My New Mouse
Posted March 1st, 2003 @ 05:45pm by Erik J. Barzeski
I'm giving a new mouse a go: the Logitech MX-700. It's an eight-button (or more if you want to count click-scrolling) wireless rechargeable mouse. It feels about the right weight, and slides effortlessly on my desk. It's (temporarily at least) replacing a Kensington Optical Elite, a five button mouse.
I'm a big fan of having lots of easily reached buttons on my mouse. I've set the one above and below the scroll wheel to page up/down, I've got one button for command-` (window cycling). The back/forward buttons will scroll me through lists (in my email app they'll delete as they go, for my many mailing lists). I've long set the scroll button to cmd-click (for opening browser links in new windows).
Basically, while I consider myself a keyboard person, if I must use the mouse, I may as well keep my hand there, because the biggest time penalty comes in moving between the keyboard and the mouse.
One quick note: I'm using USB Overdrive for the control of the mouse. Logitech's own drivers don't allow per-application settings.
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Posted 01 Mar 2003 at 10:45pm #
! 8 buttons? :-O
I must be one of twelve people who prefer the Pro Mouse with its one button. Then again, I am *seriously* a keyboard person. I know people that waste a full one third of their computer life clicking at things when they could be using shortcuts. They are called shortcuts for a reason.
Give us an update when you've used it a while, k?
Posted 01 Mar 2003 at 11:00pm #
I'm very, very, very much a keyboard person myself as well. But when I have to move to the mouse, I prefer to keep my hand there and accomplish as much as possible before switching back. Having more buttons keeps me on my mouse longer (ewww, gross! :-D).
I'll post an update when I've used it more. But lemme say, it worked quite well in Quake 3 just now. Posting on that shortly… soon as the game is over. My AlBook is serving it.
Posted 02 Mar 2003 at 7:36pm #
i own the mx-500 which is basically the wired version of the 700. i myself moved from the kensington optical mouse in a box pro. and i love it.
i am a keyboard person myself, but like erik said, i want to be able to do as much with my mouse when i move the hand to the mouse. also is the fact that i have it set up on a per application basis, and i use nearly all of the buttons. it's killer with browsing or awesome while playing warcraft not to have to press back and forth or type a keyboard shortcut to ping something. and even better is the fact that i don't even need to move the mouse to click on something to do it either. i click a button and it happens.
didn't consider buying the wireless mouse, because i knew i'd forget to charge it and what not. besides, i really don't need the wireless aspect of it since the cable is soooo long.
Posted 08 Mar 2003 at 4:22pm #
I've spent less than a week with it, but I already adore my new mouse. This review sums up my thoughts nicely, so I'll simply...
Posted 17 Sep 2003 at 9:59am #
In light of recent announcements, I'd like to reiterate again how much I like my wireless mouse, the Logitech MX-700. I've got no less than...
Posted 18 Sep 2003 at 11:20am #
"I know people that waste a full one third of their computer life clicking at things when they could be using shortcuts. They are called shortcuts for a reason."
Actually no, they're not. Apple's done a lot of research on mousing vs. keyboarding, and thanks to them spending 50 million on studying this issue, we know that 1) test subjects generally claim they're working more efficiently using keyboard shortcuts while 2) the stopwatch reports that the same test subjects are actually more efficient with the mouse.
The reason why people often think keyboarding is faster than mousing is that clicking at things doesn't involve cognitive processing. It's boring, so the time spent on doing something with the mouse may feel longer -- even though it's often shorter.
Go read Tog's rant on the subject at http://www.asktog.com/TOI/toi06KeyboardVMouse1.html
Erik will probably disagree, but until he comes up with his own 50-million-dollar-research on the subject, I'm with Tog on this 🙂
Posted 18 Sep 2003 at 11:24am #
Ack. "thanks to them spending 50 million on studying this issue" was supposed to read "thanks to them spending 50 million on studying this and other UI issues".
Yeah, sure, 50 mil' on mousing v. keyboarding usability studies. Wouldn't that be something. Cough.
Posted 18 Sep 2003 at 7:33pm #
I do disagree. I think the study took into account people goofing up when using keyboard shortcuts. Or not remembering them.
There's absolutely no way in hell hitting command-S - as much an instinct for me as anything - is slower than reaching for the mouse, pulling down the File menu, and choosing Save.
Period.
And I didn't have to waste $50,000,000 to get the wrong answer, either. 😀