looking for a gaming mouse

[aidanjt]

The Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer, best mouse, ever.

[carmatic]

normally im a 'fingertip mouse' kind of person, but im really intrigued by this
http://www.zalman.co.kr/Eng/product/...ad.asp?Idx=284
the name sounds like it has a B missing from the beginning....

[shadowmaster]

Here is a review on the cyber snipa mouse I put up a few days ago-

http://forums.hexus.net/reader-revie...ing-mouse.html

Here is a review of the zalman fps gun-

http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/zalman_fg1000/

I'm not sure how good it is for everyday non gaming use.

[carmatic]

well, by the looks of sites like http://www.computingplus.co.uk/mice.htm , using a vertical mouse is a real way of using a computer, not just some gimmick or something...
i'll still have to see what it feels like to have the sensor so far out the front, vs right beneath my palm, like how well it works for moving vertically compared to horizontally

[Az00123]

Really, considering that site is actually trying to SELL you mice i wouldn't take it's advice seriously (even if it is true that vertical is better, you'll get your face laughed off at @ lan)

Also, older mice are still good as mouse technology doesn't advance very fast and technology isn't really as important as functionality and comfort. Lots of gamers are still buying/using optical mice over laser even though the problems of laser are fixed, this could be because they still believe rumours that laser mice aren't good or that they are simply happy with optical, it still does the job well.

[Dirk]

Second that, the MX518 not only looks good but is great for gaming.

I'll 3rd that my MX518 works great and is very comfortable to use for long periods of time. I had I MX510 before that which was the same shape and just as good also.

[carmatic]

ive got the zalman gun mouse in my hand now...
whats immediately obvious is that it tracks better than my razer lachesis on my icemat
but therein lies the problem, the icemat is a solid piece of glass, and the way you hold the mouse means that the edge of your wrist is hitting the edge of the mat most of the time... kind of sore, i never really believed in mousepads with built in wrist rests until now
you'll also want to use the mouse with a very slick pad because the leverage of the front of the mouse will really bring out any resistance between the mouse and the pad, and trying to move the cursor slowly will bring feel like the mouse is 'sticking' to the mousepad
what also doesnt quite help is the fact that the cable routes out of the mouse so close to the mousepad, when it rubs you can really feel it, again because of the leverage
another thing is that while the box says 1000hz polling, and so does the driver app, its actually more like 750hz, whereas my lachesis was true 1khz polling... ive read that its some kind of usb miniport thing in the newest xp service packs or whatever, razer's drivers simply bypassed it to achieve true 1khz polling and i would like to find a way to do the same with the gun mouse
the mouse is 2000dpi, but the way the mouse works makes that slightly irrelevant because again, the leverage comes into play here, moving the cursor across my 2 screens side by side quickly is nearly effortless, but there is a whole lot less space to move it up and down, i have to rotate my icemat by 90 degrees to accomodate the mouse properly... trying to move the cursor slowly to point at small text or icons makes my whole hand tense up, maybe i just havent gotten used to it yet, or it can be helped with a wrist rest ... i have a tendency to drag when i really wanted to click, and scrolling the wheel up makes me push the mouse to the right and scrolling it down makes me pull it to the left
with enough practice and a proper setup and posture on your desk, it CAN be used as an RSI-proof daily mouse im sure, not just for use in games, but its just such a large departure from 'normal' mice that there is a steep learning curve to go through

[aidanjt]

No, really, the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer, it's light, fast, accurate, slick feet, and it's a true HID device, so all the 5 buttons map in games and other software without having to install dodgy drivers/software, regardless of Operating System.

[Zsev]

Ok this may sound rather old school, but as some have mentioned here. The intellimouse series from microsoft are actually the best problem free mouse to buy. Looking at the professional gaming scene, most if not all pro players are still using microsoft mice.

