Wired vs Wireless mouse - what are you using?

Budgie

A Corsair Sabre wired mouse. It's good.

olafgarten

https://www.microsoft.com/accessories/en-gb/products/keyboards/wireless-comfort-desktop-5000/csd-00006

I've had that set since 2011, it's really expensive now, I remeber it was around £40 when I got it. I've thought about upgrading but I don't really need to, the curvy keyboard took a little adapting but it's quite natural once you get used to it. 

The mouse is also very nice, I use it for everything, gaming, photo editing, 3d work and while I'm sure another mouse might work better, I can't see it being that much better. 

Also, the Bluetrack tech is really good, I can even use it on glass. 

guitarfishbay

@ThePrettyDamned ;

Logitech MX Master is £54.99 in store at Currys right now. It's listed at £59.99 but an extra £5r came off at the till. Expensive for a mouse but I'm hoping it'll be worth it.

Looking forward to trying it out later. 

ThePrettyDamned

guitarfishbay said:

@ThePrettyDamned ;

Logitech MX Master is £54.99 in store at Currys right now. It's listed at £59.99 but an extra £5r came off at the till. Expensive for a mouse but I'm hoping it'll be worth it.

Looking forward to trying it out later. 

I'm not currently in a position to spend where I don't really need to, but I'd be interested in your thoughts, especially if you're into photoshop at all (or, really, any of the Adobe design suite - they all work similarly).

I was considering a small size Wacom photo, which comes in at a bit more but still comparable. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B013ATUGGK/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495983428&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Wacom+intuos&dpPl=1&dpID=41LhiKaiP3L&ref=plSrch

Tbh I am used to working with a mouse, and don't really feel it limits me greatly in my editing, even with dodging, burning and frequency separation. So I'm not 100 percent set on a graphics tablet. 

stratman3142

I recently moved to using wireless. I avoided it for a while because I was under the (what proved to be the mistaken) impression that wireless might cause audio glitches with my DAW.

I'm using a Logitech M330 for my desktop and a very cheap Logitech M185 for my laptop. The scroll wheel on the M185 feels a bit scratchy compared to the M330, but I can live with it because I don't use my laptop so much.

guitarfishbay

ThePrettyDamned said:

guitarfishbay said:

@ThePrettyDamned ;

Logitech MX Master is £54.99 in store at Currys right now. It's listed at £59.99 but an extra £5r came off at the till. Expensive for a mouse but I'm hoping it'll be worth it.

Looking forward to trying it out later. 

I'm not currently in a position to spend where I don't really need to, but I'd be interested in your thoughts, especially if you're into photoshop at all (or, really, any of the Adobe design suite - they all work similarly).

I was considering a small size Wacom photo, which comes in at a bit more but still comparable. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B013ATUGGK/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495983428&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Wacom+intuos&dpPl=1&dpID=41LhiKaiP3L&ref=plSrch

Tbh I am used to working with a mouse, and don't really feel it limits me greatly in my editing, even with dodging, burning and frequency separation. So I'm not 100 percent set on a graphics tablet. 

I don't use photoshop, I just do music stuff in Logic X and Studio One 3.

I'll do a review anyway once I've had a go 

57Deluxe

ICBM said:

57Deluxe said:

switched back to wired from wireless and no lag now... hate the lag…

Is there a lag? I don't notice one. It seems extremely responsive, if anything more so than the previous wired one I had.

can be when batts drop low, or if using inferior rechargeables, or there are items in the signal patch or other interference. You notice it on the wheel first then find you need the extra click or two more and more...

ThePrettyDamned

guitarfishbay said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

guitarfishbay said:

@ThePrettyDamned ;

Logitech MX Master is £54.99 in store at Currys right now. It's listed at £59.99 but an extra £5r came off at the till. Expensive for a mouse but I'm hoping it'll be worth it.

Looking forward to trying it out later. 

I'm not currently in a position to spend where I don't really need to, but I'd be interested in your thoughts, especially if you're into photoshop at all (or, really, any of the Adobe design suite - they all work similarly).

I was considering a small size Wacom photo, which comes in at a bit more but still comparable. 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B013ATUGGK/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1495983428&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Wacom+intuos&dpPl=1&dpID=41LhiKaiP3L&ref=plSrch

Tbh I am used to working with a mouse, and don't really feel it limits me greatly in my editing, even with dodging, burning and frequency separation. So I'm not 100 percent set on a graphics tablet. 

I don't use photoshop, I just do music stuff in Logic X and Studio One 3.

I'll do a review anyway once I've had a go 

Much appreciated. 

