ouchy ouchy ouchy

[cellio]

The mouse on my machine at work has gone spastic over the last few days. I suspect it needs to be cleaned, but when I asked our sys admin about it (I couldn't see how to take it apart) he said he'd clean it and gave me another mouse.

Unfortunately, the replacement mouse is awful. It's too big for my hand. Using it hurts. I asked the sys admin to please give me my mouse back when he's done with it (or another of like kind), rather than just tossing it into the bin, so this will be fixed eventually. It's only been a couple hours, though, and already my wrist and hand really hurt. And this is a Windows shop, so there are a lot of situations where I really do have to use the mouse.

The previous mouse had no obvious label. (It had 2 buttons.) This one is a Logitech 3-button mouse. It is a little wider and a lot longer than its predecessor. I think it's also a little thicker. The previous mouse wasn't especially good, but it was a lot better than this.

I should probably just buy my own mouse for work -- then I can find something that's ideal for me, rather than just cheap in bulk. (I already bring in other personal hardware adaptations, so what's one more?) The (Logitech?) optical mouse I have at home is pretty good.

Comments

Mousgnostic...

[goljerp]

I guess I'm lucky that I can pretty much use any mouse. From the DEC "muffin" to the iMac mouse (first generation)... Of course, there are mice I like better than others (The new optical Apple mouse is pretty good), and I did insist on an "iCatch" plastic adaptor for the iMac mouse at work...

the joys of being "vertically challenged"

[cellio]

I'm not up on Mac hardware. iCatch adaptor? Whazzat?

I have fairly small hands with short, stubby fingers. (It goes with the rest of my short, stubby body. :-) ) The world seems to be built for someone about 10% bigger (or more), but this particular instance of it still took me by surprise. Maybe it's just that mice and remote controls are a little newer than kitchen cabinets and brake pedals and assorted home appliances, so I've lived with some inconveniences for a lot longer than others.

I'm not that short, by the way, but I'm definitely well below average on height and reach. (Pity it's not true of weight, too. :-) )

[laurabee.livejournal.com]

My favorite mouse of all time was the non-optical 3 button Sun mice. They had spaces between the buttons, so I could rest my fingers there when not clicking. I really miss that, to the point where I want to buy one of those mice and force it to work, somehow, with my iBook.

I, too, prefer small mice and the logitech optical is pretty good.

Re: the joys of being "vertically challenged"

[goljerp]

I'm not up on Mac hardware. iCatch adaptor?

Oops, sorry.

The iMac came with a round mouse. It wasn't huge (about 2.5 inch diameter), but it is round. Among other problems, it's very easy to rotate it 180 degrees and not feel much of a difference. (Obviously it doesn't work quite as expected in that configuration). A company called MacSense saw the problem and fairly quickly came out with a bit of plastic which snaps over the mouse, making it a bit wider (3 inches, maybe?) and longer (4 inches) and more traditionally "mouse shaped". Since it's just plastic and a bit of tefalon, they were able to sell it fairly cheaply, and it became quite popular.

I'm definitely well below average on height

I, on the other hand, am slightly taller than average - about 6 feet tall, and have hands which are more or less average in size. Well, I'm guessing on that, but I haven't ever found mice to be particularly large (or small) for me (well, besides the DEC muffin, which was a bit large...). To make up for it, though, I'm left handed so am constantly fighting against a world made for right-handed people. (Luckilly I'm equally happy doing basic mouseing with either hand. I prefer having the mouse on the left, but if there isn't room I'm not crippled. I still object to non-symmetrical mice on general principles, though.)

Well...

[goljerp]

You never know. I was at Macworld Expo in 2001 (or was it 2000?) and towards the end of the day a couple of guys walked up to one of the computers and furtively plugged something in. It was a Mac Plus mouse hooked up to a USB interface in some hacky way. It worked fine, as far as I could tell. The Apple person who was in charge of the machines thought it was cool, and was mainly trying to find someone who had a digital camera to take a picture.

Of course, your milage might vary...

[indigodove.livejournal.com]

Bleah! I hope your mouse problems are solved soon.

[geekosaur]

You might want to look at the Targus laptop USB mouse; it's a real optical mouse, but it's smaller than standard mice so it's easier to carry around (more likely to fit in a nook or cranny in your laptop bag, presumably). Anyway, even with "normal-sizd" hands I find I prefer it to full-size mice.

[geekosaur]

Picture for comparison here.
The Targus is at the top; on the bottom are Dell/Logitech 2-button, Sun 3-button, and Logitech 3-button mice (the ones I happened to have sitting around).

[cellio]

Wow, portraits! Thanks! It sure looks like the Targus is worth investigating, yes; it looks to be a lot smaller than the others. And this machine has not one but two lonely USB ports... :-)

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Last year I spent ten bucks on a cheap mouse cleaning kit. We have four computers at the house and I figure a cheap mouse costs about to bucks. Every time I use the mouse cleaning kit I figure I've saved ten bucks I'd otherwise spend on a cheap mouse. To date, I'd estimate I've saved close to $300, easy.

[cellio]

Oh, we have a mouse-cleaning kit at the office -- somewhere. This started when I couldn't get the mouse apart (so I could use it) and asked for help; then it turned out that the cleaning kit isn't where it's supposed to be anyway. Sigh.