Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/05/28/this-logitech-mouse-is-changin.html
…
2 Likes
I’ve had this conversation with a surprising number of apple aficionados. The insistence that I need XYZ feature and only Mac…
When those features are pretty standard, if a little different from other manufactures. Multi-touch track pads have been at parity across the market for a long while. And I had a Logitech mouse with most of the short cut, and programmable functionality in question back in 2004. Its been a standard feature of multi button mice for a very long time. And while its gotten a lot smoother, more sensible and reliable since. The only place you couldn’t find it was in an Apple product. Their mice have been extremely limited forever. And a fair bit of the track pad push seems to have been about getting that increasingly standard functionality in there somewhere without having to design a mouse that was more than a no button puck.
It seems to be a standard bit of Apple marketing for a while. Convince the loyal that the normal only exists on Mac. In place of innovation.
4-5 years on an input device is actually pretty good. But not on a $100 input device. And not given Apple’s previous reputation for longevity.
My first expensive mouse. A Logitech MX Revolution I scored on sale for $50, lasted 10 years. I’m pretty pissed my current $80 Logitech gaming mouse is starting to fail after only 4 (main button switches). But their current marketing and newer releases are significantly built around improving durability and usable life after their reputation tanked a bit. Reviews seem to back that up. So I’ll probably get another and see how it goes.
6 Likes
There’s your problem right there - never trust a wireless input device. I know it’s against the Tao of Apple to have those primitive cords on your desk, but all of my experience has been that corded keyboards and mice just work perfectly until they physically wear out, while wireless kit may stop working at any time for any number of reasons^, plus you are saddled with the care and feeding of yet another battery.
^ partial list of reasons: Bluetooth sucks, Apple reinvented the wheel only this time with more bugs, bluetooth sucks, batteries suck, bluetooth sucks.
13 Likes
When my apple trackpad gives up the ghost, I’m replacing it with a wired one. Having to replace batteries every couple of months is so last century. Wait, does anyone sell a wired trackpad?
3 Likes
Plug the magic trackpad into the pc as if you were charging it, it works as a wired trackpad. Ditto the magic keyboard. Current gen Magic Mice have the charging port on the bottom because designer stupidity, so you can’t use this dodge with them.
5 Likes
I thought I’d had mine for a long time but turns out it’s only been 2 years and change. Still going strong, though. I only paid $50, but it was a re-furb.
Sh-should I be worried?
I haven’t used a mouse in a really long time but I guess they’re fine, especially now that they’ll do the features I’m used to; good to know. I do really like that trackpads are stationary rather than having to move my arm across a surface, though. I was also considering a trackball but a lot of the reviews I read of non-mac keyboards, mice, and trackballs said not all the keys/functions worked, so I went for Apple refurbs. I wish someone made a bluetooth one of those thinkpad-type nipples that I could just stick onto my keyboard somewhere.
@SeamusBellamy just in case, I assume you used ifixit to do the teardown or how did that work?
How long has it been since you tried one? Many wireless mice/inputs don’t use bluetooth, but a 2.4ghz RF signal that’s far more reliable. Most of the better ones use RF. Most of the good wireless mice these days have an integrated, but replaceable rechargeable battery. Mine just uses a AA eneloop. And recharge by plugging a USB cable into the front. Where upon it’ll just run as a wireless mouse. And I mostly use mine as such. The battery needs a replacement, and as an older gaming mouse it didn’t have much life when off the cord even when new. Maybe 4 or so hours of hard use. Couple days for regular browsing. (Like I said its failing in otherways so its getting replaced at some point).
My previous wireless mouse that lasted about a decade. Likewise only eventually failed when its switches gave out from mechanical use. I replaced the internal batteries more than once. And the biggest flaw that thing had was it charged on a cradle where it was finicky to seat. So it couldn’t be used while charging. That sort of setup is out of style these days.
Wireless mice today aren’t much like the wireless mice of the past. And the quality ones are worlds different than the doesn’t have a plug, toss a couple AAA’s in it every few weeks cheap ones many people toss in a laptop bag. Logitech recently released a mouse-pad that provides wireless charging for some of their mice as well. So you can never have to worry about plugging it in.
1 Like
In my case, wireless is a must. I live in a 40 foot RV. I have space to store most of the things I need for work, but during office hours, our dining table doubles as my desk. Having to move everything out of the way so that my wife and I can have meals together is already a pain in the ass. Adding wires into the equation, which I have in the past, makes it that much worse. I’d rather deal with battery recharging than untangling everything at the end of the day.
5 Likes
Nope. It failed on me at a time when I didn’t have Internet access (we were dry camping in Utah.) I had to open it up, without a net.
