One mouse to rule them all?

[ironcoder]

With all the keyboarding knowledge on this site I suspect there are more than a few mousionados around too.

I have always hated using a mouse because it is such a huge waste of time going back and forth to the keyboard. When I use a laptop I wind up tearing up my wrist on the touchpad so that doesn't seem like the hot ticket either.

I have one mouse I kinda like, it's a brand X POS mouse but it has a one button double-click switch right near the left button. It's so nice to be able to select something without clicking a few dozen times. Still, it's a big waste of time leaving the kb and going to the mouse. I guess I put up with it all these years because I didn't see any alternative.

I code most of the day on a system which thankfully doesn't have much of a GUI and doesn't require any mouse at all. But for the rest of stuff like web and business email I still wind up clicking away.

Is a track ball on a kb really helpful? Or is it almost as time consuming as using a mouse?

Is there a mouse FAQ on this site and anything else anybody can add on this topic I am speaking about would be very nice. Thanks guys.

[MsKeyboard]

You are going to get a lot of suggestions on this, but since you don't really want to move your hands away from the keyboard I will suggest this one.  It can also be moved from notebook to desktop easily, without buying extra parts.

It is kind of pricey, but we get a lot of favorable reviews from customers.

Good luck.......Ms Keyboard

[ironcoder]

No offense, that's really hideous. I think a trackpoint is more what I'm looking for. I really hate gadgets and modular stuff, I like compact. Thanks for your post though.

[MsKeyboard]

Ironcoder,
No problem, just making a suggestion.  As for trackball keyboards, there is a ton of them out there.  Everything comes with a trade-off, it is just what you are comfortable with.

There is a recent thread about left-handed keyboards, which might give you some ideas.  You still have to move your hand away from the keyboard, but it does place the mouse a little better.

Good luck.......Ms Keyboard

[o2dazone]

No mouse rules
now trackballs OTOH....

[MANISH7]

i suggest the evoluent v3 vertical mouse. it's more comfortable to hold than a traditional mouse but has the bells and whistles you'd expect like scroll wheel, thumb button, programmable buttons. as a side note, the mx518 gives you the most bang for your buck for gaming.

[MsKeyboard]

I am currently using an Evoluent, but that still requires you to move your hand away from the board, but they are handy with lots of functionality.

An other idea would be to use a hands free mouse. It still kind of falls under the "modular" heading, but it would allow you custom functions and no mouse on your desktop what so ever.

Later.....Ms Keyboard

[ozar]

Which mouse rules?

After having tried dozens of different mice over the last few years, I've decided on the Logitech G9 as my default mouse.  Ironically, it was the last one that I tried because it looked like it would be the least comfortable.  Once it went onto the desktop, it didn't take but a few minutes to realize know that I'd found the ruling mouse.

When it comes to trackballs, I very much like the Kensington Expert.

[MsKeyboard]

I know some of these foot mouse products are kind of "off the wall", but they are very popular, especially with the assistive needs customer.  That being said, here are a few other styles of foot switches that can offset the need for a mouse, at least programmable functions.

One other thing to say about the foot mouse is that they are becoming very popular with the gaming crowd.

Mice, trackballs and touchpads are such a personalized item, it becomes very difficult to recommend.  I guess if everyone needed or wanted the same thing than this site would not be too much fun.

BTW...I once had a pair of shoes that looked all too similar to those!

Later.....Ms Keyboard

[keyb_gr]

MouseKeys FTW. No seriously, it has taken over part of my mousing duties at least, and puts the num block to some good use. (I prefer to have the acceleration and speed turned up pretty high and it working with NumLock off.)

Now add Caps Lock remapped to Backspace, throw in TypeAheadFind (there also is a nifty Firefox plugin whose name I forgot which numbers all the links so they're easily activated by keyboard), and web browsing becomes a rather keyboard-centric affair. (Backspace = back, Shift-Backspace = forward, Space = PgDn, Shift-Space = PgUp.)

There still are plenty of moments when reaching for the pointing rodent still is more efficient overall, but certainly less than before.

