Hi all,
I haven't been happy with my mouse in quite a long time. The last mouse I really loved was my Abyssus, but I need a mouse for work that has side buttons, and want to use the same mouse at work as at home. The work thing is relevant because I may not be able to install drivers or do firmware updates. I generally have admin privileges and the firewall is pretty loose, but I could not use Synapse 2.0 for example as it would not connect to Razer's servers. So if the mouse needs some kind of "fix" to work properly, that could be an issue.
My biggest complaint with most mice is that they are hard to pick up. The pinky doesn't grip anywhere on the mouse because the right side of the mouse is convex rather than concave. Also, there is often no place to rest my ring finger. There needs to be a balance between having the ring finger jammed up against the pinky (deathadder), and being so high up it can exert little influence on controlling the mouse (G400). Weight balance is also very important, but I prefer lighter mice anyway so this isn't crucial as long as it's light enough. For me, Abyssus solved all of these problems. I just need the side buttons. I suppose the angle snapping and acceleration stuff isn't a huge issue anymore as I don't play FPS games. But if possible, I'd really rather not have it. Snapping isn't a huge deal, I actually sometimes miss being able to draw perfectly straight lines. I haven't used a mouse with accel basically ever. If it were perfectly consistent in its behavior that would be OK I guess but from what I've read the only way to create consistent accel is in software.
The mouse I hated the most was a G500. Nowhere to put my ring finger and I found the gritty sides somehow very slick. I ended up putting electrical tape all over it and still hated it. The scroll wheel was cool though
Right now I am using a G400 at home and Deathadder 2013 at work. I want to love the Deathadder but I just can't get comfortable with it. The shape seems to only make sense with three fingers on top, which I guess is theoretically optimal, but in reality I feel out of control without a third finger controlling the mouse (thumb, pinky, and ring). G400 is fine but a bit heavy and really not suited to the more fingertip/claw style I use at work.
This may seem weird to want an optimal "work" mouse but I am an excel jockey and actually do need some performance. Save the pros use the keyboard comments. The reason I switched to higher sense/fingertip is because I'm only on the mouse for brief moments to do the few things in Windows/Excel that lack keyboard shortcuts or are at least easier with a mouse.
So my priorities are:
Shape - Easy to pick up and rest ring finger
Weight - light
No accel
No snapping
Driverless
Must have back/forward buttons on the left side of the mouse, and preferably no additional buttons.
Honestly, for the perfect mouse I am willing to pay quite a bit so price is not an issue. If anyone is some kind of super genius and can mod an Abyssus to have side buttons I would be willing to pay ~$200 for this.
Thank you so much for your advice.