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Hardware

3-button Optical Mice? 180

Posted by Cliff from the we-can-get-mice-with-big-ears-but-not-3-buttons? dept.
proclus asks: "Does anyone else think that scroll wheels are a clunky replacement for the middle button? Mice are supposed to have three buttons, right? It was such an improvement when the three button mice started appearing for PC hardware, but I'm wondering, where are the optical ones?"
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3-button Optical Mice? More

3-button Optical Mice?

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  • Wheel is fine for clicking (Score:5, Funny)

    by perlyking ( 198166 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @05:00AM (#5742527) Homepage
    I use my middle button extensively (clicking on links and closing tabs in mozilla) and find no problem at all clicking it.
    I'm not sure why you want something with less functionality.
    I suppose you could glue the mouse wheel so it doesn't move and pretend its just a button ;-)
    • If you play FPSs and like to click effectively, you're better off with a real, dedicated button.

      The scroll wheel is nice for general productivity stuff.
      • > If you play FPSs and like to click effectively, you're better off with a real, dedicated button.

        Not really.. an Logitech MX 500 or Intellimouse 3.0 will pretty much beat any other 3-button mouse on the market.

        The wheel is useful for switching weapons, in any case.
      • oh god the painful thoughts...

        Next weapon - mwheelup
        Prev weapon - mwheeldown

        And I have no problem using the middle button for alt fire in UT and Q3A mods that have altfire weapons. (Or otherwise for zooming).

        Just get a GOOD scrollwheel that has good click action in the wheel (i.e. it's hard to accidentally scroll it.)

        Any optical with a wheel made by MS or Logitech usually has a pretty good scrollwheel. I've used both brands (IM Explorer, classic IMs, and a cheapo Logitech non-MX optical), and all of t
        • I beg to differ about Logitech mice. Historically I've loved Logitech mice (I'm using a Trackman Marble FX right now, and my other system has a Marble T-op)...and those are great...but the MouseMan line has a distinct issue with their scrollwheels. I can sit there with my girlfriend's MouseMan and scroll down a page of Slashdot moving the wheel back and forth one position in each direction. What would happen is that I'd scroll the wheel down once, and it'd double-scroll, and then I'd move the wheel back up,

  • I've kinda got one (Score:2, Informative)

    by standsolid ( 619377 )
    I know what you mean. I have the Logitech dual optical (available at ThinkGeek [thinkgeek.com] for the low low price of 35.99)

    there is a tumb button that is useful if you think the middle mouse button on the scroll is somewhat useless. of sourse you still have the scroll, but it's worth a shot, yeah?
    • Seconded, this is a good mouse.

      Solid build, good value. The thumb button (if you're right-handed) is the same as middle-clicking the wheel, but has a more positive feel. Plus the 2 optical sensors make it very usable in games.

    • I'm in the same camp as the article author - the wheel is OK as a wheel, but sucks as a mouse button..

      there is a tumb button that is useful if you think the middle mouse button on the scroll is somewhat useless

      I've got one of those - after 5 minutes of use, I promptly gave it to my wife..

      The thumb button is pretty useless, as when I use it, the mouse moves 1/4 inch to the right...
      • You're either...

        Trolling.

        Joking.

        Have ham sized fists.

        A complete moron.

        The Dual Optical is perhaps the best mouse I have ever used. Its more comfortable than a standared mouse, as I have slightly large hands ands its a bit bigger than the normal mouse. Its very responsive, especially for RTS and FPS games.

        But be warned, it doesnt exist according to the sales drones at Best Buy. (both my g/f and my mother went to best buys looking for one of these for me last X-mas, and both stores told each of them tha

      • The thumb button is pretty useless, as when I use it, the mouse moves 1/4 inch to the right.

        Huh? How in the world do you manage that? Do you like let go of the mouse first? ;)

        I've got an A4 Tech mouse a friend gave me years ago (it was in development at the time; she was working on the projcet. Yay; beta mouse!) that has two buttons, a horizontal and vertical scroll wheel, and a thumb button that acts as the middle button. I used that mouse almost exclusvely on my primary workstation for years until I

    • $34.95 from Logitech [logitech.com].

