[HN Gopher] Wireless Amiga Tank Mouse
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Wireless Amiga Tank Mouse
Author : jandeboevrie
Score : 111 points
Date : 2024-07-13 04:58 UTC (18 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (lyonsden.net)
(TXT) w3m dump (lyonsden.net)
| bitwize wrote:
| RetroGames.biz, makers of THEC64 and THEA500, also sell TheMouse,
| a wired tank style mouse for use with THEA500. It's a USB device,
| however, and will work with a PC or a real Amiga with Tom
| adapter.
|
| I picked up a TheGamepad, their Amiga CD32-styled gamepad, for
| use with my MiSTer.
| skywal_l wrote:
| I wish manufacturers would use AA/AAA batteries more to power
| their thingy. Now they make USB rechargeable AA/AAA batteries.
| These batteries are standard, cheap, can be bought everywhere and
| are easily replaceable.
|
| My Logitech MX Master 3S is a great mouse. It has everything I
| want in a mouse but no standard battery. Not even replaceable (no
| screws, everything glued together). I dread the day the battery
| will die. Then the mouse is just junk to be tossed in a landfill.
|
| I had to use my old TI89 calculator the other day. Took it out of
| the drawer where it has been sitting for maybe 10 years. Insert
| some 4 AAA batteries that I took from my remote and my
| thermometer station and it just works.
| danhau wrote:
| I hate that every manufacturer under the sun sells products
| with rechargeable Li-Ion batteries, yet none of them limit the
| charge to 80% for battery health. I don't get it. Do we really
| love e-waste this much?
| wkat4242 wrote:
| No but manufacturers love selling new devices very much. We
| have to start naming and shaming them a lot more before this
| changes.
| ce4 wrote:
| You probably can remove the adhesive Teflon-gliding-strip to
| reveal screw holes. Then replace the lipo pack.
|
| I recently replaced a broken left click Omron D2F-01F micro
| switch in my Logitech MX vertical (open mouse, desolder 3 Pins,
| resolder new part, put all together again). The lipo pack is
| tiny and quite accessible inside.
|
| It is doable but a bit of a nuisance. Took me about one hour
| (opening, ordering, change part, put all together again).
| Working again, even better than before due to the upgraded
| premium switch
| playingalong wrote:
| I think opening is easy. What's hard is to get it back to the
| same state afterwards. Or at least a decent one.
| lstodd wrote:
| It's fine. Even if you just push a screwdriver in, the
| resulting hole does not affect performance. I did that
| multiple times on my logitech m500s. But for extra kink you
| can just unglue the pads with some isopropanol.
|
| Usually either the wheel wears out, or electronics fail
| before pads become a problem.
| stavros wrote:
| In fact, you probably _should_ punch a hole in the
| Teflon. Whenever I 've taken the pads out, I've never
| managed to put them back on and have it work as before.
| Usually, either some glue or some plastic catches
| somewhere, and the mouse's feel gets noticeably worse.
| lstodd wrote:
| well yes, you can in fact glue them back in with some
| special glue and much effort, then clean up with a
| scalpel, then ... but it's not worth the time.
|
| just punch it.
| stavros wrote:
| Yeah, I could use UHU Por and it would come out good, but
| what happened was that one of the Teflon corners turned
| downwards while I was pulling it off, and that kept
| catching on the mat forever after.
| ce4 wrote:
| Yep, had that before. So i decided to cut away the Teflon
| around the 5 screw holes using a fresh (=really sharp)
| carpet knife. Nothing bent, no protruding corners, same
| gliding performance with just a different look from the
| now exposed holes at the underside...
| extrabajs wrote:
| I agree. Logitech makes some products with replaceable
| batteries: I have an Ergo M575 trackball (their low-cost
| trackball) and it uses a single AA battery that lasts over a
| year for me when being used daily at work.
|
| https://www.logitech.com/en-us/products/mice/m575-ergo-wirel...
| MrBuddyCasino wrote:
| The Logitech G603 runs on either one or two AA batteries, so it
| can be very lightweight in one battery mode, which is the main
| advantage of built-in packs.
| phatfish wrote:
| Yup, i specifically look for products with removable batteries.
| Head torch for Dad, removable batteries. Desk timer for me,
| removable batteries. You have to scroll past a load of Chinese
| brands all selling the same white label product to get to them
| though.
|
| A USB rechargeable torch sounds like a terrible idea to me
| anyway. I would want to know I could use it quickly at a pinch,
| not have to wait an hour to charge it.
| worthless-trash wrote:
| You dont leave it flat, like every other battery device.
| phatfish wrote:
| You are far more organized than me if you remember to keep
| every device with a battery fully charged.
| jdietrich wrote:
| https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Logitech+MX+Master+3S+Battery+R...
