Non Gamer that wants an awesome feeling mouse

[roaming pear]

Hello,
I'm not a gamer.  I don't really play games on the computer, but I do use phtosohop and other productivity oriented programs.. .

- I want to get a mouse that felt awesome to touch...
- I used to use a logitech mini/ micro mouse that was meant for portable use.. it eventually drove me insane as it was damaged and I basically had to use it while hovering it a little over the surface of my desk...  So I started using my old wacom graphire 3 bluetooth, but my hands are getting hurt and tired... So I'm looking for a good mouse...
- I have used a microsoft 3000 (I think or is it 5000) in the past but that also drove me crazy... I think my particular mouse was bad.... It was writeless and I felt so much lag and I could never get it to do what I wanted it to do when I wanted it to do something important.... It feel ergonomic-ish in the hand though....
- I have also tried the bluetooth logitech trackpad, but at the time of using it I thought it "felt" cheap, but I'm not sure if I would think they same if I tried it again...
- I'm currently planning on getting the Poker 2 keyboard and if possible, I want to get a mouse that will not look like a looser compared to the poker 2 keyboard
- Lots of buttons seem like they will give me lots of possibilities to use with different programs.. Is this true?
- I had been looking at the Mad Catz RAT 9 and MMO7, but the huge number of complaints in combination with the heavy price has finally turned me off...  I don't even know how it feel though.. I hear someone on youtube complain about it "feeling cheap"... And part of the appeal was in the fact that it has a pinky rest and that it is so customizable... I was thinking this is going to be the perfect mouse for sure... but... well it doesn't have too good of a reputation..... The MMO7 looked nice because it has so many buttons.. I imagined that I could be very productive with such a mouse...
- words like "pro" and "sensei" are appealing to me (only if the product backs up such a word with quality) - lol
- I recently found out about the steel series sensei fnatic mouse and that looks nice...
- I generally like to get a white mouse since my case is white and the poker 2 I plan to get will be the white one... but I did like the sensei fnatic and that wasn't entirely white.. .
- the other day, I went to my local best buy and I tried a logitech mouse they had on display...  that felt premium and nice.. The left click button seemed to click when I barley touched it... That felt nice, but for some reason I like to avoid logitech mice... I'm not sure why... I think it might be because of my bad experience with the damaged mice and also because its soo popular of a brand... and I don't want to have something that everyone has.. I need something more person and geared to my tastes..
- I have also seen the steel series kana, but I don't know what to look for anymore... It looks too simple.. Is there epic awesomeness hiding within that simple design?
- I have a 24 inch monitor. Not sure if that info would be useful...
- The case I have for my computer is the define r4... Simple and clean, yet very nice...
- now I have read posts that says they don't want logitech, steel series or razor..... Can someone tell me, why other don't like all of these brands? 


Ok, so that is most of my story....
does anyone think they can recommended me anything.. .? do I need many programmable buttons to improve my super usernames experience ?..

Sorry for the long post...  Hopefully this info will help someone to be able to help me...

thank you

[munch]

for white mice that are really good:
Zowie EC1/EC2 eVo. EC1 is slightly bigger than the EC2.
Steelseries Kana v2 comes in White too, though it has some orange and black as well.

the Zowie will be more ergonomic than the Kana, and you can rest your pinky more on that one.
I don't think a simple design is bad at all, but if you need a lot of extra buttons I don't think I can help. I go for simple ones. it's a bonus to me if they have back/forward buttons.
sensor and button quality may not be of paramount to you though, as you're not a gamer? but button feel is very important, I'd say. and both mice I recommend have great button feel IMO. not too heavy or too light.

there are some more fancy laser mice or whatever that have a lot more buttons and whatnot, but I didn't really like any that I tried. so I hope someone else with more experience of those can help out with more recommendations.

[exitfire401]

Honestly? I'd say go track ball. If I'm not gaming, I'm on a track ball, and I love it.

[Vibex]

If you want to use a mouse, then I would recommend the Zowie FK non-2014 edition. If you are willing to try a trackball, I would go with the kensington orbit.