  • No and no. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by infonography ( 566403 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @05:04AM (#5742538) Homepage
    Wheel mice are great, only Solaris users really need three and even then wheels are usable under Solaris. Considering I am looking at a banner ad for mice I can only think this is astroturfing. [astrian.net] Next we'll see you spouting off about the joys of using a one button mouse. Be gone ye layer of phony shrubbery.

    • Re:No and no. (Score:2, Informative)

      by SN74S181 ( 581549 )
      Huh? Only Solaris users need three buttons?

      There are plenty of uses for the third button, even essential uses in some programs, like xfig. But you're a PC guy, and don't use X I assume. Except maybe as a replacement for Microsoft. Pity.

    • wrong and wrong (Score:3, Informative)

      by tolldog ( 1571 )
      All the artists I know hate the scroll wheel. They want 3 button mice.

      Some software apps use all three buttons and combinations of them and keys to do things.

      When its button 1 and 2 with a scroll wheel, all day long, it gets uncomfortable.

      -Tim
    • X Windows can handle something like 5 buttons.

      Anyone who uses the X Window system without a 3 button mouse is missing out, and some programs require a mouse with 3 buttons, such as Maya (the SGI, Linux, and Windows version do; dunno 'bout the Mac version, but it probably requires one too).

      Solaris is not the only proprietary Unix that works best with a 3 button mouse; practically any Unix system that runs X Windows will benefit from having 3 buttons on the mouse.

      For the record, anyone with a scrollwheel o

  • blarg (Score:2, Informative)

    by E1v!$ ( 267945 )
    Ummmm,

    Try just about any optical mouse over $15. They'll have a middle button, usually in the wheel (as in 2nd and 1st posts).

    But then they also may have buttons for your thumb, and other fingers.

    The MX700 has 3 middle buttons not counting the one combined with the wheel.

    (it also has 2 thumb buttons an the normal click and alt click.)

    Last, could we PLEASE have more cool articles? This one is pretty much dog food.

  • Scroll wheels are indispensable (Score:5, Insightful)

    by xwizbt ( 513040 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @05:10AM (#5742551)

    I have a friend who has a three button mouse; no scroll wheel. I find myself sitting there stroking the middle button like some sort of pervert.



    The scroll wheel makes life so much easier - just checking through /. this morning I used it at least as often as the left mouse button. Why on earth would anyone want to get rid of it, particularly when you can click it as well?

    • Scroll wheels may be indispensable to you, but obviously not to the poster.

      What does a scroll wheel accomplish that holding down the third mouse button and dragging does not, apart from the fact that a wheel doesn't operate horizontally as well?

      • With the scroll wheel you can scroll the page without moving your hand, just rolling your finger over the scroll wheel. This makes browsing, especially long pages like /. threads, incredibly easy and comfortable.

        I've yet to find a browser where the click and drag scroll method isn't horrendously clunky. For a start you have to do something to stop it scrolling again. And its either too fast or too slow.

        I've also seen the wheel scroll horizontally in some applications when there is just a horizontal bar an
        • Exactly - there's the laziness factor. I'd much rather just move my index finger than move my index finger and the mouse. And since the scroll wheel operates as a third button you can always click and drag if you want to. It's all about ease of use - why navigate to a scroll arrow when you can use the wheel and scroll from anywhere in the window?
      • >What does a scroll wheel accomplish that holding
        >down the third mouse button and dragging does not,

        Changing weapons in FPS games. There's no way I'm playing one on a mouse that doesn't have a wheel.

      • What does a scroll wheel accomplish that holding down the third mouse button and dragging does not, apart from the fact that a wheel doesn't operate horizontally as well?

        Well, considering that I have the middle button mapped to double-click rather than AutoScroll, I find that scrolling with the wheel is far better.

