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geekhack Community => Input Devices => Topic started by: animal on Mon, 25 January 2016, 15:16:18

Title: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: animal on Mon, 25 January 2016, 15:16:18
I know this has covered before (more than once), but all threads I found are old.

Up until now, all my mice were symmetrical but now I want one for my left hand with 2 buttons where my thumb is. I kinda like the Death Adder, but I currently use an Abyssus which I am not happy about its performance ,quality build and longevity, so I guess I will out rule Razer.
I'm not considering using a trackball either. This old dog doesn't like learning new tricks :)
Given the few choices of left hand mice ,I could go for another symmetrical mouse as long as it is comfortable and quality built.
What do you lefties use/like?
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: Bucake on Mon, 25 January 2016, 16:19:08
which mice have you used in the past?
any shapes/mice you particularly like or dislike?

i'm not a full lefty, but for left i have a DA. to me it's a pretty comfortable mouse, but unfortunately a bit too big and a bit too heavy.
meaning; i can't grip it well enough to be able to use it well in FPS games and such. i'm just not quick/accurate enough when i must lift up the mouse frequently.

i suppose there's a reason you specifically mentioned 2 side-buttons on the right side,
but if not, then you could look into the intellimouse 1.1 and the steelseries kana v2. both mice have 1 side button on each side.
unfortunately for me, the side-buttons on both mice are a bit annoying to use with my ring-fingers.

the kana v2 and WMO are probably my favorite shapes for both right and left, but the WMO lacks side-buttons, and i can't really use the side-button on the kana with my ring-fingers.

unfortunately i'm not aware of many mice that have 2 side-buttons on the right side. i don't think there are that many.
i have the zowie FK2, but unfortunately that one's a bit too small. the way i have to grip the mouse cramps my hands, and just doesn't feel comfortable.

there's the steelseries raw, but i have never used it myself. looks comfortable enough, but i'm not interested in laser mice :P
i think the zowie am also has buttons on the right side.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: animal on Mon, 25 January 2016, 16:36:30
which mice have you used in the past?
any shapes/mice you particularly like or dislike?

i'm not a full lefty, but for left i have a DA. to me it's a pretty comfortable mouse, but unfortunately a bit too big and a bit too heavy.
meaning; i can't grip it well enough to be able to use it well in FPS games and such. i'm just not quick/accurate enough when i must lift up the mouse frequently.

i suppose there's a reason you specifically mentioned 2 side-buttons on the right side,
but if not, then you could look into the intellimouse 1.1 and the steelseries kana v2. both mice have 1 side button on each side.
unfortunately for me, the side-buttons on both mice are a bit annoying to use with my ring-fingers.

the kana v2 and MOW are probably my favorite shapes for both right and left, but the WMO lacks side-buttons, and i can't really use the side-button on the kana with my ring-fingers.

unfortunately i'm not aware of many mice that have 2 side-buttons on the right side. i don't think there are that many.
i have the zowie FK2, but unfortunately that one's a bit too small. the way i have to grip the mouse cramps my hands, and just doesn't feel comfortable.

there's the steelseries raw, but i have never used it myself. looks comfortable enough, but i'm not interested in laser mice :P
i think the zowie am also has buttons on the right side.

I currently use a Abyssus as I mentioned earlier. Before that I have an overrated Gigabyte M8600 which was harsh on my palm due the angles on its top. Before that I used a RAT 5! Just for a month though because my hand started to hurt. That mouse made me wish I was a right hand. And before all those I used MS basic mouse.
As for the buttons I just mentioned 2 buttons because I thought all mice had 2 buttons on the side. I really only need 1.
How is the quality build of the Kana v2?
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: Bucake on Mon, 25 January 2016, 17:08:16
after months of use, the coating is still fine, and there are no mechanical issues whatsoever.
the mouse feels sturdy, has nice clicks.. i can't really think of anything bad to say about it. i suppose the sensor is a bit dated now, but (for me) it tracks well enough.
however, i have read that some have had issues with the firmware and/or software. i haven't bothered with that stuff myself, so i wouldn't know. but you might want to look that stuff up in case you're considering the mouse :)

btw, in case you're interested; a while ago i created a left-handed cursor scheme for myself:
More
(http://i.imgur.com/ubehHiF.png)

i simply mirrored all of the images in an editor, and made sure the pixel that's being clicked is in the right place.
before, it was messing with my head that the cursor was 'pointing the wrong way' when i was mousing with my left hand. (i still can't believe that microsoft never added this themselves.)

