Gaming Mouse.

[Worr Monger]

A trackball eh? I never thought of using one for gaming, but that must take a lot of time to get used to.

I don't think I could make the switch after becoming so comfortable with a mouse.[/quote]

oooorrrrrrr you can not be old.
Hahaha I thought you meant the old mechanical mice
I dunno about the trackballs, the learning curve seems steep.

This looks sick, but it would take a while for me to get used to it. But I shall look into it, seems cool.

I bet it wouldn't take that long.... imagine: Not having to move your entire arm... lifting the mouse because you've run out of space to maneuver. All the scrolling is at your fingertips.

Don't confuse this Kensington mouse with other abominations:
http://www.atpm.com/11.12/trackman.shtml
http://www.mousearena.com/trackball-computer-mouse/

Kensington trackballs are the only ones worth owning. The massive ball allows you much more control.
http://nongraphical.com/2008/08/kensington-expert-mouse-70/

 

[Odbarc]

I use a $12 mouse for gaming. What's the point of something that costs more?

Am I the only avid gamer who uses a basic wireless mouse+keyboard setup? I think if you're paying more than 30 bucks for the combination, you're just throwing money away. There may be some hidden advantage of having some extra awkward buttons on the sides...though I have my doubts.

Should I ready the flame shields?

I dont like wireless mice. Got a simple wired logitech lasermouse. It never runs out of battery when i am winning.

Me too!
Batteries suck! The wire is long enough and I've never 'went places' with my mouse that would require wirelessness.

 

[Owlslayer]

I don't remember where i got my mouse, but going trough the thread, i noticed some of the mouse names seemed familiar.
I looked underneath my Logitech mouse, and seems it's a MX518. And i have to say, I'm really happy having this. It's quite smooth and good for the hand.
The only problem i have is: it's getting a bit old. Or well, that, because i kinda overuse it, the wire starts to weaken a bit. But i think that's just because I've placed it on the table wrongly.
Don't really have any other experiences, but yeah. I'd recommend my mouse.

 

[bam13302]

i am absolutely in love with the logitech g500, and if you are good, you can get a really good deal on it (got mine for 35 from ebay)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826104318
although, i have been eyeing up this mouse
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826153065

Am I the only avid gamer who uses a basic wireless mouse+keyboard setup? I think if you're paying more than 30 bucks for the combination, you're just throwing money away. There may be some hidden advantage of having some extra awkward buttons on the sides...though I have my doubts.

Should I ready the flame shields?

i hear what your saying, but there are a few things that some mice offer above conventional mice
the reasons i love the g500 are the adjustable sensitivity, great for trying to aim precisely, or for nimble movements with a shotgun or a tank cannon (and the range of the g500 is great, the sensitivity different between minimum and max is almost a 30x different
the other reason i like this mouse is because of the unlocked mouse wheel, now, admittedly, this doesnt have much use for gaming, but those long PDF documents are much nicer with that mouse wheel
i did find the thumb buttons useless for a good long time once i got a mouse with them (first mouse with them was that white s***ty microsoft mouse) and kept accidentally hitting them and going back a page in my browser, but it can be very nice in games with multiple weapon buttons (left hand, right hand, knife, or weapon, zoom, knife) in multiplayer, i often bind the push to talk to my thumb button
not really a big advantange, especially if the buttons are hard to press (or too easy like that microsoft mouse) but the sensitivity adjustment has proven nice in many games

 

[ultimateownage]

I would definitely recommend the Logitech G9x. Trying to press the mouse scroll wheel button is way harder than it should be, but otherwise it's a brilliant mouse and has never failed me.

 

[PatrickXD]

I'm using a cheap wireless mouse that came default with a low range computer. I'm just as accurate with this as I am with £100 gaming mice.

 

[Wutaiflea]

Am I the only avid gamer who uses a basic wireless mouse+keyboard setup? I think if you're paying more than 30 bucks for the combination, you're just throwing money away. There may be some hidden advantage of having some extra awkward buttons on the sides...though I have my doubts.

