Mat for optical mouse

[jojo]

Should an optical mouse mat be matte finish or glossy?

Is a lighter colour better than a dark colour?

[jackhackett]

I dont bother using a mat with my optical mouse. You dont need them with optical rodents

[movieman36]

An optical mouse needs some sort of pattern to operate accurately. If your desktop has a patterned finish then no you probably wont need a mat..but a mat with a fine pattern of some sort will be required if the surface you intend to use it on has no pattern at all.

[jackhackett]

Mine works just fine on my plain 'unfinished' MDF pull out desktop keyboard tray. (I built my own workstation/desk)

[roo]

I wore the glides out on my last opti mouse by dragging it around on my desk . Much smoother with a mouse pad, i find .
Any colour is ok as long as it is not glossy.

[jojo]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Every so often I find the pointer won't move. I lift the mouse and shift it over a bit then it's usually OK.

My desk has a sort of fake red wood finish with some patterning.

Was just wondering if that might be the problem.

Incidently, it's wireless. I find the batteries need changing about once a week. Rechargables won't work at all.

Thanks again

[mikkh]

I always use a mat - optical or not, and find dark (matt) ones better
I'm currently using Argos budget optical mice on two of my PC's - and for less than £4 each, I can't fault them.

... and I really can't see the point in using wireless keyboards and mice myself[/size][/font]

[jorg]

I tried an old mouse with that wire attachment the other day, having had wireless for the last year or so , give me wireless every time, not saying it's better, just I like it better, jorg

[buzzy]

I have had 2 optical rodents for years, one for my PC and one for my laptop. I have found that it is a misnoma to suggest that they work 'on any surface' they do not like shiny surfaces and a dark one is best IMO. I always use a standard dark blue cotton covered mat and never have a problem. I also use rechargeable batteries, one is a Logitech which has a charging cradle and the other is a microsoft in which I use NiMh batteries topped up in a standalone charger (alkalines whilst charging).

[Angelstardust]

I use a mouse mat with my optical, it's simply more comfortable for me as well.

[jojo]

Thank you for the aditional information. I would think it will be as useful to others as it is to me.

mikkh.

Understand your point.

Presumably your wife doesn't habitually park herself infront of your computer then demand that you call up a particular page or something while refusing to move even an inch on pain of a dam good moaning!

Have you noticed that when they are in that sort of mood, (usually 27 times a day), they always seem to manage to put something down on the desk in such a way that almost anything touched will result in a cascade of tipping which means they will suddenly push the chair back, knocking you to the other side of next week. They then stand there, proclaim, 'Well I didn't Know!!' and stomp off to plan how to include, in the next meal, something you really don't like?

I have however decided to buy a wired mouse. The keyboard isn't really a proiblem. The mouse is and I suspect that, when the batteries are going down a bit the wee light thingie which does the deed doesn't function as well as it should.

[ken]

Quite recently I bought an A4Tech wireless desktop and its got a very well trained mouse. It works on my knee on the arm of the chair and I've not found a surface yet it wont work on. Although I haven't tried it in the bath yet.

KC

[jojo]

I had one of thos Ken. It was great. I had the keyboard and mouse together in my hand.

Sadly, after 6 months, it stopped working, reliably at least.

I bought a different kind, also with a pad mouse from Maplin. But it was terrible. The mouse simply wouldn't respond.

That's why I bought this set up. The keyboard is nice. No complaints about it at all. Just the mouse sometimes doesn't seem to like the surface it's on.

But you reminding me has brought back pleasent memories. I could take the keyboard easily and do whatever I needed to.

I may look at one soon. If I do I'll tell you.

Thanks again and thanks to everyone.

[ken]

Mine was £39.99 in Maplins Jojo, the same price as the Microsoft one. As its an Office setup and not a music centre one I bought it. Its the only 10 meter range one they do besides Microsoft. You need to use rechargable batteries for the mouse as its not as green as they claim. The 7 buttons take a bit of getting used to, but I love it.

KC

[Pete]

I also have a wireless mouse and keyboard, it works fine with it's original batteries. Had it since November.
I use a mouse mat and find it more comfortable.
As you say it may be that the battery is not quite up to spec, and needs changing.
Pete.

[movieman36]

My first ever cordless mouse was a A4Tech job (not optical) and I bought it years ago for £15 when the average price for a cordless mouse was about £70....I actually bought 2. It had a very high optical resolution which was great as I use a dual screen set up. Anyone visiting me used to moan that it was too fast. Anyway, it's still alive and well on a spare PC and the second one I bought has never been out of the box. On my editing system I still use a wired mouse, reason? I keep forgetting to park the cordless mouse (two connected to the same system) in it's charger and it is always dead when I need it, not the mouses fault....it's me.

[jojo]

Update.

Finally managed to persuade my better half that I needed another mouse.

Bought a nice one from the local Maplin shop which plugged into the PS2 port.

The first thing I noticed is that there is light from the LEDs underneath.

The next thing is that it actually works!

Still have the cordless keyboard of course. Can't let 'her' take control of that!!!

But this new mouse is the business.

The cord gets in the way a bit. I'm sure I'll get use to that. But having a mouse that actually does what it's suppose to is a treat.

[johnnybee]

Glad you're happy with it, Jojo - let's hope it stays that way!
Choice of inputs is always going to be a very personal thing; what suits one isn't necessarily going to suit another as they all have plus and minus points that we can cope with in varying degrees of success.
The term "horses for courses" comes to mind here; I began with the usual serial mouse / keyboard before PS2 came into general use, and well before anyone dreamt of having IR transmitters in HID's - all wired direct and virtually bombproof.
Then came the revolution, and with it the choice of which to go for given the use to which the PC was being put; I started with a Logitech wireless jobbie that worked resonably well for twelve months and a week, then decided to pack it in for no particular reason on a Saturday evening.
Completerly pee'd off, Monday morning I went and bought a brand-new Microsoft setup - a lot more money than some of the avaliable choices, but as I still have them and use them five years later it was money well spent, IMHO.
I've since bought the wireless version of the same appliances, now two years old and they're part of the MM setup downstairs, with only one battery change in between times.
The only problem withany of them, if you can call it that, is that as a smoker the mouse slider feet tend to gunge up and stick to my desk if I forget to clean it off regularly, but even then it's a d**n sight easier to do that than stripping the ball out of the shell and cleaning the ball and rollers!
For backup purposes I keep a new HP rollerball PS2 mouse, a Kensington USB five-button mouse and an HP PS2 standard keyboard, for those times when you need to get into BIOS before the USB drivers have loaded.
Broadly speaking I find that you get what you pay for, and MS stuff is good, no doubt about it.

JB.