        And especially since using the middle button to scroll doesn't work in Mozilla or any other non-Windows based browser, I can think of a lot of people who would have a problem without a scroll

  • Scroll wheel click (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Spudley ( 171066 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @05:26AM (#5742572) Homepage Journal
    I love the scroll wheel. It is possibly the most significant UI innovation of the last ten years.

    But I hate having it clickable as the third button.

    Particularly in Konqueror, I find myself scrolling through a document, and suddenly I press too hard on the wheel and it jumps me to some random hyperlink that I hadn't even noticed let alone intended to click on. *grrrrr*

    Personally I'd rather have a scroll wheel than a third button. The third button is nice, and I always liked having it, but the wheel is better, and the two don't co-exist too well. :-/
    • -I love the scroll wheel. It is possibly the most significant UI innovation of the last ten years.

      While the scroll wheel is up there, and i do love it, I'd have to say microsoft's application menu (aka the "start button") is the most significant UI innovation in the last 10 years.... think about it, what does X11 come with? a start button knock off... the feel of windows hasn't changed significantly since 95, it's still mostly centered around the start bar once you strip away all the candy from XP. i mean

      • That's what TigerLaunch [ranchero.com] under OS X is for. Great little free application, that.

        I have to admit that I like the modern Start button/bar better than the old button/bar. The modern form finally hides unused items behind a double-down arrow. This is good for speed, but I wouldn't design an interface that hides things from the users. I'd rather write a system that doesn't allow things like text files and minor utilities under the start menu. I don't need WinRAR's console manual or help file under the WinRAR men

        • nifty. i like that over my app folder in the dock, but it's not quite the start bar clone i'm looking for. i'm still adopting tiger launch though, it's definately faster. hopefully someone will code up an exact clone, the one i'm thinking about for OS 9 even said "start" on it... but this will suffice for now. thanks!
          • I'm not a big fan of the start menu on OS X. It just doesn't fit the NeXT-ish paradigm to me. The dock is nice, but you have to hold on the Applications folder to bring up the directory, and there is a pause when going into utilities as it loads all the icons. TigerLaunch caches only the icons one needs, and does so quickly. The ability to place/remove checks next to found programs to enable/disable them is nice too. Ranchero rocks.
      • I think you can do something similar in OS X. If you drag a directory/folder to the dock it'll be embedded in it. If you then click on the folder you can navigate through any hierarchy inside of it. If you release your mouse on an application it will launch. If you release your mouse on a directory it will open. If you release your mouse on a hyperlink it'll open up in your web browser etc.

        I just store applications in mine, so I have one folder called Apps. Beneath that are Graphics, Utilities, Office, Eng
      • I'd have to say microsoft's application menu (aka the "start button") is the most significant UI innovation in the last 10 years.... think about it, what does X11 come with? a start button knock off

        actually no, it doesn't. the wm installed by your linux distro of choice might implement something akin to a start button but then if you look at old wm's you'll find that alot of them bring up a similar menu when you click a button on the background. and they predate windows 95. I'd say the idea is pretty simi

      • While the scroll wheel is up there, and i do love it, I'd have to say microsoft's application menu (aka the "start button") is the most significant UI innovation in the last 10 years....

        I'll have to echo this poaster's [slashdot.org] sentiments, and add to it that OS/2 Warp had a "Start Menu" back in the early 90's, as did most of the window managers I can recall from that era.

        If you want to get technical, the graphical application menu is merely an extension of the age-old textual application menu concept that I've

    • I think I have the inverse problem. I middle-click on something in Mozilla to get it in a new tab, and the scroll wheel activates just enough so that the mouse pointer is no longer over the link. So it ends up pasting whatever was in my copy-buffer into Mozilla, which then tries to find it.

      So I might try and click on a www.slashdot.org link and it jumps to www.freshmeat.net cos that was in my copy buffer! Most confusing!!! Aarrrgh.
      • Yes and yes to the parent's parent's poster too. So the most significant UI advance of the next ten years will be when they give us a separate third mouse wheel *and* third button.