Should I ready the flame shields?

I agree- normal mouse (wireless or wired, depending on the machine I'm using) and a keyboard is plenty for me.

I used to hate it when my husband had his fancy gaming mouse on his PC. I used to find I was constantly clipping buttons by accident, which more often than not resulted in extreme annoyance, and that they felt uncomfortable in my hand.

And, although this probably isn't going to be important for everyone, they're also shit for gamers with long nails- all those little buttons create nasty places to snag one and take the fucker clean off.

 

[fierydemise]

Before you commit to a mouse OP find someone who has one or go to a B&M store and try it out. For all the hyperventilating over 9000 dpi or whatever the most important thing with a mouse is comfort.

You'll be able to live with a "low dpi" mouse, you may not be able to live with a mouse that doesn't fit your hand well.

 

[theevilsanta]

I wouldn't ever use a wireless mouse for serious gaming and some of the pros (I'm talking SC and CS (weird how that works out)) swear by mouses with a ball and a quality mouse pad as opposed to laser. I'd stick with laser/optical/both (as some mouses provide). Mouse pads can be cumbersome and often run out of room too fast.

But yeah. Go wired if you're serious. There is a real delay of a millisecond or two if you go wireless.

As for number of buttons it depends on the game you're playing. An fps doesn't need more than three, an rts might benefit from more, a MMORPG could probably use as many as comfrotable.

If you're into DOTA style games I'd actually recommend something like the http://www.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=390404. I use this and it's fantastic for DOTA style games (HoN and LoL (and DOTA)). If I got serious into SC2 it might be helpful too. Scrolling your screen with the left thumb is such an advantage compared to mouse or keyboard screen scrolling.

EDIT - OP you should define what you mean by serious gaming. Serious as in eight hours a day experiencing all that gaming offers? Or serious as in getting competitive in the online (and LAN) community? For the former comfort is EVERYTHING. I'd seriously consider how easy it is to press the middle mouse button - mine is difficult to press down and causes serious finger strain. If you're looking to get competitive - read above.

 

[MagicMouse]

Wow thats a wide price range for a mouse, in fact you will have problems finding mice that expensive lol.

Just some guide lines

Use a wired mouse
Make sure to invest in a gaming mouse pad also
Any of the top mice from Logitech and Razor are the most recognized as best
Check to see what grip you use, then buy a mouse that fits (also see hand size)

 

[SnowyGamester]

Spoiler: Quotes

Am I the only avid gamer who uses a basic wireless mouse+keyboard setup? I think if you're paying more than 30 bucks for the combination, you're just throwing money away. There may be some hidden advantage of having some extra awkward buttons on the sides...though I have my doubts.

Should I ready the flame shields?

i hear what your saying, but there are a few things that some mice offer above conventional mice
the reasons i love the g500 are the adjustable sensitivity, great for trying to aim precisely, or for nimble movements with a shotgun or a tank cannon (and the range of the g500 is great, the sensitivity different between minimum and max is almost a 30x different
the other reason i like this mouse is because of the unlocked mouse wheel, now, admittedly, this doesnt have much use for gaming, but those long PDF documents are much nicer with that mouse wheel
i did find the thumb buttons useless for a good long time once i got a mouse with them (first mouse with them was that white s***ty microsoft mouse) and kept accidentally hitting them and going back a page in my browser, but it can be very nice in games with multiple weapon buttons (left hand, right hand, knife, or weapon, zoom, knife) in multiplayer, i often bind the push to talk to my thumb button
not really a big advantange, especially if the buttons are hard to press (or too easy like that microsoft mouse) but the sensitivity adjustment has proven nice in many games

Not really, many people don't understand gaming gear. The extra buttons on the mouse isn't exactly what most people are paying for, for example I am using Razer Abyssus, the mouse doesn't have any extra buttons. However the mouse is working at 3500 dpi, while normal mouses are at 800 dpi, meaning that my mouse is nearly 4x faster than the normal one. This helps a lot, you also recieve a 1000hz response time, or 1ms, way faster than a normal mouse.

