[HN Gopher] Old Mouse Dot Com
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       Old Mouse Dot Com
        
       Author : brudgers
       Score  : 56 points
       Date   : 2021-10-08 21:08 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.oldmouse.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.oldmouse.com)
        
       | transfire wrote:
       | KoalaPad!
        
         | reaperducer wrote:
         | Koala Pads were awesome. I got on the cover of a 1980's
         | computer magazine because of one.
        
       | nsonha wrote:
       | Amazing how the what's become the "standard" is the worse
       | possible design, ergonomically speaking. Was it Apple's doing?
        
         | CharlesW wrote:
         | Although Apple is at fault for all modern tech woes (/s), the
         | Magic Mouse design (thankfully?) has not been widely copied by
         | mouse makers.
        
       | everyone wrote:
       | If ye like that ye might like this
       | 
       | https://youtu.be/Cd6lxwjX2Bk
       | 
       | Video of a guy evaluating a weird early cheap optical mouse from
       | 1996 + taking it apart and figuring out how it works.
        
       | rcarmo wrote:
       | Ah, the time of Hawley dual roller mice... that brings back
       | memories of DEC X terminals.
        
       | gpvos wrote:
       | Anyone know where I can buy a modern mouse that has three normal
       | buttons, i.e. the middle button is not a scroll wheel?
        
         | INTPenis wrote:
         | Hey another request to piggyback on yours, where can I find a
         | relatively normal (non-gamer) mouse with a button that can
         | disconnect the brake on the wheel? I don't even know what it's
         | called but I know I love that feature.
         | 
         | For example to quickly scroll down a long page, just disconnect
         | the brakes and roll the wheel, it will just keep going. Or
         | testing infinite scroll feature, just let the wheel go.
         | 
         | I had one mouse like this that I loved but it broke eventually.
         | Now the only one I've been able to find is a gamer mouse with a
         | bunch of unnecessary feature.
        
           | pdw wrote:
           | I don't know about other mice, but the Logitech M705 has
           | that.
        
           | Tsiklon wrote:
           | Logitech seem to have a monopoly on this particular
           | development - you'll be looking for something like the MX
           | Master series for a non gamer mouse with this functionality -
           | the MX Master 3 is the most recent model. The clutch on the
           | scroll wheel on this mouse can be manually engaged or
           | programmed to release when you scroll with sufficient
           | violence
        
             | dylan604 wrote:
             | >scroll with sufficient violence
             | 
             | I've heard used with sufficient persuasion or with
             | sufficient encouragement, but yours is a new one. Remind me
             | to not tap on your shoulder while deep in the zone.
        
             | BoorishBears wrote:
             | My MX Master 3 was great until the last feature you
             | mentioned decided to enable itself and never disable
             | again...
             | 
             | Logitech calls it SmartShift and other people have reported
             | the same issue, SmartShift enables itself, and from that
             | point onward no settings changes will disable it.
             | 
             | It's pretty frustrating to say the least, the MX Master 3
             | was poised to fix the reliability issues the previous
             | entries had otherwise (since replaced the physical scroll
             | wheel click with an electromagnet in a very convincing way)
        
           | zz865 wrote:
           | Logitech M500S. I have one similar, its great to spin it like
           | a fidget spinner
        
             | INTPenis wrote:
             | I think that's the one I used until it broke. I didn't even
             | know what it was called because I realized how much I loved
             | the clutch feature long after I unboxed it.
             | 
             | Found it on a Danish site, it's not impossible to order but
             | it's not obviously available here. Thanks stranger!
        
         | thurn wrote:
         | I have been using Evoluent vertical mice for years, they have 3
         | buttons + scroll wheel. I find the vertical orientation more
         | ergonomic as well, it keeps your wrist neutral.
        
         | wolfgang42 wrote:
         | As of a few years ago you could still get the HP DY651A or IBM
         | 40K9201 mouse (identical apart from logos) with a bit of
         | hunting. Unfortunately I just looked and at a cursory glance I
         | can't find anyone who has them in stock, so they may have been
         | discontinued, but you may be able to call around and find
         | someone who still has a few in a corner somewhere.
        
         | tom_ wrote:
         | I've got a Logitech G403, which has a little button just behind
         | the scroll wheel that you can program to behave as the middle
         | button. It's not positioned very well for chording, but for
         | middle clicks and middle drags I've found it fine. Certainly
         | much more comfortable than any scroll wheel.
        
         | scrollaway wrote:
         | A quick google search finds this:
         | 
         | https://elecomus.com/web/product/no-scroll-wheel-wired-2-4g-...
         | 
         | It says it's "designed for 3D CAD use". I know nothing about
         | that but maybe if you search in that space you'll find more
         | choice.
         | 
         | Edit: Non-amazon link
        
         | pdw wrote:
         | IBM ScrollPoint are very nice, and still available as new old
         | stock. Three real buttons plus a separate Trackpoint-like thing
         | for bidirectional scrolling.
        
       | user3939382 wrote:
       | This reminds me of the long, and long-past, period where I was
       | frequently teaching people to clean the housing of their mouse's
       | rollerball.
        
         | pgrote wrote:
         | The old urban legend of the IBM service alert for field techs.
         | 
         | https://www.neystadt.org/john/humor/IBM-Mouse-Balls.htm
        
       | peterburkimsher wrote:
       | That's a nice collection of old computer mice!
       | 
       | If any of you are fortunate enough to visit CERN in Geneva,
       | there's a mouse museum:
       | 
       | http://computer-animal-shelter.web.cern.ch/index.shtml
       | 
       | I'd be particularly interested to see a decap of a PixArt chip
       | (e.g. PAW3515DB). The USB circuitry is included in the same
       | package as the CCD sensor, and I'd like to see how they do that!
       | I also imagine that the die geometry is quite large, because
       | power requirements aren't a major concern, but cost is. It would
       | also be nice to see Ken Shirriff do a historical write up of mice
       | over the generations.
        
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       (page generated 2021-10-10 23:02 UTC)