1 Like
nice.
so, wedge the plastic off the bottom with a knife and the rest is straightforward? any tips?
1 Like
I’m confused. Do they actually still sell wireless mice that don’t go years between needing their batteries recharged or replaced? I mean, admittedly mine is a M705 and it’s explicitly advertised as running for three years on one fresh set of batteries, but I kind of assumed it wasn’t a couple of orders magnitude different from other mice.
Yes. But they’re very low power draw. Low functionality models. Just a few buttons. Very low DPI/sensitivity setting, lower polling rates. Use lower power draw and cheaper lasers that don’t get along with certain surfaces. All to preserve batter life.
That’s fine if all you need is a general mouse for word processing and browsing the web shit like that. But if you need anything like a performance mouse. For gaming or creative work or whatever. They don’t even perform as well as cheap off brand wired mice, or even the auld ball mice.
Better multi button, high/variable DPI mice with fast polling rates chew up a lot more power. A single AAA doesn’t last very long. So its rechargeable batteries, and cables. Ability to run while wired so you can use it while charging. And software bits to extend battery life, lower polling rate outside games. Turning down the DPI setting and so forth. And improved batteries. A lot of the wireless gaming mice used to get like 2-4 hours of use during heavy, high power use. Now its 8+. And you just plug it in and continue when it gets low. In standby or for light use they’ll typically run for days or weeks depending on settings.
If you want a wired trackpad, Wacom makes some nice ones. Plus, you get a pen also, so you can draw on it…
3 Likes
I’ve had a Magic Track Pad since the day it was released and have not had a single issue with it. I find a mouse tedious now. There’s my anecdotal 2 cents.
2 Likes
Same here. Mine’s been solid as a rock. Zero issues.
I’ve also been using the same Kensington Expert Mouse (aka. trackball) daily for about 8 years and it’s still working beautifully. I prefer it and the Track Pad to a traditional mouse – they’re both so sensitive that gentle finger motions do the trick, rather than wrist motions, and it seems to stave off carpal tunnel.
1 Like
I’ve been a fan of Logitech mice for ages; a bunch of my clients have that M150 at their desks and I like it OK. But… for a slightly higher price, Logitech has a few mice with a really awesome feature: a weighted, free-spinning wheel. (It actually has two modes: one where it spins freely, and one where it goes click-click-click in the usual manner. You switch between the modes by pressing a little button next to the wheel.)
Free-wheeling mode is a really fast way to scroll quickly through documents, spreadsheets, directory listings, etc.; it also stop on a dime when you touch the wheel again, so the control is surprisingly exact. And - possibly even better - it provides an excellent fidget device for those moments of staring into space waiting for inspiration to strike.
The first mouse I had with this feature was a VX Nano; I had that guy for AGES, but eventually it fell out of my bag onto concrete once too often. These days I use an M705; I saw them on sale at Best Buy yesterday for $24.99. It doesn’t fit my hand as well as the VX Nano did, and the shortcut buttons are a little too easy to press, but it’s still a great piece of kit.
(The 3-year battery life is BS, by the way. My first set lasted 8 months - still pretty darn good, I’d say.)
3 Likes
because i loved it so much i bought 510s for all of my staff (to use optionally… they could stay with their magic mouse if they wished… only one did). they work with both mac and pc wonderfully. and yes, the battery life is crazy. at home, due to very limited space, i use the 570 trackball… but just recently it doesn’t like to register clicks in gmail.
1 Like
I have a Logitech MX Master as my work mouse. I’m really picky about my HIDs and I absolutely love it. It can run wired, wirelessly with it’s proprietary dongle, and over Bluetooth.
It’s incredibly responsive, very customizable (lots of buttons, gestures, etc.), has good weight balance without being too hefty, and I love the scroll wheel that can unlock to spin freely which is really neat. Not cheap, but worth it.
I’ve never been particularly impressed with non-laptop Apple input devices (and their current crop of laptop keyboards are simply terrible). In fact I’ve always found their mice to be pretty bad going back to the original Mac 128K mouse. Microsoft used to have great keyboards and mice but in the past few years it’s all super slim and fancy stuff I don’t like anymore.
5 Likes
I find mice painful; but I recently got a desktop Windows box, and the Magic Trackpad doesn’t have Windows drivers, just some very dodgy third-party offerings. Are there any good trackpads - preferably wired - that run on Windows?
People talk about how trackpads have reached parity, but I’ve yet to experience a trackpad on a non-Apple laptop that matches my MacBook Pro or Magic Trackpad. It’s annoying.
1 Like