[nuclearsandwich]

The Sensei carries a pretty steep price if you're not going to take advantage of the absurd tuning possibilities. Plus it is an ambidextrous mouse, which may not be as comfortable as a right handed mouse. I really love the shape of the Mionix Naos. They're pretty pricy but the 3200 (optical rather than laser) is $50 MSRP and feels delightful.

[digi]

Honestly? I'd say go track ball. If I'm not gaming, I'm on a track ball, and I love it.

That's cool that you enjoy it. I wanted to see what the craze was all about so I recently tried the Kensington Slimblade, I just couldn't get used to it after using a mouse for such a long time. The trackball seemed to require some obscure hand movement just to do simple tasks like scroll page up and down (turn the ball clockwise) and the buttons were way too spread out for me. They do look cool tho!

[roaming pear]

Thanks for all the recommendations...
I was looking at the sensei fnatic, but I was also looking at the sensei raw white mouse, which seems to be a less customizable version of the sensei without the "raw"... The raw sensei doesn't seem to be too expensive...

The Zowie looks nice too... I'm going to have to look into it more now...

Is it odd or unpractical to use both a mouse and a trackball?  Like a mouse on the ride side of the keyboard and the trackball on the left? I was just thinking about that...

The track ball you recommended looks interesting.  I have always seen it, but never really tried it...  since I assumed that the logitech one would feel more natural...  But I'd have to give it a try...

How precise can you be with a track ball? Why using the logitech one, I didn't think it was as precise as a mouse, but that may have been because I didn't give it long enough of a chance to used to it...

[sth]

i really like my razer abyssus. 3 button scroll mouse, dumb-high tracking/whatnot, nice 'soft' texture.

I didn't think it was as precise as a mouth

there's nothing more precise than the right mouth

[roaming pear]

lol... silly typo....

[ajx]

Steelseries Raw Rubberized is hard to beat for what it offers
There are some steps to follow before buying mice:

- what your hand grip? you must find the best mice that provides good hand grip

- wireless or not wireless? wireless mice are as good as none wireless nowadays.
in case of choosing wireless mice, keep it mind about battery life is often shorter when it comes with wireless gaming mice.

- buttons? how many programmables buttons do i need? also watch out about their position, its hard to reach these button on some mice.

- laser or optic tracker?

the least important to me: the mice design
Razer mice tend to look beautiful but i came to always favor Logitech mice at the ends.

[Coreda]

Honestly? I'd say go track ball. If I'm not gaming, I'm on a track ball, and I love it.

One of these days I'll try a track ball for fun. Much of my mouse usage is controlled using only my fingers, so I'd be curious if I'd adapt more easily.

[exitfire401]

Honestly? I'd say go track ball. If I'm not gaming, I'm on a track ball, and I love it.

One of these days I'll try a track ball for fun. Much of my mouse usage is controlled using only my fingers, so I'd be curious if I'd adapt more easily.

They're an acquired taste. It took me a couple of weeks to get used to, but at this point, I do enjoy using them more for everything other than gaming.

[noisyturtle]

I enjoy using my Mionix Naos for day to day use as well as gaming. It's maybe the most comfortable mouse I've ever owned.

[iLLucionist]

I recently had the same question: what to buy? I initially also tried to avoid Logitech, because of the bad reviews of the G500s, but quickly found out that it was that particular mouse that is lacking, particular its sensor. So first I thought about getting a Steelseries, but seriously. There are SO MANY negative reviews on Amazon and not only for their WHOLE RANGE of mice, but also for their keyboards, that I was left with the impression that Steelseries offers not good quality (seriously, look it up on Amazon. It's crazy.). So back from my starting point, I considered Roccat, but I read many negative results as well, especially about the scroll wheel.

So in the end, I read about the Logitech G400s and bought it. I like the fact that you can adjust the DPI to whatever you want (not only 50 or 100 dpi steps) and the surface. I have the mouse for a couple of months now and I see zero wear. No grease spots or the paint becoming vaguer already, just great. And it has great mouse software for my mac, which I also quite like.