        I've seen the expensive mice with four buttons PLUS a wheel/button and - honestly - who is going to learn to use five buttons? Apart from Quake players, anyway.
    • Either your fingers are totally fucked or your mouse.
      I usually don't support [censored], but I tried several mouses at my hardware store, and I felt the [censored] would fit best for me. You should have done that.
      Result: The problem you are describing never happened to me.

      (Besides you could simply deactivate the 3rd mouse button ;))

    • Re:Scroll wheel click (Score:3, Informative)

      by KurdtX ( 207196 )
      Open up your mouse (the physical one)

      Inside there you'll see that the button under your mouse is just a metal spring that brings two contacts together. Tape over, or break off one of the tabs so they don't connect any more and you're done. No more middle clicking for you. I've looked at three scrolling wheel mice (one was optical) and they all worked the same.

  • Mouse Systems (Score:4, Interesting)

    by storem ( 117912 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @05:38AM (#5742594) Homepage
    Mouse Systems was one of the original makers of optical mice, since back in the early 1980s, and made a nice simple & solid three-button optical mouse. Unfortunately they got bought out recently and the new owners, KYE International [genius-kye.com], are making the same two-button/scroll mice as everyone else.

    Here [idg.net]'s a picture of the actual three-button optical mouse.
  • I've always liked the combo scrollwheel/middle button. I can scroll up and down in Konqueror and open links in new windows/tabs quickly.

    The one thing I would like is a finner grained detent on the wheel. Two to four time greater resolution would be nice. I'm not talking about the distance (number of lines) scrolled with each detent/click of the wheel. I want a greater number of clicks/detents per revolution of the actaul wheel.
    • Well now, this can be done... On most "el cheapo" scrolly mice, the detents are an exposed toothed wheel, that a plastic roller on a spring engages with. So, get that Dremel out and cut detents between the existing ones...
      • > So, get that Dremel out and cut detents between the existing ones...

        Uh, NO! The scroll wheel turns a rotary encoder, either optical or mechanical, which, depending on design, can be almost impossible to modify to add more transitions per revolution. The physical detents that click the wheel into place have nothing to do with the actual electrical state transitions. Adding more detents will simply make your wheel click two or more times for each logical state transition.
  • Since I have five fingers, a mouse should have five buttons.

  • Real functionality for mouse buttons (Score:4, Insightful)

    by James1980 ( 664606 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @06:25AM (#5742672)
    If a mouse is going to have numerous buttons, they need to have clear, discernable functionality within an OS. LMB = select, RMB = context, Scroll = move view. These make sense, but I'm not sure what else would, please feel free to enlighten me. Can anyone make a case for features that other mouse buttons could use? I'm not talking about customising buttons for starting file managers or browsers, as these are just shortcuts, but clear-cut functionality that help users navigate and operate withint the GUI metaphor.
    • Some kind of function to help with multiple selection could be good.

      I sometimes use the computer with the mouse only. The thing that makes me reach for the keyboard is usually a need press shift or ctrl to add files to a selection.

      Then again, the whole selection mechanism, as commonly implemented, is not perfect to begin with. Selections are too ephemeral. A single wayward click can undo all your selection work. A "toggle persistent selection" button in the UI would be a general improvement and solve my

    • I use plan 9 [bell-labs.com], and spend most of my time inside acme [bell-labs.com], which in my view has one of the nicest developer interfaces around.

      The mouse interface feels particularly natural once one is used to it and not only do all three buttons have distinct (and consistent) uses, combinations of buttons do too!

      • button 1 selects text.
      • button 2 selects text; it then executes the selected text as an editor command, or a shell command.
      • button 3 selects text; it then looks for that text: if it's a filename, it opens it in a new

    • In Mozilla, clicking a link with the middle button opens it up in a new tab. I find it quite convenient and use it often.