Assigning the side wheel to zoom, or brush size, would be really useful. Especially if I could assign multiple things to it, like roll it for zoom, shift+roll for brush size, alt+roll for opacity etc. Just those three even would make photoshop a quicker experience for me. 

The Wacom tablets apparently have various programmable bits, I'll have to see if I can try one in the flesh for a few weeks before I commit... 

guitarfishbay

@ThePrettyDamned ;;;

Ok a review of the MX Master Mouse, after one full day of use for music production (used in Logic X and Studio One 3.5).

A note for left handed users, unfortunately at the time of writing this mouse is available right handed orientation only.

Cost:

I paid £54.99 at Currys, which seems to be the best current price.  Not cheap, but not something you'd buy unless you thought it'd give you a productivity advantage.

Comfort:

Straight 10/10, at least for my hands.  The high arch is supportive and comfortable, the thumb rest is also ergonomic and importantly the way the thumb pad button works means you won't accidentally be clicking it when in a resting position.  Basically it's comfy, the buttons/wheels are easy to access, and you won't accidentally click the wrong button, so they've got the basics spot on, at least for my tastes.  


Usage:

It is noticeably bigger and heavier than any other mouse I've used, but it's a total non issue after 1 minute of use.  If anything it feels like it's easier to be precise with it.  I do not perceive any lag, though I do not play games.  My primary use is DAW (Studio One 3/Logic X).

The left and right click buttons work fine, nothing to talk about here.

The vertical scroll wheel is interesting.  It's default mode uses scroll speed to switch between ratcheted (clicky) scrolling, and free wheel scrolling.  The sensitivity for this function change can be set in the Options software.  The button behind the scroll wheel can also be used to switch between ratchet and free wheel modes.  Personally I have turned off the auto switching and just use the manual switch.  Most of the time I want ratchet and only want free wheel if I'm the wrong end of a large project/web page.  Other people may find the auto switching useful, I couldn't find a way to set it where both directions switched satisfactorily to my preference.

The thumb wheel for horizontal scroll is not ratcheted.  It does not spin as fast as the vertical wheel in free spin mode.  It's pretty useful though I have found I sometimes still zoom in/out by key command mostly because that is stepped and the thumb wheel isn't ratcheted.  By default, thumb going down (anti clockwise movement) is scroll right.  This didn't seem suitable to me so I inverted it.  However 5 minutes later I returned to default.  It actually makes more sense this way as thumb down is an easier movement than thumb up.  You can easily change it as per your own preference anyway.  One thing I noticed is the horizontal zooming feels a lot smoother in Logic X than in Studio One 3.  I have no idea why this is, or if there's an option I need to tweak in S1.

The forward/back buttons are very easy to use.  I've seen some reviews claiming they're hard to use without looking.  All I can say is I disagree.  It's quite ergonomic IMO, you slide your thumb back from the scroll wheel and it is very obvious by feel which is the top button and which is the bottom button.  Maybe if your thumb is on the thumb rest and you go straight up to the buttons you'd find it harder, but I find I go thumb wheel and back without thinking about it.  You can of course change the function of these buttons if you prefer.

The Thumb pad button is a pretty cool feature.  as noted you wouldn't accidentally engage it where you'd rest your thumb, so this keeps it from being a nuisance.  I'm just using it in a basic way, to allow me to change windows quickly on OSX, but you can set it up to do some cool stuff with gestures for click and drag direction.

Things to be aware of:

Right hand orientation only.

You will need the Logitech Options Software otherwise functionality will be compromised.  Make sure your OS is supported.  The box says you need OSX 10.10 but I'm using 10.9 with no problems, the software is available from Logitech's site.  Logitech options software allows you to change the sensitivity of the mouse, scroll wheel sensitivity, scroll wheel directions, function of buttons (thumb button can operate as gesture, as in click plus drag direction), and smart scroll sensitivity (when the vertical scroll switches from ratchet to free wheel).

The mouse does not transfer data via USB cable.  While it is charged with a micro USB cable, to use the mouse it must be connected via wireless.  This is a major point and one that was pretty unclear as the website says you can continue to use while charging... yes this is true but you still need to connect it via either Bluetooth or wireless USB (dongle provided).  This may be a deciding factor if for some reason Bluetooth connection is not suitable and you have limited USB ports.  I have not tried to use Bluetooth.  I do think there are minimum requirements with Bluetooth so please check before buying.

The provided micro USB cable is not very long.  I've not measured it, but it's shorter than a typical mouse cable for sure, and only really suitable if you're plugging into a port nearby on the desk.  If you need to use it while plugged in to a port at floor level you'll almost certainly need to buy a longer cable.

