I have used many mice
Currently i use the Razer Death Adder (LED) and the Microsoft Habu (Laser), they both work well in games and i can attach a button to each to toggle between speeds.
What I don't understand is the argument against laser mice.
Reasons why pros use LED mice maybe is due to the style of gaming they grew up with and also to do with large movements of the mouse to create more precise in game movements. Some pros get mouse mats half a metre in width sometimes. Pros also usually tell each other why their gaming style is ideal and they often flock together even if it is not the best option.
I remember when ball mice used to be PRO and LED mice were bad mice because you couldn't spin the ball to turn around fast enough or when you couldn't lift the mouse in case your mouse didn't work properly. Now look here do pros still use ball mice? If they do Razer no longer make the original boomslang which was all the rage in yesteryear.
Low sensitivity mice seem to represent the pros you believe are that great I assume they are fairly low sensitivity mice considering the MS explorer 3.0 mouse with the LED I used to own maxed out at about 1200 dpi. So I guess thats all they need? wrong, I used to own that mouse and it was definitely good for its time, but the reason its so good is not because it relies on LED technology and track smoothly cos it was never designed for fast operation(above 1200dpi) in the first place, but the actual reason is gamers like people get attached to their input devices just like this forum is attached to their keyboards. It is the sole way to interact with the system like how they can grip the mouse and able to predict the behavior of the mouse at different settings. These are good reasons for people to continue to buy them but for new buyers like us we are not constricted to their criteria of mice.
There are good laser mice I owned a logitech mx1000, razer copperhead and microsoft habu, they are all good mice. MX1000 was one of the original laser mice and it tracked fine for the games I used. The main advantage of laser mice is the ability to take more accurate pictures and therefore beable to track more accurately, the disadvantage is that because the pictures are just so accurate you are not really allowed to remove the mouse from the mouse mat because if you do the mouse needs to re-calibrate because it is just too accurate.
The reason for this is because laser light does not refract so much and therefore gives a less blury picture. The reason LED mice dont have this problem is because they are initially blurry to begin with and also better software to handle the issue, ball mice don't have the problem because they rely on traction so in my opinion if you lift the mouse from the table ball mice Should be the optimum, but it isn't because people are lazy to clean the mouse every damn day and we're lazy loving people aren't we all.
Because laser mice are so accurate though they can have much higher dpi since they can take more accurate photos of your table/mouse mat, of course for small monitors the increase in speed will make your mouse wildly uncontrollable unless you've been drinking all those caffinated drinks those pros drink and are now in zombie gamer mode with super controllable arms.
There is a real limit to what people can use in certain games, but also it depends on the monitor's resolution and the movements the player is expected to make throughout the game, with a game that requires large movements, then a high dpi mouse is much more efficient as you move your hand less, with a twitch game like counterstrike reducing your twitch to a longer movement using a slow mouse will actually improve your accuracy. High resolution desktops take advantage of fast mice because the resolutions are so high now it would take a long time to move from one side of the screen to another without lifting your mouse.
You could consider the way cars were improved by reducing the amount of work the driver did by adding power steering, although power steering reduced the amount of feel between tyres and steering wheel it reduced the amount of work needed. However cars without powersteering are often more accurate as well due to the direct link between the steering wheel and the axles. Racing drivers of old used to believe that non-powersteering was the way to go in order to improve the way a user could handle their car, but as time grew on more new technologies which allowed more forcefeedback while still maintaining useful powersteering to aid the driver in parking and also different levels of power steering.
The same thing is happening with mice, but because LED mice are 'good enough' adoption is slower just like why blu ray uptake is slower than dvd because we know its better but is it really necessary? The question has been asked many times over throughout history and if theres one thing its that it ain't necessary now but it will be in the future. How far into the future no one really knows. Laser mice are the same in that they will eventually find their way into gamers hands and people will tune themselves to take full advantage of it just like they tuned themeselves to learn how to reduce the disadvantages of LED mice vs ball mice.
Laser mice in my opinion have been very good for twitch gamers where a fast mouse reduces the amount of movement you need to do with your mouse. But they often track worse when you slow the mouse down, although I have heard that the logitech G5 tracks well slowly and that mouse has been out for over 2+ years I believe. Some gamers will not be able to tune themselves and as laser mice become cheaper and the technologies improved the led mice pro people will find themselves in the shoes of ball mice, looking down the barrel of ever dwindling mouse sellers.
To be honest you can improve your current mouse by getting a better mouse matt, cloth mouse matts are better for slow dpi mousers since they give extra tactility while being more smoother generally. While twitch gamers should use silky smooth teflon metal, plastic or other hard fast mats as they allow the mouse to glide effortlessly. These mats will often improve the performance of the mouse and maybe hold you off from buying a new mouse and depending on your preference that might be the best option
I've written so damn much I know i'm now an input device crazy guy. The most unfortunate thing that has come out from all this mouse comparing is that the keyboard has become neglected. Few gaming keyboards are coming out which are made from high quality cherry, alps or topre keyswitches in the world. Maybe because the keyboard is 'good enough' that uptake has reduced and that the new generation has never typed on what we geekhackers call a good keyboard.
Anyway I'm signing off, i've wasted enough time now hehe