      With rxvt, xterm, and gpm the middle button is used to paste a selection, though I don't use the right button feature--click the start of a selection with the left, and the right marks the end of it. I just drag the left button or sometimes double click it to select a word.

      In fact, several X applications seem to use the middle button in a similar way. Nedit (a text editor) does. The t

    • Cut and paste. Click is better than click-ctrl-v or click-meta-v or click shft-ins.

      I thought this was what MMB was always for.
  • I have a Kensington MouseInABox. Optical, USB, four buttons plus clickable wheel, but the buttons can be mapped so that the wheel doesn't have to be button 3...
  • Cheap mice, optical, 3 buttons + 2 non-clickable scroll wheels (I, personally can't live without the wheels). I have one wireless (IR) at the office and a normal (wired) one at home.

    I am not affiliated in any way with the company, just fan of their products.

    • Nope. (Score:2)

      by V. Mole ( 9567 )

      And once again it's got the fsking scroll wheels right where there should be a button. ONLY a button.

      It's great that all you folk out there like your scroll wheels. I've no desire to take them away from you. But I've been up and down the rows at the various stores, and I've STFW, and real three-button mouse have become pretty much impossible to find at a reasonable price - for the very obvious reason that MS Windows supports wheelies and doesn't have any use for the third button.

      Oh, and by real I mean on

  • Ask Slashdot (Score:4, Funny)

    by tiny69 ( 34486 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @06:57AM (#5742738) Homepage Journal
    I've got a stupid question. Instead of asking my friends what they think or doing a little research online, I'll post the question on Slashdot and see what the largest collection of wannabe geeks on the Internet think. When you flush the toilet in the Southern Hemisphere, which way does the water spin?
    • Same way it does in the Northern Hemisphere.

      The different direction of the water in either hemisphere is an urban myth -- the effect is too small to impact the thing when compared to the hydrodynamics of the toilet. Given an appropriate basin, drain, and water insertion device you can get the water to spin either way in either hemisphere.
    • Oh please, if this isn't the largest collection of REAL geeks on the planet, I don't know what is...

      --trb
  • I found, after getting a wheeled mouse at home, that I was trying to use the wheel by instinct on mice that were wheel-less. My solution was to disable support for scrolling with the wheel in X. The side effect of that is that the wheel then only behaves as the middle button (solving the middle click and scroll awkwardness).

    While optical mice are nice, I've also not seen any that are just three simple buttons. I was, about a year ago, able to find a plain three button non-optical PS/2 mouse. If it were
    • > I was trying to use the wheel by instinct on mice that were
      > wheel-less. My solution was to disable support for scrolling

      I guess the first thing you do after buying a new car is to disable ABS, power steering and braking, and the A/C. Because after all, you don't want to get used to features that might not be available in another car that you might drive someday. Sheesh...

  • Sun (Score:4, Informative)

    by TRS-80 ( 15569 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @07:28AM (#5742805) Homepage Journal
    Sun makes 3-button opticial USB mice, and they ship with most of their new workstations. You could probably pick them up as spare parts, but they're probably fairly costly.

    • Re:Sun (Score:2)

      by larien ( 5608 )
      Well, you can get it as part of the country kit for a Sun workstation. Online, it's priced at £37.12 (about $50). This will also give you a USB keyboard and a power lead.

      eBay might be a better option.

  • We didn't look very hard did we?

    www.logitech.com

    MX700: 7 buttons with scroll, wireless, and optical. All the features that you don't need in one small package.
    • I have the MX700 and it absolutely rules. The back/forward buttons are great and the rechargeable batteries last *forever*. It even runs under RH8. The size and shape of the mouse take some getting use to though. And lefties need not apply.
      • I cheaper alternative is the MX300. It uses the same optical technology, which BTW is superior to their dual optical. The MX300 is the traditional left or right handed shape. I find it extremely comfortable. It may be a problem with people that have very large hands.
  • Does anyone else think that mice are a clunky replacement for the track ball? Mice are supposed to have a trackball, right? It was such an improvement when the 5 button optical trackballs w/ scroll started appearing for PC hardware, but I'm wondering, why would anyone want to use anything else?