| tiku wrote:
| 3s is very fixable. Had my scroll-wheel locking up, because
| of a fall. Turns out the inner workings of the scroll wheel
| were broken, jamming it. Removed the broken pieces, glued it,
| working fine again..
| doubled112 wrote:
| I believe it. It looks more than doable from that ifixit.
|
| I've replaced the switches in a Logitech G305, and it
| wasn't too bad.
|
| The mouse itself was fairly straight forward to get into.
| Move the pads, undo the screws, a little time probing
| around with a spudger.
|
| Borrowed the switches out of a Raspberry Pi mouse I had in
| a spare parts bin. Opted to replace the feet at the same
| time.
|
| Some minutes soldering later and reassembly, worked as well
| as it always had.
| sgt wrote:
| Why don't they put Li-Ion cells inside AA batteries? I think
| most rechargable AAs are NIMH, why not lithium, wouldn't that
| be much better?
|
| Or does it have to do with lifespan?
| pengaru wrote:
| Some chinesium fence post capping solar lights I got from
| Amazon and installed at my mother's home in 2022 included
| LiFePo4 AAA batteries. I think it's just a matter of time
| before they're more ubiquitous in the US...
| myself248 wrote:
| The chemistries produce a very different voltage, you need a
| tiny converter circuit inside each canister, which then has
| its own quiescent current draw. They make these, and they're
| good for some applications.
| karmakaze wrote:
| One thing I dislike about AA/AAA batteries is eWaste. I have a
| bunch of rechargeables around but don't think everyone uses
| them when there's cheap packs of 20 AAAs available. Using
| rechargeables have an up-front cost not everyone wants to pay.
| Sharlin wrote:
| I didn't even know they had changed to nonstandard/non-
| replaceable. My Logitech wireless keyboard and mouse certainly
| take normal AAA batteries.
| perryizgr8 wrote:
| > I wish manufacturers would use AA/AAA batteries more to power
| their thingy.
|
| My Razer Deathadder mouse has:
|
| - Bluetooth
|
| - wireless dongle for lower latency
|
| - can be powered by an AA or AAA cell
|
| Just an amazing mouse all around for both gaming and office
| use. I used to be all in on Logitech but they've just dropped
| the ball on their recent stuff.
| boneghost wrote:
| I own this mouse. The battery needs replacing every couple
| weeks. I would have paid twice the price for something
| rechargeable (before I knew how spotty the scrolling is).
| gwbas1c wrote:
| Uhm, get some rechargeable AAA batteries? It's what I use
| with my boring wireless mouse.
| yzydserd wrote:
| The article brought a 30 year old memory to the surface: the
| strangely satisfying experience of the weekly clean of the Amiga
| mouse's ball and rollers.
| gpderetta wrote:
| I use a trackball: I still get the same experience every week
| (or, let's be honest, every month or so).
| prmoustache wrote:
| I must say that is a part of old computing I am not missing at
| all.
|
| I miss more the soft feeling and weight of that mouse ball on
| the palm of my hand, removed from the mouse to play with it
| while doing something else. I miss less having to look for it
| under some piece of furniture after dropping it accidentally.
| herodoturtle wrote:
| Cybertruck
| stuaxo wrote:
| I forgot I have one of these, I should really get an Amiga one
| day.
| YeGoblynQueenne wrote:
| My cursor! What happened to my cursor?
| makeset wrote:
| I have been using one since it came out. The touch scroll strip
| is very spotty, not sure how much of that is software, but fine
| product otherwise.
| jrmg wrote:
| If you open it up, the strip is actually a thin PCB glued to
| the underside of the top of the case. Mine was a little loose,
| pressing it down made things work a bit better. It does still
| get worse at tracking when the batteries start running down (a
| sign that they need replaced/charged!).
|
| Even when it's working well, its resolution is disappointingly
| low though. More like a mouse with a scroll wheel with fairly
| large detents than the trackpad-like scrolling I was expecting.
| myself248 wrote:
| Okay, a touch-sensitive invisible scroll-strip between the
| buttons is _genius_. I need to learn more about how those
| features are embedded into the case plastic.
| bdcravens wrote:
| You can 3D print a Tank Mouse, paired with wireless mouse
| components from Bambu Lab (not really compatible with legacy
| computers, it's just a generic wireless mouse, but cool for those
| that just want the look)
|
| https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/wireless-mouse-compon...
|
| https://makerworld.com/en/models/102163
| rbanffy wrote:
| Now all we need is a full-sized Amiga keyboard.
|
| I'm not joking - a lot of the experience of using an old computer
| is the physical side - cycle-accuracy only takes you so far, and
| even a software emulator with the proper form factor is better
| than an FPGA implementation with the wrong one.
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(page generated 2024-07-13 23:01 UTC)