edit: nevermind! i see howtogeek already has left handed cursors up :)
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: davkol on Tue, 26 January 2016, 07:09:46
I'm looking at Roccat Kiro.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: animal on Tue, 26 January 2016, 08:32:54
I'm looking at Roccat Kiro.

It looks good. I just saw the Kova which also looks good. How are Roccat products quality wise?
 Thanks for the heads up :)
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: davkol on Tue, 26 January 2016, 08:46:25
I'm looking at Roccat Kiro.

It looks good. I just saw the Kova which also looks good. How are Roccat products quality wise?
 Thanks for the heads up :)
There's the old Kova, which was awful (esp. huge stiff wheel and questionable insides), and new Kova, which is supposedly weird and very different from other current Roccat's mice.

Other newer roccats (such as Kone Pure [Optical|Military]) feel very solid, have one of the greatest tactile wheels in the market, and the surfaces are neat too. All these mice have an on-board memory for configuration, and drivers are above average; moreover, there are very good open-source GNU/Linux drivers, thus you aren't screwed, if Roccat stops supporting your mouse/system or goes bat****-Razer-insane.

I'm currently quite happy with KPM, Savu and Lua, and keep an eye on the Kiro, because it's supposed to be Lua's higher-end successor, and it's getting favorable reviews from people, who like KPM.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: Diokhan on Tue, 26 January 2016, 08:50:07
Friend of mine is using ambidextrous mouses and is happy about them.
Currently the zowie fk2 I think
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: Chasseur on Tue, 26 January 2016, 18:23:27
The Zowie ZA series is comfortable, has 5 buttons and scroll wheel, does not need drivers, and doesn't look like it belongs on Batman's utility belt (office appropriate). The only downside is that the scroll wheel does not offer side-scrolling, although most of the mouses mentioned here do not either.

I found the ZA11 fit my hand and grip style (full palm) the most comfortably of Zowie's current lineup  (ZA, FK, EC). I am a right-handed user, though I will occasionally use the ZA with my left hand to spice up my day.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: Macsmasher on Tue, 26 January 2016, 19:01:29
I'm right-handed, but have been running two mice for 20+ years. I game exclusively left-handed mouse, all FPS games.


For the last several years, I've been running a Steelseries Sensei MLG on the left and a Steelseries Sensei on the right. The nice thing about the Steelseries software is both mice can be set up independently. So my left mouse is set up as left-handed, i.e. primary button is the right button. Even sensitivity, acceleration, etc. can be configured separately.


Do NOT get the Steelseries Raw. I did initially, but had to take it back because of many limitations. Can't recall what they were, but trust me...you don't want the Raw.


Both mice have two side buttons on each side. I've been very happy with them.


On a side note to those running only a single mouse, give two mice a try. I was beginning to get RSI in my right fingers years ago. Since moving half the mousing load to my left hand, I've had no issues in two decades. Mousing is not like writing with your off hand. If you can point with your left hand, you can mouse with it.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: davkol on Wed, 27 January 2016, 07:41:45
Speaking of Zowie, I have a problem with them. I've owned a couple of their ambidextrous mice, and the "no-bs" approach appeals to me, but…

All they do is copy classic shell designs (from Microsoft and Logitech), throw generic (although well-regarded) electronics in the mix, and overcharge for this. Actually, I wouldn't mind—I don't need most gimmicks anyway—if their customer service and quality control matched the price. Sadly, that's not the case in practice. Their current recall on models with Omron switches smells like TrulyErgonomic-level bull****, and it's not even the first time they've done this either… remember the 2013 recall, caused by coating issues? Basically, they've managed to **** up an equivalent of $10 OEM mice and sell it for about five times as much. In addition, the reports on quality of their customer service aren't clearly positive either.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: timofonic on Wed, 27 January 2016, 16:14:22
Trackballs, trackballs everywhere.

