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Ask HN: What's your favorite mouse

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As a heavy workstation user I have typically gone with gamer mice like the Logitech g9 or g500 and now my g500 is failing. I've started looking around and see a lot of mice are hardcore gamer which now come with a lot more functions than needed. I've always been partial to gamer mice for their durability, ergonomics and construction. Being curious, I started thinking about what hardcore workers actually prefer for mice. Would love to hear.

24 comments

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LarryMade2
I found the gamer and most modern mice too hi-res/sensitive for my tastes, so I bought about a dozen used older Lenovo mice on eBay for my supply. That whole box cost less than many new individual ones.
cpr
I'm no gamer, and I love the IBM travel mice for its handy size and scroll wheel "feel." I tend to buy them in big batches and spread them around. Sometimes you can find batches of 10 on eBay quite cheaply.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006HYQ5

watmough
I like my Logitech m310, single battery wireless mouse. Enough to have one on all my boxes.

Available for ~$20 easily on eBay.

Prior to that, I liked the Microsoft Explorer mice, but they are wired, sadly.

joshmn
I have a Razer Lachesis and have since I played video games. It's lasted me a lot of clicks, spills, ragequits and wins.

It collects skin, but I find cleaning it grossly enjoyable.

pcurve
http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-D58-00026-Intellimouse-Optic...

This was the best mouse I've used in my computing life.

I miss the symmetrical layout with large forward/back buttons.

talles
Can't beat good ol Intellimouse.
degenerate
I'm still using mine from 2002. Love, love, love it.
pcurve
Mine was almost as old, but it developed an odd symptom where the back button who register as double click.

Seems like a known defect with this mouse which is a shame, because it was otherwise perfect.

BorisMelnik
yes! The Intellimouse is the "IBM Model M" (keyboard) of mice. Man I miss mine, almost considering buying this one up via your Amazon link.
bemmu
The Nexus Silent Mouse. It has a mechanism that makes as little sound as possible while still having a good feel.
jakebasile
Although I am a gamer, I dislike having a mouse with too many buttons no matter what type of computing I am doing. I've been enjoying my Steelseries Rival for a while now. Good feel, adjustable DPI so you can tune it to your liking, has a reasonable number of buttons.
michaelbuddy
I use vertical mice exclusively. Have since probably 2006 maybe. I get no wrist pain and as I recall it took about 2 days for the vertical style form factor to feel as normal as a traditional mouse. I can go to regular mice, but I get wrist pain after a few hours or day of work. Observing your bones and your wrist twists using a normal mouse which creates strain on it. So the Evoluent Vertical Mouse 4 which isn't cheap, but has been great is my mainstay at my desk. Also the Microsoft Sculpt Ergo Mouse I have in mmy bag as a portable. Note that's Sculpt ERGO because there are a couple sculpt mice by Microsoft. And if you want really cheap, you can get the Lugu Lake vertical mouse wired for like $10 USD. That's cheap enough to try out and then if you don't like it, you could just give it away. Anker makes a couple vertical mice too on the affordable side IMO. other than Anker, Every mouse I've listed here is both one I've used for a good period of time. All are rated pretty well.
gkop
I also found the Evoluent to make may wrist pain all but disappear.
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contingencies
Seriously, for work: buy a Wacom tablet. Mouse for gaming.
atomical
Steel Series Sensei. Once you can precisely tune the speed and acceleration of a mouse it's really hard to go back. Also, some of the wireless mice have noticeable lag.
insoluble
http://www.ianker.com/product/98ANDS2368-BA

Anker 8200: economical; software-configurable colours (sorry but I cannot stand blue lights, like what some mice are limited to); easily allows switching between 4 levels of precision, which helps when drawing in a graphics editor; forward and backward buttons, which are not only essential in a Web browser, but are also very useful when switching between scroll positions in a long code file; good tracking; and overall a nice feel.

doobiaus
I'm a programmer more than a gamer. I have a fondness for wireless & free scrolling mice. I'm currently using a Logitech m560 which is okay, but the balance is off.

I'm looking to upgrade too. My contenders are the new Logitech MX Master ( http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/mx-master?crid=7 ) and the Marathon m705.

i prefer smaller, so I'm leaning towards the m705.

Mimu
I'm a gamer and after I "used" 2 razer mouse within a few months each, I went back to a regular 10€ random mouse and still use it years later.

As for working I couldn't care less what I should use as long as it works fine.

theGREENsuit
Logitech MX518. I like how it looks and how it feels. I'm not a fan of heavy mice and don't mind the cord at all. Unless I'm totally out to lunch, I've had this mouse since 2005.
Thriptic
The 518 is an awesome mouse. I have the G5 which is basically the 518 with a rubberized exterior.
Joona
G500s.

After my G500 broke after a few years of heavy use, I bought a RAT 7, which was terrible. Uncomfortable and a bad sensor. Returned it, got a G500s, couldn't be happier. It's just a good mouse.

suprjami
If you want the "non-gamer" version of the G500, get the M500. They're 30 bucks on eBay and Newegg.

The M500 was my favorite mouse for a long time, but due to wrist troubles I'm trying to avoid the mouse altogether an only use the keyboard. I have a Logitech Trackman Marble trackball now. It could be better but there's not a great deal of choice in trackballs.