Best wireless Mouse for gaming in bed?

[WizardStan]

I guess IR LEDs are clocked somewhere south of 50mA at 1.7V (i.e. <85mW), which is in the same ballpark as your laser quotes.

So obviously it can't be then. No idea what's in it but if a single AA can drive it for 6-24 months then it must be using way less power than a red laser.

 

[levi]

Hmm, indeed, that doesn't quite square. I've never had a wireless trackball, but you did say the batteries lasted that long and I'd ignored that.

 

[elwing]

I have bought a Logitech triatlon 720 mouse... it's pretty great... unlike my G700s which has several issues.
The M720 supports both Bluetooth and logitec's Unity... I'm using bluetooth on my GPDwin and the logitec unity receiver on my computer and the mouse can switch from one another with just a button click. also unlike various other mouse I used it works fine on a wide variety of surface just fine, also it uses AA batteries, mine just went out of power after almost one year of use. major drawback... it's quite expensive...

 

[rygD]

Whoa, guys. We need to stop this, right now. We are on the third page and still somewhat on topic.

My favorite sodas are Throwback Mountain Dew, Diet Mountain Dew, and Mountain Dew. I can only drink throwback a little at a time, but I could probably chain drink the diet. Most of the time I drink water, but once in a while I go for a soda. My favorite as a mixer for cheap booze is probably Coke Classic.

 

[Grench]

I still think that a union of @WizardStan's thumb trackball mouse and a 'normal' mouse would be very, very cool.

Or maybe one with a Pyra nub instead of the trackball.

Or maybe one with a steam controller type touchpad instead of the trackball.

Somewhere I have an old pre-USB joystick port gaming control system that has a 4-way hat at the thumb position.

If Razer can put a 12 button numpad on the side of a mouse, why not have an analog device there instead?

I think this forum's membership could design the 'ultimate handheld controller mouse device'. Maybe have it be modular so that the right thumb controller could be swapped between a pyra nub, gamepad cross, 6 button set or track ball. Make a right and a left handed version that take the same modules. Allow the modules to replace the left & right buttons...?

The trackball in WizardStan's controller is probably about 20mm. That is the same width as the MOUSE1 and MOUSE2 on my generic desktop mouse.

So, a slightly larger mouse body that will take modules for the thumb and left/right mouse buttons. Any module can be used in any of the 3 positions. Left & right handed versions take the same modules.

The mouse internals would be a laser mouse and 4 port USB hub. Each module would be it's own USB device. Three devices + laser mouse plugged into the internal hub = 4 port USB 2.0 hub. Computer sees 4 separate HID devices when it is plugged in. Connects to the computer with a single Type C device cable (wired) or bluetooth 3 (wireless) - pick which one via a recessed switch on the bottom. Two AAA or AA batteries for wireless use.

Modules:
trackball
nub
single Cherry MX brown switch
gamepad cross
gamepad 4 or maybe 6 action buttons
Type A USB port. Plug in a thumb drive and boot from your mouse.
Steam Controller touchpad
microphone & speaker (instant speakerphone)
Blank - to cover the hole if someone doesn't want a module in that position

Thoughts - should there be dedicated left & right handed versions that each take 3 modules or make a single symmetrical 4 module version?

 

[levi]

I note on the newer version of that M570 mouse Wizardstan had on its amazon page recommends a newer version - the MX ERGO, and that looks to have an almost symmetrical mouse button part. Could the mouse buttons be made entirely symmetrical about the central axis, and not make it any harder to use? If not, maybe the on-side button (right for a right-handed mouse) which is slightly receded be pluggable, so that it and the trackball module could simply be swapped to make a left-handed variant?

Also, fwiw, I miss the old three buttoned mice, but I can't see an easy way to plug that into this system, unless you were to remove all modules and put a three button cluster in their place.