However those stuff are only useful for multiplayer, if you don't play multi, then you are throwing money away ( although a layman can still benefit from mechanical keyboard ).

I get what you guys are saying, I myself had an issue with my mouse speed when I first got it, though that was nothing a trip into the registry couldn't fix. And a faster response time may be useful, but considering that most nearby servers run at around a 50ms latency, the response time of the mouse isn't going to be any real advantage outside of a LAN, and even then, I'm not sure...

Adjusting the speed on-the-fly may have some uses, but I'm guessing not many. If I really wanted that ability, I'd code something to do it with keyboard shortcuts or what-not rather than shelling out $70-ish for a gaming mouse. ...And I just noticed my $20 m+k set has on-the-fly DPI adjustment when trying to find out what the DPI for it is (500/1000), so yeah, throwing money away.

They do look cool, though.

 

[krseyffert]

i don't know the price, but for me, there is only one contender...

Cyborg R.A.T 7 Gaming Mouse

Spoiler: video

Spoiler: image

 

[Grimsinger]

I love the old DeathAdder I bought off my friend. I highly recommend you give one a try.

 

[Zarmi]

Razer gear is pretty good. Got the Lachesis mouse myself, and it works wonders. After so many years of PC gaming, I can safely say, that in my opinion Razer >>>>>>>> Everything.

 

[Hiphophippo]

I personally have a Razer Naga. It's pretty swank.

 

[BENZOOKA]

I am in need for a new gaming mouse, I would like to know a good brand or type of mouse to get. I have seen the R.A.T 9 mouse, but I have no idea where to get retail. My price range is $100-200 ( I want a very good mouse that will last me) any of you guys/lady's know of any?

I've got pretty high standards for my gaming mouse. Logitech G9 has served exceptionally well. I guess G9x, which they're selling nowadays might be even better.

Don't go wireless. "Wireless gaming mouse" is a thing that does not exist. That used to be a bit of joke I had with a friend back in the day, until they actually started marketing something with the title "wireless gaming mouse"... A proper gaming mouse has a wire. Period.

What he said, stay away from wireless as if it's the devil, the tech is not there yet. Although I doubt you will find a wireless gaming mouse (is anyone even trying to sell these?).

Probably it never will. You simply can't beat even the low latency, polling rate and reliability of a mouse with a wire, with a wireless mouse. If it's wireless, it is not gaming anything, therefore:

"Wireless Gaming Mouse" is an oxymoron. But yeah, there are models from Logitech and Razer (probably from most of the others as well) that are called that.

 

[BeeRye]

and also as a bonus higher acceleration.

Acceleration is absolutely horrific for fps games. How can you develop consistent aim when you can not guarantee that equal arm movements generate equal on-screen movements. The only times anyone should be touching acceleration is if they have a 400 dpi mouse and it is slow aroud the desktop, or if they are playing quake/UT, in which case it is simply better to set up acceleration curves through the game itself.

Don't worry for the 1000hz, every gaming mouse is set on this parameter, so no worry. The question now is dpi, pretty much the higher the better. If you have to choose between Razer DeathAdder and Razer Imperator get Imperator, it has 2000 more dpi (higher sensitivity) and also as a bonus higher acceleration.

Correct about 1,000hz, but not because every mouse has it, rather the difference between a 1ms (1,000hz) and 2ms (500hz) response time is completely imperceptible. As for dpi, it's not so crucial as one would think. Higher is not necessarily better. There's no real need to ever use above 1600 dpi. High dpi can lead to problems when playing games that do not use the direct input method of tracking mouse movement, as high dpi results in the mouse leaving the edge of the screen and being reset frequently, causing negative acceleration. Basically put:

The game locks the mouse pointer to the middle of the screen. When you move the mouse, the (hidden) pointer moves and the game calculates movement from the middle and then resets the pointer back to the middle. It does this every frame. If the game is busy, and doesn't reset the pointer to the middle fast enough, a quick mouse movement can move the pointer right to the screen edge and it gets stuck at the edge. Any further movement past the edge is thrown away and you get negative acceleration.