Battery is quoted as lasting 40 days (based on a 6 hour a day usage) and it is claimed you'd get 6 hours usage out of a 4 minute charge.  I can't easily test this because it's not run out of battery yet.

Thumb wheel is not ratcheted.  This is my only complaint really, I'd love for the thumb wheel to have the same freewheel/ratchet options as the vertical scroll wheel.  It's still a major advantage to not having a thumb wheel, but I have found that I still about 20-30% of the time use key commands for zoom just because of the preciseness.  As noted, horizontal zoom seems smoother in Logic X than Studio One 3.  Horizontal scrolling seems fine in either, and actually I think free scroll is preferable for horizontal scroll.  I suspect I'll get better at controlling the horizontal zoom at S1 with experience, but regardless I'd personally still like for the thumb wheel to have a ratchet option.

crunchman

I'm still wired for both keyboard and mouse.

I'd never go for a wireless keyboard as they don't have Caps Lock and Num Lock lights.  If they had to keep the lights on then they would eat batteries.

A wireless mouse wouldn't be as bad, but I'd get annoyed when the batteries did go flat.  I might also be a bit cheapskate.  you can buy a pretty reasonable wired mouse for a fiver, but you have spend more to get a decent wireless one.

ThePrettyDamned

guitarfishbay said:

@ThePrettyDamned ;;;

Ok a review of the MX Master Mouse, after one full day of use for music production (used in Logic X and Studio One 3.5).

A note for left handed users, unfortunately at the time of writing this mouse is available right handed orientation only.

Cost:

I paid £54.99 at Currys, which seems to be the best current price.  Not cheap, but not something you'd buy unless you thought it'd give you a productivity advantage.

Comfort:

Straight 10/10, at least for my hands.  The high arch is supportive and comfortable, the thumb rest is also ergonomic and importantly the way the thumb pad button works means you won't accidentally be clicking it when in a resting position.  Basically it's comfy, the buttons/wheels are easy to access, and you won't accidentally click the wrong button, so they've got the basics spot on, at least for my tastes.  


Usage:

It is noticeably bigger and heavier than any other mouse I've used, but it's a total non issue after 1 minute of use.  If anything it feels like it's easier to be precise with it.  I do not perceive any lag, though I do not play games.  My primary use is DAW (Studio One 3/Logic X).

The left and right click buttons work fine, nothing to talk about here.

The vertical scroll wheel is interesting.  It's default mode uses scroll speed to switch between ratcheted (clicky) scrolling, and free wheel scrolling.  The sensitivity for this function change can be set in the Options software.  The button behind the scroll wheel can also be used to switch between ratchet and free wheel modes.  Personally I have turned off the auto switching and just use the manual switch.  Most of the time I want ratchet and only want free wheel if I'm the wrong end of a large project/web page.  Other people may find the auto switching useful, I couldn't find a way to set it where both directions switched satisfactorily to my preference.

The thumb wheel for horizontal scroll is not ratcheted.  It does not spin as fast as the vertical wheel in free spin mode.  It's pretty useful though I have found I sometimes still zoom in/out by key command mostly because that is stepped and the thumb wheel isn't ratcheted.  By default, thumb going down (anti clockwise movement) is scroll right.  This didn't seem suitable to me so I inverted it.  However 5 minutes later I returned to default.  It actually makes more sense this way as thumb down is an easier movement than thumb up.  You can easily change it as per your own preference anyway.  One thing I noticed is the horizontal zooming feels a lot smoother in Logic X than in Studio One 3.  I have no idea why this is, or if there's an option I need to tweak in S1.

The forward/back buttons are very easy to use.  I've seen some reviews claiming they're hard to use without looking.  All I can say is I disagree.  It's quite ergonomic IMO, you slide your thumb back from the scroll wheel and it is very obvious by feel which is the top button and which is the bottom button.  Maybe if your thumb is on the thumb rest and you go straight up to the buttons you'd find it harder, but I find I go thumb wheel and back without thinking about it.  You can of course change the function of these buttons if you prefer.

The Thumb pad button is a pretty cool feature.  as noted you wouldn't accidentally engage it where you'd rest your thumb, so this keeps it from being a nuisance.  I'm just using it in a basic way, to allow me to change windows quickly on OSX, but you can set it up to do some cool stuff with gestures for click and drag direction.

Things to be aware of:

Right hand orientation only.