    --End missquote
    Self absorb much? Your working on some serious assumptions and opinions that you are taking as facts. Why is this a front page item?

  • My Logitech MX300 has a button which is supposed to act as a task switcher. Under the Linux mouse drivers I'm using, it acts as a middle mouse button. Also, there was some older hardware I've found that had the old Mouse Systems three button mice (Sun's Type 4 mouse) in a serial configuration with an AC adapter powering the LEDs. You'd need the special mouse pad for it, but that too is optical. :)

    Quite frankly, I'm overjoyed that PCs now come standard with scrollwheel mice that can be used as a three butto

  • efficiency (Score:3, Informative)

    by Ender Ryan ( 79406 ) <MONET minus painter> on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @08:41AM (#5743069) Journal
    I find a mouse wheel to be 1000% more efficient than having to move the mouse over and drag a clumsy scrollbar. And of course, wheels also act as a button when pressing straight down. Yes, it's more difficult to press than a normal button, but not too much, and that's why it is relegated to tasks done less frequently and more deliberately.

    FWIW, I used to prefer a 3 button mouse over a mouse w/wheel, until I actually started using them.

    Of course, YMMV.

    • > I find a mouse wheel to be 1000% more efficient than having to move the mouse over and drag a clumsy scrollbar.

      Ever tried arrow keys (or pgup/pgdn/home/end) for scrolling the page? I find the most efficient way of surfing (and some other computing tasks) is using the keyboard and the mouse together. I use my left hand for the mouse, and the right for the keyb. And yes, I prefer a three button mouse.

  • I've got one (Score:3, Informative)

    by Apreche ( 239272 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @08:53AM (#5743125) Homepage Journal
    I have the Logitech cordless freedom keyboard and mouse pair. The mouse is the Cordless Mouseman Optical. I got it because it has a third button. A thumb button! I also hate clicking the scroll wheel, but I like scrolling the scroll wheel. The mouse is perfect in every way, I've even made it work in linux and windows. I highly reccomend it.

  • How the hell.. (Score:1, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ..can you 'accidently' click on a wheel/button?

    Christ, no wonder the lot of you have RSI.

    Here's a tip - Don't hang on to your mouse for dear life. It isn't going anywhere.
  • Ok, I'm actually going to not flame you. Everyone else did a good enough job of that ;-). I've found my favorite mouse in the whole world, it's the IBM optical scroll point mouse [ibm.com]. This mouse has 800 dpi percision, 3 buttons, and a scroll point that does 360 degree scrolling without having to keep cranking a wheel. It's incredible, and it's comfortable too. The scroll point glows a cool blue color too ;)

    .:Jon:.
  • Which finger do you use to click the middle button? Me I use the index finger and move it back and forth between the left button and the scroll wheel how about you? I use the middle finger for right clicking, is it out of habit? Is there a new breed of mouse users that grew up with three buttons and so use the index, middle AND ring finger for clicking? A single finger for each button? Is there grant money available to research this? Is it possible to create a /. post entirely out of questions? No.

  • Sigh (Score:2, Insightful)

    by jazman ( 9111 )
    Lots of replies of the form "But I always need my scrolly button so you must be stupid."

    I have eight Logitech three button mice. I like them a lot. I reprogram the middle button to double-click, because I don't like RSI and I think the double-click idea really sucks. I use the keyboard 95% of the time and only reach for the mouse when some lazy application programmer couldn't be arsed to take the 5 microseconds needed to put a keyboard shortcut in for a specific function.

    I hate the scrolly wheel. I do

  • Simple mouse mod (Score:4, Informative)

    by Hungus ( 585181 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @09:58AM (#5743458) Journal
    Why not just mod a wheeled mouse? The steps would be simple enough.