Lastly, I do not know if you intend to use the mouse on a mac, but most gaming mouse vendors have really really poor mac support. And they are not honest about it in their marketing. For example, I considered the Steelseries Kana V2, which reads 'mac compatible' on their site. But what they mean is 'Plug and Play compatible', because their drivers are not compatible. What use is such a mouse when you cannot adjust the DPI?

[Coreda]

Lastly, I do not know if you intend to use the mouse on a mac, but most gaming mouse vendors have really really poor mac support. And they are not honest about it in their marketing. For example, I considered the Steelseries Kana V2, which reads 'mac compatible' on their site. But what they mean is 'Plug and Play compatible', because their drivers are not compatible. What use is such a mouse when you cannot adjust the DPI?

Mice should really not need software drivers for such basic settings. I have the Zowie FK and appreciate that the DPI and polling rate can be changed via the hardware.

[davkol]

New roccats have a great wheel and overall much better quality. I've recently disassembled the original Roccat Kone and it was truly horrible, but at least Lua and Savu aren't like that at all. It's like comparing the very first generation of CM Storm mice and what they make nowadays.

[iLLucionist]

New roccats have a great wheel and overall much better quality. I've recently disassembled the original Roccat Kone and it was truly horrible, but at least Lua and Savu aren't like that at all. It's like comparing the very first generation of CM Storm mice and what they make nowadays.

Is there a Roccat I could use on my Mac?

[davkol]

Any of them. They're just mice. All relevant settings (like button remapping, cpi steps, light status) are stored in an on-board memory, even in case of the cheap Lua. There's open-source configuration software for GNU/Linux; no idea about OS X for obvious reasons though.

[iLLucionist]

Any of them. They're just mice. All relevant settings (like button remapping, cpi steps, light status) are stored in an on-board memory, even in case of the cheap Lua. There's open-source configuration software for GNU/Linux; no idea about OS X for obvious reasons though.

But I first need software to actually store those settings into the on-board memory right?

Hmm.. wondering If I could use the GNU/Linux software on OS X. I would like the Roccat Kone Pure White on my Mac, but official Mac support is only for the XTD.

[davkol]

A part of that software is a kernel module, thus it won't work there, but you can probably use virtualization with direct access to USB devices... or make a live GNU/Linux system (something like openSuSE Studio).

[iLLucionist]

A part of that software is a kernel module, thus it won't work there, but you can probably use virtualization with direct access to USB devices... or make a live GNU/Linux system (something like openSuSE Studio).

Sounds good. I always have multiple VMs "lying around" so that shouldn't be a problem. Do you have experience with Roccat's? Would you prefer a Kone Pure or a XTD? My current mouse is a G400s.

[davkol]

I've owned the original Kone (crap quality, good shape for claw grip with big hands), Pyra Wireless (extremely light buttons, but too stiff wheel, doesn't work with some batteries) and two new mice: Lua and Savu; both are very similar and I consider them to be my favorite mice together with CM Storm Xornet. I have reviewed the savu at DT.

[fohat.digs]

I have used the Wow Joy Pen for a year or 2 and love it.

The original buttons were stiff so I traded out for some Omrons out of an old Logitech ball mouse, and it is much better.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Luxury-WOWPEN-JOY-Wow-Pen-Vertical-Optical-Wired-USB-Mouse-Ergonomic-Wrist-Pain-/251505630254?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&var=&hash=item3a8ee75c2e

http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=39819.msg784609#msg784609

[Rule16]

The SteelSeries Rival is the best mouse I've ever used, period. Other mice I've used would be Razer Naga, Razer DeathAdder, Microsoft Intellimouse, Logitech G400, and G600, RAT 9, and the E-3lue Cobra II... to name a few. It has an amazing sensor, the scroll wheel feels great, the switches are omron, and it has nice rubber coating on the sides and all over. Not to mention it looks really nice with the different colour options. The rival also have no acceleration due to the optical sensor, an infared light, so you will never see it, great software, and AMAZING ergonomics, best mouse to ever fit in my hand, as soon as I got the thing I knew I'd be using it for a long, long time. And if it helps my case any... I also spend most of my time on League of Legends, which requires a good mouse, so I take that very seriously and this mouse has not limited me or had any tracking errors jitters etc.