Really, I started to hate mouses since my left hand started to get pain. I feel a lot more comfortable with a CST LTracX trackball.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: davkol on Wed, 27 January 2016, 17:28:59
The only left-handed trackball in the market is Elecom M-XT4-something. The rest is mostly ambidextrous, which also means it usually doesn't quite fit the shape of the respective human hand, and button placement is suboptimal in particular.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: Bucake on Thu, 28 January 2016, 21:23:28
Speaking of Zowie, I have a problem with them. I've owned a couple of their ambidextrous mice, and the "no-bs" approach appeals to me, but…

All they do is copy classic shell designs (from Microsoft and Logitech), throw generic (although well-regarded) electronics in the mix, and overcharge for this. Actually, I wouldn't mind—I don't need most gimmicks anyway—if their customer service and quality control matched the price. Sadly, that's not the case in practice. Their current recall on models with Omron switches smells like TrulyErgonomic-level bull****, and it's not even the first time they've done this either… remember the 2013 recall, caused by coating issues? Basically, they've managed to **** up an equivalent of $10 OEM mice and sell it for about five times as much. In addition, the reports on quality of their customer service aren't clearly positive either.

this is exactly why i disagree with all the hype around zowie.
too bad all these hype-boys don't see that that's all that's making zowie big. the hype.
can't say their products are bad, but they are far from great. problem is their overpricing and their terrible quality control.
funnily enough, they seem to be getting away with absolutely everything.

i guess when you have the luck of a hype-explosion, you get such a head-start that it's almost impossible to fall behind again.
because when zowie started, all they had was 'the word on the street' about their 'no bs approach': no LEDs, no software, no weird shapes, low lift-off distance, etc.
but they've had nothing but bad runs with mice.. coating issues, jitter issues, polling rate issues, clicking issues, and so on. many people never got a replacement, or even a 'sorry'.
they should be ashamed, really.

the 'issue' now is that as long as they keep getting away with their unprofessional approach, they're not likely to change as a company.
i had good hope when they started out.. too bad!
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: davkol on Sat, 30 January 2016, 06:38:00
I'm looking at Roccat Kiro.
Actually, I'd like to correct myself.

Quote
  • Lua was very light (68g), while Kiro weighs 150% (~104g), which is a lot for such a small mouse.
  • Kiro still uses the A3050 sensor, although with some fancier processing and DCU this time, apparently. It's not a problem by itself, but older implementations suffered from jitter at 1000+ cpi. I simply don't trust Kiro at this point—I'd love to be proven wrong though.
  • Kiro still doesn't support EasyShift, according to Amazon's specification table. EasyShift is a modifier, that can be used to access a secondary function of each button or wheel direction; I've found it very useful on other Roccat mice.
  • The price difference is about €20. For example, Amazon.de lists Lua at €31 and Kiro at €50.

Kiro just isn't worth the price at this point.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: animal on Thu, 04 February 2016, 04:06:15
Thanks all for your suggestions/input. I will go for the Steelseries kana v2 or the Mionix Avior 7000. Too bad for us lefties, with so liitle choices. I wish I could find an ergonomic meeting my criteria...
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: fanpeople on Thu, 04 February 2016, 04:13:36
Just use your right hand and then this will not be a problem.

Consult your standard middle age 1950s primary school teacher for specific coaching in the art of using your right hand as a leftie.
Title: Re: What mouse do lefties suggest?
Post by: iLLucionist on Thu, 04 February 2016, 08:16:44
You can't go wrong with the Mionix Avior 7000: great quality rubber coating, ADNS 3310 sensor (arguably one of the best if not the best), settings stored on board of mouse (no mouse software required running in the background), braided cord (some hate that though).