There is also far more to a mouse than dpi. For example, the majority of recent gaming mice use laser tracking, which is notorious for spazzing out and skipping when playing at low sensitivities as it does not handle extremely quick mouse movement well. In general they are getting better, but optical tracking is still supreme for fps games due to their ability to operate correctly when using fast, sweeping mouse movements at low sensitivites.

Also, a hint, if you are getting a gaming mouse challange yourself on higher sensitivity than you are used to. Make those money well spent.

Why do this? Just because you are getting a mouse with higher dpi does not mean you need to use faster sensitivities. Just lower your ingame sensitivity until you are using the same real sensitivity. Calculate your real sensitivity here http://www.phoon.us/mouse/

My personal recommendations are the Razer Naga for MMOs, or the Razer Deathadder for fps games. You could also check out the Zowie EC1/EC2, which are similar in shape to the Deathadder.

 

[Traun]

and also as a bonus higher acceleration.

Acceleration is absolutely horrific for fps games. How can you develop consistent aim when you can not guarantee that equal arm movements generate equal on-screen movements. The only times anyone should be touching acceleration is if they have a 400 dpi mouse and it is slow aroud the desktop, or if they are playing quake/UT, in which case it is simply better to set up acceleration curves through the game itself.

What? Acceleration is measured in "g", not dpi, those two are unrelated.

quote="Traun" post="9.265980.10132142"] As for dpi, it's not so crucial as one would think. Higher is not necessarily better. There's no real need to ever use above 1600 dpi.

How can you develop consistent aim when you can not guarantee that equal arm movements generate equal on-screen movements. The only times anyone should be touching acceleration is if they have a 400 dpi mouse and it is slow aroud the desktop, or if they are playing quake/UT, in which case it is simply better to set up acceleration curves through the game itself.

Your post is touching me in bad places man. Have you ever tried to manage your units in a middle of battle? It's a cluster ****, you'll need everything you can get. Also, have you actually played at high sensitivity? The payoff of having to use smaller arm movement is really high. Also, I haven't had problems with high sensitivity in FPS games, then again I don't play many FPSes.

Also, a hint, if you are getting a gaming mouse challange yourself on higher sensitivity than you are used to. Make those money well spent.

Why do this? Just because you are getting a mouse with higher dpi does not mean you need to use faster sensitivities. Just lower your ingame sensitivity until you are using the same real sensitivity. Calculate your real sensitivity here http://www.phoon.us/mouse/[/quote]

Why BUY a gaming mouse then? Just use the normal one.

 

[BeeRye]

Your post is touching me in bad places man. Have you ever tried to manage your units in a middle of battle? It's a cluster ****, you'll need everything you can get. Also, have you actually played at high sensitivity? The payoff of having to use smaller arm movement is really high. Also, I haven't had problems with high sensitivity in FPS games, then again I don't play many FPSes

This is my point though. It's a cluster fuck and you need to select that specific unit really quickly or you are going to lose. So you move your hand with blazing speed. Except, because your mouse speed exceeded a specific threshold, you had an acceleration curve applied to your movement. So you overshoot your unit. Same with fps games. You flick slightly faster than you normally do and you overshoot your target. With acceleration off exact distances of mouse movement correspond to exact distances of onscreen movement. With acceleration turned on onscreen movement distance is related to both mouse movement distance and mouse speed. Which is easier, to have to control only how far you move your mouse, or how far you move your mouse and how fast you move it? This is the reason mouse acceleration is detrimental to overall consistency in fps games. You must learn to move your mouse an exact distance at an exact speed rather than just an exact distance. If you are over excited one day and move your mouse faster than normal all of your pre-learned aiming distances will begin to overshoot.