    Parts Needed:

    3 button optical mouse with wheel [target.com]

    Set of screwdrivers [target.com] (prolly just need a #0 and #1 phillips)

    X-Acto Knife [officeworld.com]

    McDonald's Straw [mcdonalds.com]- I am not sure if other straws will work it needs to be thermo softening while being thick enough for wear and pliable enough for use.

    Personal flamethrower [bonefire.com] or lighter [thinkgeek.com] or soldering iron [walmart.com]

    krazy glue [krazyglue.com]

    about 30 minutes of your time.

    Heres how to do it:

    1. With the X-Acto knife make a faint score on the mouse wheel along the profile where it sticks out of the mouse
    2. Remove mouse cover (typically by removing 2 screws maybe 3 in your case)
    3. carefully remove the screw holding the circut board to the upper mouse casing
    4. Remove the wheel and action spring noting how they were installed.
    5. Trim the mouse wheel with the X-Acto knife so that it is almost flush with the mouse case (using your earlier score) - Nice thing here is you have 3 chances if you mess up at first because you can just rotate the wheel 120 degrees and have a fresh surface!
    6. Cut the straw latterally so as to be able to lay it flat and cut a section off which is approximately 35% longer than the exposesed mouse wheel opening in the upper shell of the mouse
    7. Heat the straw fragment (dont burn it) until it lays almost flat on your work surface (you do still want some curve)
    8. place the mouse wheel back on the curcuit board with the flattened side up (away from the board
    9. place the now flattened straw fragment over teh mouse wheel centering it.
    10. once you have things the way you want them remove the upper cover again and the trimmed straw fragment
    11. place a single tiny drop of krazy glue on the former wheel and immediately recenter the star fragment on it
    12. wait a few minutes as the off gas of the glue will cloud the optics of your mouse if you re-assembled immediately.
    13. Re-assemble the mouse and you now have a 3 button no wheel mouse!
    Congratulations!
  • I generally set the midle button wheel to the Backspace key, it EASILY allows you to go "back" in pretty much any browser. I have a logitech mouse, and use Phoenix (er um Firebird) and it doesn't feel clunky in the least.
  • I too prefer a full size button to the down position of the scroll wheel. I still haven't found one that I don't often scroll-and-click when I want to just click or accidentally click when I want to scroll. I do like the wheel once in a while though. Is anybody making a mouse with the wheel in the thumb position? I've seen buttons there, but no wheels. I don't care if its optical or not, ball mice treat me just fine..

  • IBM (Score:4, Informative)

    by GiMP ( 10923 ) on Wednesday April 16, 2003 @10:57AM (#5743829)
    IBM makes a 3 button no-wheel optical mouse. Try looking yourself next time.

    • Link, please. I just looked on www.ibm.com->products->accessories->mice, and there were no plain 3-button mice, optical or otherwise.

    • How about a link? BTW, of course I looked for myself first, as did many of my friends, but the field is spamped with clunky scroll wheels! We actually looked for a long time, but found nothing. That is the reason for the Slashdot post.

      Regards,
      proclus
      http://www.gnu-darwin.org/ [gnu-darwin.org]

      • IBM 3 button no wheel optical mouse [epinions.com]here are the specs for it. You can also find out where to buy it from the same site.

        Shamless self plug Though i do still think my mouse mod would work also and of course you could make the button any size by using a different wear media I just love finding uses for McD's straws since they saved my butt on teh road one time .. well straws and some gum anways.
  • How about the Logitech, and remap the thumb button?
  • I use Maya [aliaswavefront.com] on a Win2k box at work, and I found it unreasonably difficult to use with a regular wheel mouse. I ended up getting an old-school Logitech 3-button ball mouse. The problem is that in Maya, you're constantly holding down various combinations of the 3 mouse buttons to zoom, pan, and rotate the 3d views. (This interaction scheme was developed on the SGI, which presumed a traditional 3-button mouse.)

    While the wheel is a great feature, it isn't suitable for applications which require the third butto

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