To put it simply,

Large hands + palm grip = Intellimouse 3.0, deathadder, MX518

Medium hands + semi palm grip = Intellimouse 1.1a, logitech G1, diamondback 3G

[carmatic]

nice suggestions everyone

today something quite ironic happened, after spending cash on a new mini wireless keyboard (which misses keystrokes once in a while and doesnt have the numpad) , that zalman gun mouse, and taking more cash out for food etc etc etc, i went to the bank to check my balance... when i asked 'how much is there left in my account', the woman behind the till told me, 'five one eight' ... guess its a sign of what i should have spent my money on!

anyway, back to the gun mouse that im using now... if you are moving from a fingertip control style like i was, or maybe even if you are used to the palming style, the first few hours of using it where you instinctively push the 'handle' of the mouse sideways will end in disasterous attempts, instead you have to put the edge on the little finger side of your hand, between your wrist and your palm, firmly onto the surface, and use it as a pivot point with which to move the mouse relative to the surface.... like you have to 'anchor' yourself to where your hand happens to touch the mousing surface, and move the mouse relative to that point
but unfortunately, that part of your hand isnt fleshy like the proper center of your palm, which would otherwise be in contact with the surface were you using a normal mouse... i think that particular bone which is sticking out at that point is called the 'ext. carpi ulnaris' as labelled on http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...e5/Gray220.png , and that is imho the biggest problem with the zalman gun mouse... you have to use it on a soft mousepad, otherwise the edge of your hand will get very sore very quickly.... this might not apply to everyone, like if you happen to have hands which are big enough to rest the fleshy parts on 'the bottom of your fist' (so to speak) onto the surface and avoid touching that bone on the edge on your hand, you should be allright, but that definitely isnt the case for me... it feels like i am trying to avoid grinding that edge bone onto the surface, and its causing me to lose grip and control over the mouse
so now, i am either stuck with using a smooth but painful solid mousepad, or a cloth pad which somehow wont have any noticable glide resistance, because of the leverage which i talked about in my previous post...

also, this mouse is very sensitive to your posture, as in how high or low you are sitting, because it engages such a large proportion of your hand and you can only hold it at one particular angle ... unlike the normal mice where you can move your fingers etc around to get a better grip

the mouse wheel also needs getting used to, for most of you who have used mice with side buttons, you will instinctively try to push the wheel inwards with your thumb... in fact, its meant to be pushed straight down, i.e. you dont pull the mouse side to side that much when you get used to scrolling the wheel properly, you have to get used to using your thumb to push straight down at the wheel, rather than rubbing it on the left side of the 'handle' ... that position on the left side of the handle is meant to give grip to the thumb, and its vital for moving the mouse accurately... the most accurate control i find is if i squeeze the handle between my thumb and the metacarpals (labelled 3 on http://www.emedicine.com/plastic/ima...85060-1631.jpg) , and leave my index and middle fingers to grip lightly on the 'trigger' buttons and the area around them to provide whatever grip they happen to have

one last thing, as you can probably tell, vertical movements are somewhat restricted on the mouse, almost all the vertical movement is from front and back motion of the entire arm... a big departure from my fingertip control style where i use my fingers to push and pull the mouse... this is when a nice, smooth, comfy mousepad would come in handy because you will be rubbing your hand ALOT on the mousemat when you aim up and down

the driver app of the mouse seem to be quite useless, only the 'mouse acceleration' slider seems to have any effect and its something that i want to keep off anyway... the independent x and y axis sensitivity doesnt work, the global sensitivity doesnt work either... but then again when i was using my razer lachesis, none of the sliders in its driver app worked either... the annoying thing about the zalman driver app is that whenever you restart your computer, by default it decreases the windows mouse sensitivity by one notch, and this creates a drift to the upper left if you use any polling rate greater than 125hz

on the plus side, dpi changes on the mouse somehow dont seem to affect me ... switching between 1000dpi and 2000dpi mid-game only seems to affect how much i can aim up and down before having to lift the mouse , horizontal movements are so natural that the dpi settings are pretty much transparent, i almost never felt the need to stretch my hand too far sideways or re-aim because ive turned too far, and this was at both dpi settings... on the desktop, 1000dpi is adequate for my 1280x1024 resolution on the main monitor, the cursor can just about reach the top and bottom ends of the screen without too much effort, and the sideways motion is enough to cover both my screens side by side in one single swipe... but accurate and precise movements still take some work, it probably gets easier once i dont have to deal with the pain of griding my hand on the mousing surface....

[Ciber]

Ebay the zalman and get a mx518, you know it makes ense.

[carmatic]

yeah, i cant deny it any longer