[iLLucionist]

I've owned the original Kone (crap quality, good shape for claw grip with big hands), Pyra Wireless (extremely light buttons, but too stiff wheel, doesn't work with some batteries) and two new mice: Lua and Savu; both are very similar and I consider them to be my favorite mice together with CM Storm Xornet. I have reviewed the savu at DT.

Hmm... perhaps time to try out the Kone. Read some good stuff about it.

[roaming pear]

Ok, so I went ahead and got 2 mice that I was thinking about. 
I got the white sensei raw (new) and the kana (used)...
The sensei raw came about a week earlier than the kana... I played around with it and really liked.  It clicked well, better than I imagined it would.  I thought it was goign to feel more plasticy... it does feel plasticy I guess, but the rubberized sides make it feel niice...
The scroll wheel is amazing... it has a nice clicky sound and it feels nice... I was pretty much in love at first touch... I was imagining it to be too small for my hands since I have watched about a million people with large hands or tiny hands on youtube talking about different mice being too large or too small for their grip... I though my hands were large, but I think I'm just average..  So it fit really well....
Before this was using a mouse on a wacom tablet.. (piece of garbage for navigating on a computer) and a mini logitech laptop mouse that was damaged and worked awkwardly... So, what I'm trying to say is that my judgment of mice might be impaired and I might just be liking this mouse after going through some previous bad experiences with mice that were not meant to be good anyway...
The one thing that I did notice the white sensei raw did not have was a braided cable and I thought I would really want one, but after getting the white kana which does have a braided cable, I don't know it matters anymore... I mean I do like it on the kana, but I guess its not a big deal....
Now, I think I got a pretty good deal on the sensei raw for about 37 dollars.. and the new kana was at the same price on amazon.. But amazon also had a used kana for 21, so I thought I'd give it  a try... Not a bad deal at 21...
But after experiencing the Sensei for a week, its hard to like the kana ... at least it is hard to like it more than the sensei..
The first thing I noticed was that sinc eI got used to such an awesome scroll wheel, it was harder to get used to a slightly less scroll wheel on the kana... It doesn't make that awesome sound.. and there are less spaces between each little tiny bump on the wheel... Second, before I got the sensei, I thought I wouldn't like the lighting on the sensie, but after using, I think I really enjoy this almost breathing light that is on it... The kana is obviously a cheaper model and does not have it... 3rd, The kana also does not have the rubberized grips on the sides of the mouse, making it feel cheaper...

I did want more buttons to press because I imagined that with more buttons I can do more tasks... That may be true, but the 2 buttons on the right of the sensei are hard to press with my pinky... The kana has less buttons, but each button on each side is easier to press than the buttons that I have to press with my pinky...

I wouldn't have mind getting the actual sensei with an lcd screen on the button and the ability to change the color of the led light to any color you want, but the mouse doesn't come in white.. It does have this one design that is black on the top and white on the sides and bottom and orange buttons, but I realized that it had the mark or logo of some gaming team and sine I'm not a gamer, I didn't want to seen as a fan of the team by the off chance that a gamer saw my setup...  And it was about 70 bucks to get that color... I thought the mice looked nice, but I'll wait for when they come out with a sensei that is white.. For now the sensei raw is keeping me happy...


Also, I currently have both the kana and the sensei connected to my computer and one is configured to my left hand and the other is configured to my right... but slight nuance in the appearance and the lack of the nicer scroll wheal makes it odd using the left mice..
Another sensei raw might look better on the left... But its more expensive than when I bought it for now..  -_-






Now that my blah blah blah post is finished..... Can you guys tell me:

Is there any reason why I should keep the kana?

[iLLucionist]

Spare mouse always comes in handy. I have plenty of mice laying around just in case.