filed Under: Don't touch my shit



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Stock keyboards are generally fine (although I love my ComfortCurve 2000), but mouses? You gotta get a decent mouse.

    The really cheap ones are usually too small for my large hands.


  • FoxDev

    @Bort said:

    Filed Under: Don't touch my shit*

    *or i will cut you, and you'll be lucky if i only use my scathing wit.



  • @blakeyrat said:

    Stock keyboards are generally fine (although I love my ComfortCurve 2000), but mouses? You gotta get a decent mouse.

    It's weird; I take almost the exact opposite position. I think the keyboard is one of the most important things to make sure you get something nice on, but for office use I've seen little reason to prefer one mouse to another. (I did actually just buy an M570 literally a week ago; we'll see what I think about it.)


  • ♿ (Parody)

    As long as the keyboard doesn't miss keys and doesn't have a retarded insert / home / etc layout I'm probably fine with it. And if the mouse has a clickable wheel I'm probably good there, too.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    Two buttons, clickable wheel, about the right size - that's all I want from a mouse.

    EDIT - at work, at least.



  • The RAT5 wheel clicks "left" not "down". So you can click it without accidentally spazzing the wheel.



  • I had some RSI problems a while ago, and related problems still occasionally flare up for brief periods, so I suspect I'm unusually conscious about the comfort of a keyboard. Unfortunately, no one makes the keyboard I want... I want a MS Natural-like split keyboard with mechanical keys, but not a radical redesign like the Kinesis Advantage or TECK1. Ideally with a "reverse tilt" -- i.e. you can raise the front of the keyboard. Though I could also make a stand for one that didn't have that.

    1I'm not nearly far gone enough to feel like the learning curve of those are worth it. The Kinesis is also frustrating because they put a lot of work into making a good layout, commissioned the switches that went on to be the backbone of most current mechanical keyboards, and price it at an incredible premium... and then put the world's shittiest function keys on it.



  • I finally jumped on the mechanical keyboard bandwagon, but only because I was literally wearing out cheap keyboards about once a year. I went through a pair of Logitech K320 keyboards, and I would actually wear out the buttons before the batteries needed replacing.

    Mice I don't care about, as long as it's nothing crazy. I do have a Razer Hex Naga at home but only because the thumb buttons are insanely convenient to map voice chat channels to in certain games. At work I have a bog-standard Microsoft optical mouse.


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @EvanED said:

    I had some RSI problems a while ago, and related problems still occasionally flare up for brief periods, so I suspect I'm unusually conscious about the comfort of a keyboard. Unfortunately, no one makes the keyboard I want... I want a MS Natural-like split keyboard with mechanical keys, but not a radical redesign like the Kinesis Advantage or TECK1. Ideally with a "reverse tilt" -- i.e. you can raise the front of the keyboard. Though I could also make a stand for one that didn't have that.

    On our sister discourse install, there was a topic about this sort of thing. The host talked about how it was really uncomfortable for him to turn his hands to be square with the keyboard. At this point, I looked at my own hands and realized that my wrists were straight, and I simply curl my fingers more or less to get my fingers to rest on the appropriate places on the home row. It's actually a fairly natural pose for my fingers.

    I cannot stand having the keyboard tilted. Flatter is better, because when the keyboard is tilted, my wrists are forced to bend up. But with a relatively flat profile I have no problem.



  • @boomzilla said:

    At this point, I looked at my own hands and realized that my wrists were straight, and I simply curl my fingers more or less to get my fingers to rest on the appropriate places on the home row. It's actually a fairly natural pose for my fingers.

    I actually noticed something when I was trying a Kinesis for a few days: I think I'm using the "wrong" fingers to hit a couple keys on the bottom row on the left. It may be because I do the same thing as you. So out of curiosity, (1) do you consider yourself to touch type "properly", and (2) what finger do you use to press 'X' (in QWERTY)?

    (I think I actually don't use my left ring finger on the bottom row. I use pinky on Z, middle on X, and first on C and V and B. Other than those keys, I do the right thing, and I found getting to the point where I could type English text on the Kinesis was a remarkably very short learning curve other than those keys and backspace. Most non-letter keys were an entirely different story, and I was frustratingly bad at it even after almost a week.)



  • @boomzilla said:

    On our sister discourse install...

    Wait, what?


  • ♿ (Parody)

    @EvanED said:

    So out of curiosity, (1) do you consider yourself to touch type "properly", and (2) what finger do you use to press 'X' (in QWERTY)?

    I mostly touch type properly, though I don't really bother with the numbers (never really got the hang of those), though I do for at least commonly typed symbols (@, (, ), -, _, =, +). I use my left ring finger to hit the x.

    @Bort said:

    Wait, what?

    On David Zych's blog.