Another piece in the puzzle are mouse gestures for the browser. If you can do common tasks with either keyboard or mouse, the need for changing between the two will obviously be reduced.

EDIT: Of course a keyboard with integrated trackpoint, like the Endurapro (the M13 is kinda sought-after and $$$, AFAIK), may also be worth a shot.

[ch_123]

An Endurapro or M13 is really what you are looking for by the sounds of it.

[ironcoder]

Thanks guys, I'll be looking into all your suggestions. Trackpoint seems to be the best for me so far. How do you double click it? Is there a trick or do you just press it twice?

Are there trackpoints available on mechanical kbs?

[ironcoder]

Oh mousekeys looks interesting! Lemme see if I can get that to work. Thanks!

[IBI]

I know some of these foot mouse products are kind of "off the wall", but they are very popular, especially with the assistive needs customer.  That being said, here are a few other styles of foot switches that can offset the need for a mouse, at least programmable functions.

One other thing to say about the foot mouse is that they are becoming very popular with the gaming crowd.

They look quite interesting, are they just simple on/off switches or will they give travel readings as well (i.e. what angle they're currenty at)?

Thanks guys, I'll be looking into all your suggestions. Trackpoint seems to be the best for me so far. How do you double click it? Is there a trick or do you just press it twice?

Are there trackpoints available on mechanical kbs?

Trackpoints have seperate buttons, usually below the spacebar - they can't click on their own. I think the only mechanical ones are the Unicomp buckling springs Endurapros.

[ch_123]

Trackpoints, being an IBM thing, can be found on certain Buckling Spring keyboards (the Lexmark made M13 and the Unicomp Endurapro)

[IBI]

Trackpoints, being an IBM thing, can be found on certain Buckling Spring keyboards (the Lexmark made M13 and the Unicomp Endurapro)

They're not exclusively an IBM thing, Dell and Toshiba laptops also have them - although sadly I've never heard of an AT102T or any suitible standalone keyboards from Toshiba.

[huha]

Sorry to disappoint you, but well ... I'd call the Endurapro's trackpoint more of a gimmick than anything else. Yes, it does work and yes, it is quite useful when you're typing and just want to click that button. But I wouldn't ever use it for regular mousing tasks. It's horribly, painfully slow. You have to press really hard to make it move faster, which should kill your arm in no time. The buttons are quite hard to press, but I think that's more of an advantage, so at least they aren't activated by accident.
The Endurapro's trackpoint is in no way comparable to a Thinkpad's. Whoever makes that comparison has clearly never used a Thinkpad's trackpoint more than "oh! See how it moves when I press it!"--I can use the Thinkpad's trackpoint as my exclusive pointing device for weeks on end, which does not pose a problem at all--it's precise, it's light and it's fast. The Endurapro's trackpoint is precise, but it's certainly not light and it's horribly slow. It takes about 17 seconds for the pointer to traverse both of my screens (default pointer speed) when the Endurapro's stick is pressed normally (it's faster when pressing it hard, but this is so uncomfortable I wouldn't recommend it for prolonged periods of time), giving about 200 pixels/second--that's okay for pressing buttons near your current position, but totally unsuitable for anything else. It might have worked well with 640*480 screen resolution, but it doesn't anymore.

Still, the Endurapro is a great keyboard. Is the trackpoint worth the extra $30? I don't think so. It's a nice gimmick to have and you will certainly use it, but it's not as great as it sounds.

-huha

[ch_123]

Did you turn the mouse sensitivity all the way up and disable pointer precision?

But otherwise, I agree that it's nowhere near as good as a real IBM trackpoint. It's still better than nothing.

[huha]

Did you turn the mouse sensitivity all the way up and disable pointer precision?

Why should I? It's still bad, but then I can't use my regular mouse any longer because it jerks around the screen whenever I dare touching it so it moves ever so slightly.

But otherwise, I agree that it's nowhere near as good as a real IBM trackpoint. It's still better than nothing.

That's basically the point. It's nice if you're typing and need to click a button, e.g. the formatting button in this editor. It's really good for that. But I wouldn't want to use it for everything, which is what the author wants. It's a nice gimmick, but just too bad for extended productive use.

-huha