Logitech TrackMan Wheel
Available in both cordless and wired form Logitech's trackball sits along side the Microsoft Navigator as a near definitive exemplar of the breed – providing you use your right hand of course. The thumb ball itself is perfectly sized, while the sculpted body should fit comfortably into nine out of ten hands. What separates the Logitech from other trackballs we have used is the greater degree of freedom in the ball movement and its tendency not to accumulate organic detritus in the socket. A well thought out and well made device that does exactly what it says on the box. As a bit of kit that has been in constant use here at Vulture Central for several months, we can testify, first hand, to both its durability and reliability.
Reg Rating 90%
Price £40 Click for the best online price
More Info Logitech
Belkin Washable Mouse
Even those with Howard Hughes-like levels of personal hygiene sometimes recoil in horror from the organic gunk that accumulates in the nooks and crannies of their mice and trackballs. For the mysophobic amongst you, Belkin has come up with the washable mouse. The upper surface of the mouse is coated in a thin sheet of brown rubberised plastic which covers the left and right click buttons and has a white touch sensitive scroll bar seamlessly stuck to it. So, no nasty crevices for sweat and grime to find a home in. The rubber cover feels a little unusual to the touch, but not unpleasant and has the added benefit of damping the click function making the Washable rather agreeable to use. Belkin stresses the Washable is not dishwasher or washing machine proof . Washable, in this instance, means a rinse under the tap with some soapy water.
Reg Rating 75%
Price £20 Click for the best online price
More Info Belkin
Next page: Microsoft Explorer Wireless Mouse
COMMENTS
Five buttons on a Mac
I've got a five-button Microsoft mouse connected to my Mac and all five buttons work without hassle. I've assigned the extra three buttons to activate Exposé - it's the future!
Also, "Window's users"?
Euroffice sell 3M mouse for 30 quid!
I got one of the 3M joystick-like mice today. I hurt my wrist ages ago and it still gets sore on the odd occassion, so a RSI-reducing mouse like this is a Godsend.
First impressions? I thought "WTF!" on first using it, I couldn't select anything, errant clicks, there's no mousewheel button, and it tended to move itself now and again (my hasty wiring) but after an hour or 2 let me tell you I think it's going to be the best mouse I ever had. FOR WORK.
Don't buy it for games or pixel art, there's no way in hell this is accurate enough for pixel-perfect shooting or Paint.NET/GIMP etc (then again, maybe in a month I'll be a ninja with the mouse and I'll regret saying it, but tbh I can't see how you can get perfect lateral movement with this guy due to the way you hold it)
But if you spend 8 hours a day in an office typing and working with the mouse most of the time, like me (lots of Visual Studio windows to swap through) then I would recommend this bad boy.
PS: it also looks extremely cool. My wife likes it! (the mouse I mean.)
What happened to Logitech G9??
My favourite, it turned out that gamer mice solved my RSI problems... :)
Logi G5
The G5 is fantastic, especially when combined with a good pad. The biggest advantage for me over the MX mice is the non-teflon feet which are still gliding perfectly after two years of use. There are 3 possible dpi switch levels controlled by a button above the scroll wheel, but they're programmable with SetPoint, as is the sensitivity on each axis. The scroll wheel has nice subtle notching, not stupidly heavy clicks on it, but nice gentle scrolling that lets you know when you hit the next notch. This makes it difficult for me to use the middle button but I've always found that difficult since they started putting scroll wheels on them. Other than that, the rock function of the scroll wheel (you can move it left and right to move pages left and right) is a welcome addition, and if you're into gaming and can be arsed spending a little time on it, the weighting system can actually make a difference. Mine's a little tuned, but to be honest, I just set it up to be the same weight as my MX500 was and went from there. Buttons still click perfectly after a couple years use, and it's also incredibly comfy.
Mogo point of order
The MOGO is an excellent mouse, but mine has started acting up. The left mouse button has semi died and is almost unusable. The cause? Gaming. I have taken the mouse around-the-world with me, through jungles, across deserts and the only thing that damaged it was playing Mount & Blade in the evenings!
Regards,
Basho
www.outsideconext.com