You will need the Logitech Options Software otherwise functionality will be compromised.  Make sure your OS is supported.  The box says you need OSX 10.10 but I'm using 10.9 with no problems, the software is available from Logitech's site.  Logitech options software allows you to change the sensitivity of the mouse, scroll wheel sensitivity, scroll wheel directions, function of buttons (thumb button can operate as gesture, as in click plus drag direction), and smart scroll sensitivity (when the vertical scroll switches from ratchet to free wheel).

The mouse does not transfer data via USB cable.  While it is charged with a micro USB cable, to use the mouse it must be connected via wireless.  This is a major point and one that was pretty unclear as the website says you can continue to use while charging... yes this is true but you still need to connect it via either Bluetooth or wireless USB (dongle provided).  This may be a deciding factor if for some reason Bluetooth connection is not suitable and you have limited USB ports.  I have not tried to use Bluetooth.  I do think there are minimum requirements with Bluetooth so please check before buying.

The provided micro USB cable is not very long.  I've not measured it, but it's shorter than a typical mouse cable for sure, and only really suitable if you're plugging into a port nearby on the desk.  If you need to use it while plugged in to a port at floor level you'll almost certainly need to buy a longer cable.

Battery is quoted as lasting 40 days (based on a 6 hour a day usage) and it is claimed you'd get 6 hours usage out of a 4 minute charge.  I can't easily test this because it's not run out of battery yet.

Thumb wheel is not ratcheted.  This is my only complaint really, I'd love for the thumb wheel to have the same freewheel/ratchet options as the vertical scroll wheel.  It's still a major advantage to not having a thumb wheel, but I have found that I still about 20-30% of the time use key commands for zoom just because of the preciseness.  As noted, horizontal zoom seems smoother in Logic X than Studio One 3.  Horizontal scrolling seems fine in either, and actually I think free scroll is preferable for horizontal scroll.  I suspect I'll get better at controlling the horizontal zoom at S1 with experience, but regardless I'd personally still like for the thumb wheel to have a ratchet option.

Thanks, sounds really good. Definitely something to consider. 

I have a logitech with dongle and, daft as it sounds, I've had no problems playing Doom. If any game will reveal lag... Although the other would be cod multiplayer and I don't have any cod right now. 

Glad to hear it's rechargeable! Mine takes a triple a battery. 

Sporky

crunchman said:

I'd never go for a wireless keyboard as they don't have Caps Lock and Num Lock lights.  If they had to keep the lights on then they would eat batteries.

Mine has LEDs, and does several weeks of use on a single charge without any problems.

guitarfishbay

Yes one of my initial concerns was battery life but it seems to be a non concern looking at what is available now.  Especially if it is something easily rechargeable (and if you can continue to use it while charging).

The main reason I wouldn't buy a wireless keyboard is the Mac wireless keyboard doesn't have the numberpad.  Magic apparently makes buttons disappear as well as wires...

ICBM

crunchman said:

I'd never go for a wireless keyboard as they don't have Caps Lock and Num Lock lights.  If they had to keep the lights on then they would eat batteries.

The Apple mini one does, or at least a Caps Lock one - since it doesn't have a Num Lock key it's probably no good for you anyway...

guitarfishbay

Also the up and down keys are tiny.

guitarfishbay

Further MX Master usage thoughts.

You can assign key commands and advanced clicks (click+modifier key).

So right now I have assigned the back/forward scroll buttons to horizontal zoom in/out. This is working great. I'm much happier with this than using the horizontal scrollwheel for zoom.

I've changed the ratchet/free scroll button too. I've moved the function itself to middle click (wheel click) and I've made the button behind the wheel command+click, so this now gives me my cut/secondary tool in S1.

The only downside is the advanced click option on the thumb button doesn't seem to register a hold, unless I did something wrong. I was trying to make it function as my slip edit key command but it didn't seem to work. I've got it to work as add crossfade, but haven't decided if I like that more than just using the key command, since I still need to use the keyboard for slip. 

Overall super happy with it

grungebob

I think the Apple Magic Mouse is the best mouse I've used. I don't know why others haven't copied it. The left/ right swipe options are genius. 

thomasross20

Always wireless at work, wired at home for less hassle regarding batteries. TBH though that cable moving about on the mouse, now you mention it.... I don't know if they still do or not, but a lot of the optical mice, the tech was done at ST Microelectronics in Edinburgh! [/useless bit of info]

guitarfishbay

So a few months on I'm still loving the MX Master. Super comfy and I use the side scroll all the time. Charging it really hasn't been an issue at all. Should've gone wireless sooner!

DefaultM

I've got an apple magic mouse and its an absolute piece of shit.
The amount of times its disconnected from Bluetooth so I've had to open my laptop back up and go through the settings to get it back online. It's a joke.