I'm also wondering about OS level support that would support four devices describing that would be considerd as a single mouse interface. Maybe linux would be okay, as I've just had a play with both this laptop's trackpad and a 'wireless' mouse I've got plugged in, and I can move the mouse pointed with the trackpad and click with the mouse. I guess this might need a switch to deactivate the mouse at the bottom though, since you might not want it to fight the trackball if you have a habit of moving the whole unit around slightly as you use it. But on the other hand, some might prefer a mouse for screaming across the workspace, while a trackball is better for accurate but slower use. I dunno.

Maybe another option is a thinkpad/sattelite style nipple mouse plugin FWIW.

 

[Grench]

I note on the newer version of that M570 mouse Wizardstan had on its amazon page recommends a newer version - the MX ERGO, and that looks to have an almost symmetrical mouse button part. Could the mouse buttons be made entirely symmetrical about the central axis, and not make it any harder to use? If not, maybe the on-side button (right for a right-handed mouse) which is slightly receded be pluggable, so that it and the trackball module could simply be swapped to make a left-handed variant?

Also, fwiw, I miss the old three buttoned mice, but I can't see an easy way to plug that into this system, unless you were to remove all modules and put a three button cluster in their place.

I'm also wondering about OS level support that would support four devices describing that would be considerd as a single mouse interface. Maybe linux would be okay, as I've just had a play with both this laptop's trackpad and a 'wireless' mouse I've got plugged in, and I can move the mouse pointed with the trackpad and click with the mouse. I guess this might need a switch to deactivate the mouse at the bottom though, since you might not want it to fight the trackball if you have a habit of moving the whole unit around slightly as you use it. But on the other hand, some might prefer a mouse for screaming across the workspace, while a trackball is better for accurate but slower use. I dunno.

Maybe another option is a thinkpad/sattelite style nipple mouse plugin FWIW.

Yeah - definitely add a thinkpad style trackpoint to the module list. And a scroll/tilt/click wheel.

I had a maybe brilliant but likely stupid thought regarding left/right handedness or symmetrical. But - this is going to be a mountain on a desk and not overly portable. Roughly the size of a 100mm sphere cut in half and shaped a bit. USB cord would need cable chases out both front & back. Would need a switch to tell the mouse which end is 'forward' for left & right usage. Ring finger keypress is going to be nearly horizontal.

8 module version - but count on the user utilizing 4 'blanks'.
Shape is a big wedge (Like WizardStan's trackball), but symmetrical front to back.
8 module positions
Right hand implementation: right thumb, right index, right middle finger, right ring finger. All 4 'rear/lefty' positions blank/palmrest filled.
Left hand implementation: left thumb, left index, left middle finger, left ring finger. All 4 'rear/righty' positions blank/palmerest filled.

People with very skilled palms could hypothetically put a nub or buttons back there too, but that gets a bit silly. If I had some play-dough I'd create a crude model.
[doublepost=1521646175,1521645703][/doublepost]Oh, as an addendum regarding the concern of computer behavior with more than one HID connected.

As each module would be it's own independent USB device and the mouse itself would be a hub, each module can have it's own 'identity'. I have a ThinkPad desktop keyboard with Ultranav. It has a keyboard, pointing stick (trackpoint) with 3 buttons, touchpad with two buttons and two female type A usb ports out the back to which I have connected a 2nd keyboard and a regular generic mouse. No issues under Windows or Linux.

Since each module can then have it's own identity, a nub could show up as 'joystick 1' through 'joystick 9'. A trackball or touchpad can both show up as 'mouse'. Anything with buttons can show up as being it's own keyboard or numpad. From the computer's perspective, this thing is just a generic hub with a bunch of devices plugged in.

 

[Caine]

Pfff... only 3 pages. If this discussion was about keyboards we would have been on 30 threads already.

 

[Grench]

Pfff... only 3 pages. If this discussion was about keyboards we would have been on 30 threads already.

Letssee... With the 8 module gigantic mega mouse thing and a 6 button game controller in each module that is 48 keys. I suppose we could letter them all...