I have played at all manner of sensitivities. To put it in perspective, I've played CS 1.6 with sensitivities such that a 360 required 90cm of movement, and also with sensitivities where it has required only 30cm. It is very easy to learn to swipe your mouse repeatedly to cover a large onscreen distance. It is incredibly hard to learn to move your hand miniscule distances in order to make tiny movements onscreen.

What? Acceleration is measured in "g", not dpi, those two are unrelated.

What I mean is here is: if you are using an unaccelerated 400dpi mouse on your desktop it is going to move around very slowly. In this case you may want to enable acceleration to make browsing easier. In fact, this is the very reason microsoft has acceleration enabled on windows by default (enhanced pointer precision), so that users with low dpi mice don't get frustrated by very slow pointer movement.

As to the point of buying a gaming mouse, I agree, a lot of the time there is no point to the bells and whistles they offer. However, if you do decide to buy one you should buy it because it is a quality mouse. You should buy it because it has a great tracking sensor, good build quality, and fits your grip style and hand size. You shouldn't buy it because it has faster dpi. You can increase your sensitivity ingame to achieve higher sensitivities. I'll take an 800 dpi mouse with a great sensor rather than a 5600 dpi mouse that spazzes out constantly any day.

 

[Traun]

This is my point though. It's a cluster fuck and you need to select that specific unit really quickly or you are going to lose. So you move your hand with blazing speed. Except, because your mouse speed exceeded a specific threshold, you had an acceleration curve applied to your movement. So you overshoot your unit.

Look, sometimes you make a valid point, however this proves that you've never actually played a RTS, or at least given it a serious look. I'll just ignore this and pretend you didn't say it.

Same with fps games. You flick slightly faster than you normally do and you overshoot your target. With acceleration off exact distances of mouse movement correspond to exact distances of onscreen movement. With acceleration turned on onscreen movement distance is related to both mouse movement distance and mouse speed. Which is easier, to have to control only how far you move your mouse, or how far you move your mouse and how fast you move it? This is the reason mouse acceleration is detrimental to overall consistency in fps games. You must learn to move your mouse an exact distance at an exact speed rather than just an exact distance. If you are over excited one day and move your mouse faster than normal all of your pre-learned aiming distances will begin to overshoot.

Once you get used to higher sensitivity you start doing this thing naturally.

I have played at all manner of sensitivities. To put it in perspective, I've played CS 1.6 with sensitivities such that a 360 required 90cm of movement, and also with sensitivities where it has required only 30cm. It is very easy to learn to swipe your mouse repeatedly to cover a large onscreen distance. It is incredibly hard to learn to move your hand miniscule distances in order to make tiny movements onscreen.

And? Yeah, it's hard, but once you get used to it's awesome. You shouldn't shun something because it gives you less instant gratification. It seems that everything you are saying is "It's easier to play FPS games with lower sensitivity" and this is true to an extend, however being used to higher sensitivity gives you a quicker reaction time(you turn faster, aim faster). Sure, you'll lose a game or two beforehand, but what of it?

As to the point of buying a gaming mouse, I agree, a lot of the time there is no point to the bells and whistles they offer. However, if you do decide to buy one you should buy it because it is a quality mouse. You should buy it because it has a great tracking sensor, good build quality, and fits your grip style and hand size. You shouldn't buy it because it has faster dpi. You can increase your sensitivity ingame to achieve higher sensitivities. I'll take an 800 dpi mouse with a great sensor rather than a 5600 dpi mouse that spazzes out constantly any day.

No you can't. Increasing the sensitivity in-game can't compare to overall increase in mouse sensitivity. Also, I haven't seen a 5600 dpi mouse that spazzes. Otherwise yes, never get a mouse that is killing your hand.