  • Java Dev

    I've found while on the one hand I don't care overly much at work, I definitely do have preference. I use the mouse that came with my latest laptop, as it has relatively high accuracy. But I do stick with the keyboard I got 7 years/2 computers ago when I first landed this job, as it's somehow just more comfortable to me.

    At home is a different matter, as I'm a gamer - keyboard is a microsoft internet keyboard (input devices are some of the best stuff microsoft makes). Mouse is a cyborg rat TE. Additionally I use a Logitech G13 one-handed keyboard for many gaming needs - thumbsticks are way superior to wasd for movement.



  • @PleegWat said:

    At home is a different matter, as I'm a gamer - keyboard is a microsoft internet keyboard (input devices are some of the best stuff microsoft makes). Mouse is a cyborg rat TE. Additionally I use a Logitech G13 one-handed keyboard for many gaming needs - thumbsticks are way superior to wasd for movement.

    Agreed that Microsoft's input devices division is worth keeping. I have a Microsoft Comfort Curve keyboard on my personal desktop paired with a Logitech MX518 mouse, and a Logitech G11 keyboard on the main desktop paired with a Microsoft SideWinder X8 mouse.


  • I survived the hour long Uno hand

    @EvanED said:

    what finger do you use to press 'X' (in QWERTY)?

    Left middle

    @EvanED said:

    do you consider yourself to touch type "properly",

    I touch-type, very quickly, with an acceptable error rate (if I've had my caffeine). Thus, my typing is meet for the purposes, thus, it is correct :)



  • @EvanED said:

    It's weird; I take almost the exact opposite position. I think the keyboard is one of the most important things to make sure you get something nice on, but for office use I've seen little reason to prefer one mouse to another. (I did actually just buy an M570 literally a week ago; we'll see what I think about it.)

    Seconded - I really love myself a good keyboard (once you go clicky, you never look back - while mine costed about $30 and is so old that it doesn't even have a Windows button, it's still lightyears ahead the rubber domes), but as for mice, I'm rarely doing anything requiring that much precision, so my $3 one works just fine.

    Also, want a truly horrendous keyboard experience? Try the roll-up silicone ones. I bought one for night use, since my standard one seemed too loud - I could barely use it, so I gave it to my sister, who hates me for it to this day.

    @boomzilla said:

    On David Zych's blog.

    http://i.imgur.com/86foI2C.png

    Oh.



  • @Maciejasjmj said:

    once you go clicky, you never look back - while mine costed about $30 and is so old that it doesn't even have a Windows button, it's still lightyears ahead the rubber domes

    I'm typing on one with MX Blues now, and I will probably go back because I'd rather have the split design of the Natural 4000. My 4000 is pretty old though and the keys don't even operate well compared to when new, so I may get a new one -- but I think I want to try out the MS Sculpt keyboard. I'm not sure I'll like it, but I think I might and there's not really a way to tell than try it for a couple days. :-) And I also consider the Windows key nearly essential, both in Windows and Linux; I'd give up a very nice-feeling mechanical keyboard without one for a typical mediocre stock keyboard with one.

    The first point goes back to what I said earlier:

    @EvanED said:

    no one makes the keyboard I want... I want a MS Natural-like split keyboard with mechanical keys, but not a radical redesign like the Kinesis Advantage or TECK


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @EvanED said:

    MX Blues

    Why do you hate your cow-orkers?

    I got MX Blacks because of the noise.

    I wanted to buy a mechanical keyboard for home. Micro Center had a gigantic pile of Duckys. Not a one of them were labelled--anywhere--as to which kind of switches they used. WTF. Six months later, they finally fixed that. That is, the store did, by putting up labels on the shelves. You better hope people don't pick 'em up and put 'em down on a different stack, or open the box and test it.



  • @EvanED said:

    And I also consider the Windows key nearly essential, both in Windows and Linux; I'd give up a very nice-feeling mechanical keyboard without one for a typical mediocre stock keyboard with one.

    Ctrl-Esc gets you where you want to be 90% of the time. The remaining 10% I don't remember the shortcuts for anyway.

    @EvanED said:

    the split design

    Hm, that might be a good point - though I'm pretty okay with my home row being somewhere around AERG JOP'. To each his own, I guess.



  • @FrostCat said:

    Why do you hate your cow-orkers?

    I think you mean "why do you hate yourself?" 😄 My usual thought when someone posts about how their Model M is built like a tank is that fact would come in handy if I had to listen to them type because after a while I'd have to beat them over the head with it. 😄

    But this keyboard I actually got for gaming at home, where the noise isn't really a problem, and decided to try it out here for typing. And it's really not all that bad; it is somewhat noisy, but it's still substantially quieter than an old Model-M-style keyboard.

    I'm also in an office, not a cube.

