[stratjakt]

Microsoft presented their new touch mouse at CES. Yeah, mice are definitely not new and exciting at this point, but until 'touch' becomes ubiquitous they are still quite necessary.

Since I still have to live with mice for the foreseeable future, I'm frustrated at the lack of decent wired mice on the market. Wireless mice always give me tracking issues and I don't like the inconvenience of replacing batteries. But every new mouse on the market is wireless now.

I'd love to try the Apple Magic Mouse or even the new Microsoft touch mouse, but I'm not willing to deal with wireless. Therefore, I'm using an IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, a mouse first released in 2001, because new mouse innovations don't come with USB models anymore.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

[CrazedGeek]

Razer's mice are pretty nice: http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/DisplayCateg...

[cturner]

    mice .. are still quite necessary.

They're not.

There are plenty of examples of mechanisms for computer interaction that don't require a mouse and cultivate strong loyalty from people who could instead be using a mouse interface: Bloomberg, the unix console, tiling window managers.

People who are into graphics tend towards tablets.

The mouse's success is due to path dependence. New users like it, and so we end up with all these mouse-dependent interfaces.

[stratjakt]

Sure, if you live in vim, emacs, unix console, etc... I, and plenty of other people do not. Not everyone wants to live within a command prompt.

[numix]

You can have a usable mouse-free GUI fairly easily with a tiling window manager (xmonad, awesome, etc) and a keyboard driven browser (vimperator or conkeror).

[moultano]

I absolutely swear by evoluent mice: http://www.evoluent.com/ Your forearm is in a much more natural position, and the hard part of it is exposed to the table edge or pad, not the soft part.

[vacri]

They look very friendly to "full-hand" mousers, but a little unfriendly to "finger" mousers. Do you finger-mouse? How do you find it?

EDIT: It's obvious how you find it, you said it directly. Change the question to "do you finger-mouse?" :)

[InclinedPlane]

Buy a gaming mouse. You won't be forced to game with them, and many of them offer excellent features (variable dpi, for example). I have had good experience with Razer mice but there are other brands as well.

[jsz0]

Have you tried a wireless mouse recently? They get pretty great battery life. 2-3 months is pretty common. I think Apple says the Magic Mouse lasts 4 for normal usage which sounds about right to me.

[richbradshaw]

I've got the magic mouse, and the batteries do last for ages. Downside is, it's a mouse, so it feels rather clunky to use when you are used to the Apple touchpads.

[michaelbuckbee]

What are your concerns with using a wireless mouse?

[stratjakt]

On gaming mice: I don't need anymore DPI. I'm not a gamer, so buying a gaming mouse is just spending money on features that I won't use.

On the latest wireless mice: I have tried new wireless mice. It's not the efficiency of the mouse it self thats the problem. It's the fact that they all use AA or AAA cells. Therefore, I have to eventually remove them, charge them, and replace them in the mouse. Plus the NiCad batteries eventually loose capacity after a few cycles (even the nice kind like Eneloop).

The biggest problem is wireless interference and tracking latency that I experience with all wireless mice.

There still is innovation in the mouse field. Placing a touch interface on a mouse is great. From my short experience with one, I've found it to be the biggest innovation since 'scroll wheels' and 'optical tracking'.

Right now, it seems like seems like the mouse market is divided between gamers (people who want the maximum DPI and lots of programmable buttons) and casual users (people who want a simple, lightweight and wireless mouse for there laptop). Someone like myself (a computer professional, who wants something sturdy, comfortable and reliable) is no longer considered a market.

I really would like to use a mouse with a touch surface, but without a wired USB connection, the inconvenience outweighs the benefits.

[dmnd]

Just get a gaming mouse. They're exactly what you want (sturdy, comfortable and reliable) so don't be put off by a high DPI - you can always reduce the sensitivity. I like the Logitech G9 or MX518. The latter is $35 at Newegg and you can regularly get them cheaper with rebates.

[ronaldj]

I hate batteries.

[zoul]

Rechargeables don’t cut it?