Wireless Mouse
Posted September 17th, 2003 @ 09:59am by Erik J. Barzeski
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 eight buttons and a scroll wheel on this thing (the scroll wheel doubles as a button, of course). It's wireless. It's optical. It uses rechargeable batteries and has a recharging base. A single charge lasts a few days (I just charge it every evening).
It's sleek. It fits my hand. It's stylish. I was a Kensington Man™ before this mouse, which I purchased some time ago, but I'm now at least neutral, if not in favor of Logitech hardware. One caveat: I use USB Overdrive and not their lame-ass drivers.
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Posted 17 Sep 2003 at 10:16am #
You forgot the most important part. It looks pretty good. 😉
Posted 17 Sep 2003 at 10:39am #
I use a Logitech Cordless Duo on my G4 minitower. I'm forced to use their crappy software for two reasons: so I can see the battery indicator and so I can take advantage of the extra keys on the keyboard. Also, if I don't have their drivers loaded, the alt & command keys are reversed.
I really wish USB Overdrive supported keyboards as well as mice & joysticks. I use USB Overdrive on my powerbook with my Kensington Optical Elite mouse.
Posted 17 Sep 2003 at 12:56pm #
Mike, have you looked into using Microsoft Intellitype drivers? They work with most other keyboards and support a bunch of extra keys. But yeah, I use the MX-500 (didn't think at the time that wireless was important, but in retrospect I wish I had gotten it) and I too use USB-Overdrive. It's pretty good.
Posted 17 Sep 2003 at 1:02pm #
I just bought the MX-700/Cordless Keyboard bundle at Staples the other day. Oh man... nice. The media keys (play/pause, forward, reverse, and volume) buttons even work - something I wasn't expecting.
While the mouse is *designed* for right handed users, it also fits fairly nicely into your left hand.
It is a pain to start using though. The mouse requires you to first charge it, then use it until it's drained, then repeat 2 times. Somewhat annoying I guess, but you live.
Posted 17 Sep 2003 at 7:07pm #
I just started using mine. I haven't drained it fully like that. I probably should have, but it's doing okay, so…
Posted 17 Sep 2003 at 8:06pm #
I must be the last of 10 people to still use the pro mouse. I've never liked having two choices for which button to click. I often forget, for example, that in windows right clicks bring up context menus. I don't care about them because they almost never have what I want, and I use the keyboard for most of my navigation tasks.
Posted 19 Sep 2003 at 5:50am #
I bought the MX Duo not long ago and I've loved it since. I have the receiver connected to my Apple Pro keyboard so I can have an extra USB port (on the keyboard), and because I just can't zap the PRAM (or start in single user mode) using the wireless keyboard. I tried USB Overdrive, and it works great for the mouse, but I couldn't get it to work properly for the keyboard. So I just use their software (the one on the CD was outdated), which is fully functional. Since I don't like its icon on my System Pref pane, I just move it to a folder I named "Disabled PreferencePanes" and move it back whenever I need to remap my key configuration.
Having used an optical Microsoft mouse before, when I first started using the mx700 I found it to be quite heavy, but hey, no cables! I got used to it really soon, and man, I just love the wireless freedom. I have been using it for a couple of days now (I believe) without having to charge it, and now it's been blinking (red led) for at least three hours and it's still working fine.
Oh shit, I guess I've turned this into a review. Oh well, yeah, the mouse rocks. 🙂
Posted 16 Oct 2003 at 8:07am #
Gamepad Companion
Word on the street is that some people are having trouble getting their gamepads to work with certain emulators on MacOSX. So I did a little searching and found GamePad Companion for OSX which allows you to map your gamepad...