    @Maciejasjmj said:

    Ctrl-Esc gets you where you want to be 90% of the time.
    I make pretty heavy use of Win-E on Windows, and on Linux I put all my WM functions on Windows keys. Considering I usually use a tiling WM, that's a lot of keystrokes, including things like Win-1 through Win-9 for switching desktops. It allows a very nice division of "every keystrokes involving the Windows key go to the DE, and all others go to the current application to handle" so I don't have to worry about clashes with Emacs or whatever.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @EvanED said:

    I think you mean "why do you hate yourself?" My usual thought when someone posts about how their Model M is built like a tank is that fact would come in handy if I had to listen to them type because after a while I'd have to beat them over the head with it.

    But this keyboard I actually got for gaming at home, where the noise isn't really a problem, and decided to try it out here for typing. And it's really not all that bad; it is somewhat noisy, but it's still substantially quieter than an old Model-M-style keyboard.

    I'm also in an office, not a cube.

    When I got my keyboard I made sure to get MX Blacks because they are significantly quieter. You might not think so if you hear someone using them but compared to Blues? Good grief.



  • At work, I use whatever keyboard and mouse they give me. I think the current ones are Dell multimedia things.

    At home, I use a keyboard with MX Black switches, although I''ve recently been hearing that MX Red switches may actually be better for gaming stuff.

    As for mice, I need to get a new one with a clickier mouse wheel soon as my current one scrolls just a bit too easily for my taste. Meaning that I often scroll past what I intended to scroll to as it clicks one thing farther than I meant to. I also have a nasty tendency to use mouse wheel scrolling in FPS games to switch weapons, so clicking one past what I want isn't a good thing.

    Still, it has to have at least five buttons (well... 4 plus the scroll wheel) as I use the extra ones for other things. My current one has 7 buttons, but I never use the two on the right side of the mouse as they don't work for where my hand is positioned as a right-handed person... I just assumed they're there for left-handed people.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @powerlord said:

    At work, I use whatever keyboard and mouse they give me. I think the current ones are Dell multimedia things.

    I've been known to put in extra RAM, a video card, etc., to power up a crappy company-supplied computer. It helps if you work at a place where nobody minds you doing that, though.

    At my current company 3/6 technical people have done personal upgrades.



  • @FrostCat said:

    I've been known to put in extra RAM, a video card, etc., to power up a crappy company-supplied computer. It helps if you work at a place where nobody minds you doing that, though.

    At my current company 3/6 technical people have done personal upgrades.

    What size company?

    I've worked for various sized companies, and none have ever had an issue with me asking for something, and them supplying it.


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @chubertdev said:

    What size company?

    I've worked for various sized companies, and none have ever had an issue with me asking for something, and them supplying it.

    Both small and large, annoyingly enough, suffered from "we'll give you just enough computer to technically get by." While in the case of my current, small, one, the owner has his own jet.

    Since my current Pentium 😱 from 2011 😱 stubbornly refuses to die I am considering replacing the motherboard/CPU/RAM.


  • :belt_onion:

    @redwizard said:

    Section 1.2 (Amended) about setting 6 in control panel seems to have done the trick for me. Even though the mouse is slightly faster than I'd like, it's consistent, so I can get used to it.

    While 1.2 is nice, section 1.1 is absolutely the biggest and most important change to make. When you move your mouse, it had better goddamn move the same fucking screen distance per hand distance, CONSISTENTLY.

    1.1 - Disable mouse acceleration.

    It is absolutely vital to disable all mouse acceleration when playing Counter-Strike. With acceleration on, you will not be able to play consistently. For example, you might move the mouse 6 inches to turn 180 degrees, then you move the mouse 6 inches another time, and depending on how fast you move the mouse you might turn 100 degrees, you might turn 270. This uncertainty in mouse response inevitably limits everyone's potential.

    Using someone's computer that has acceleration turned makes me want to throttle them with their mouse cord ( or bludgeon them with it if it's wireless). It pisses me off to no fucking end that the Windows morons deemed mouse acceleration a must have default property and fucked every default windows installation ever.



  • At work, I'm currently using the stock HP keyboard and mouse that came with the workstation. They're ok enough for work, the only slightly annoying thing is not having a right Windows key (there's a Fn button in it's place), because I now have to use two hands to snap windows or move monitors quickly.
    I might be able to overcome that if I can be bothered to get batteries for the MS Touch mouse I have (I won it, rather than bought it). Single-finger to scroll, two finger swipes up/down/left/right for maximising/minimising/snapping, and can just brush my thumb on the side to go forward and backwards in browsers. It's a pretty nice mouse, just a shame it goes through batteries fairly quickly.

    At home (and for gaming), I've always been in the Logitech camp. I've currently got a G900 mouse and G510 keyboard - I loved the screen on the original G15, and chose the G510 over the G19 for the extra G keys, and not requiring a separate power supply. I haven't used a mechanical keyboard for about 15 years, and that one not only had a ton of keys to the left (including one that sent the Ctrl+Esc signal, luckily because the keyboard didn't have a Windows key), but was made from metal as thick as the PC's case.


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