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Hardware

3-Button Mice - An Endangered Species? 222

Posted by Cliff from the eschasi-eschews-the-first-person dept.
eschasi asks: "eschasi recently got a new job, which includes a new PC on which to run UNIX and X. After much grovelling through the vendor catalog and the used equipment boxes for a simple 3-button mouse, he finally had to bring one from home. Shortly thereafter he was browsing the local CompUSAs and BestBuys, and saw not a single actual 3-button mouse. Oh yes, there were things which masqueraded as 3-button mice, but they weren't. They were scroll mice where you had to depress the scroll to get a middle click, or where the third button was under the thumb, or where the third button was unreachable because of the scroll. Sun's still come with 3-button mice, so there must be some being made. Are these still in the retail market anywhere? Frankly, they're too small for eschasi's big hands. The only place a basic 3-button mouse was found for sale was eBay, and they guy selling it called it 'rare.' Is the classic 3-button mouse largely dead? If so, what are you folks moving toward?"
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3-Button Mice - An Endangered Species? More

3-Button Mice - An Endangered Species?

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  • How is a scroll wheel mouse not a three button? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:38PM (#7697475) Homepage Journal
    I don't understand why the story poster differentiates between a "three button mouse" and a scroll wheel mouse in which the wheel is the third button.

    True, some scroll mice have the problem that the wheel will generate scroll events when the scroll wheel is clicked. If this is a problem, then simply configure X to NOT recognize such events. Voi la - a three button mouse.
    • I don't understand why the story poster differentiates between a "three button mouse" and a scroll wheel mouse in which the wheel is the third button.

      Because the middle button on a wheel mouse is a lame excuse for a real button. My middle button is a big , wide button with a stable feel to it. In other words, it's intended to be a button. The middle button on every wheel mouse I've tried is narrow, awkward, and obviously not intended to be a button in the first place.

      • I have been using a logitech 2 button/wheel button optical mouse for at least a year. After using this device for extended periods of time I can confidently say that its just as easy to use a middle scroll as a middle button.

        I have learned. [harvard.edu]

        I can't speak for you, or the freakish condition of your flippers, but for me it is just as easy to use a thin scroll wheel as a fat middle button.

      • The productivity gained by the scroller is worth not having a real button. The scroller functioned fine and did not have a problem on every scroll mouse I've used. I use X quite a bit, which means a lot of middle mouse button clicking. Sticking with Logitech and Microsoft through the ages has served me well.

        Everyone I've ever discussed it with agrees that the optical scroll mouse is the pinacle of mice technology.

        • Scroll wheels are already obsolete. (Score:4, Informative)

          by Zero Sum ( 209324 ) on Friday December 12, 2003 @02:33AM (#7698443)
          I have a differing opinion.

          I use a LogiTech Trackman Marble FX.

          Left button, middle button and right button AND if I tilt my thumb slightly it hits the fourth button and the 2" (approx) ball becomes a scroll SPHERE. It scrolls both vertically and horizantally. I have had the device for a number of years, it has never needed cleaning and about the only improvement that I could think off would be batteryless IR (which I don't think exists yet).

          Every person who has sat at my desk and used it has gone out and bought one. There is simply nothing better in the marketplace that I or anyone I know has ever seen.

          It makes any other kind of pointing device look sick.

          • Re:Scroll wheels are already obsolete. (Score:2, Interesting)

            by Anonymous Coward
            Finally somebody who has a clue.

            The Trackman Marble FX (the original!) is THE best pointing device. Strangely enough it is widely unknown, and people seem to object to it - without actually trying to use it - because it is different. It's accurate, reliable and has a lot of functions. Great for work, great for FPS. The only thing that is somewhat difficult is right-dragging; but that's something you do not need to do often.

            You would have trouble prying my TM FX out of my cold dead hands.
          • Logitech Cordless Trackman Optical [logitech.com] is the closest you'll probably get ATM - different styling than the FX and it is radio, rather than IR, cordless.
          • Heh Welcome to the world of trackballs. Marbles are nice, but real men go with either the Kingston BIG ball tracball, or the MS optical Explorer series. ;) Seriously though I much prefer the larger control sphere. Then you can use 2 or 3 fingers to control the ball with more accuracy and have 5 buttons, plus scroll, but scroll sphere. Check it out. If you like the marble you will probabably fall in love with the optical explorer.

            It will take a litte bit of extra configuration to get all your buttons wo
            • I don't know the Kingston but I do know the MS Explorer series. After reading your post I get the impression that you have not even seen the trackball I was talking about (Logitech Trackman Marble FX). It is the size of a billiard ball and so smooth and sensitive that I can move from one corner of the screen to another with just one (any) finger. Your hand shrouds the ball which as over 50% of its surface exposed. The Explorer is not in the same league. Nor is anything else I have ever seen.
      • I use an AOpen O-35G total-of-five-buttons-including-one-on-a-scroll-w h eel optical mouse. The two scroll-wheels are both fairly broad and positive, but only one of them is clickable. I saw this as a shortcoming when I first bought it (wanted an extra button), but IRL I use the second wheel for scrolling and the first as a button. That way, I don't risk "nervous finger", a disease occasioned by using Microsoft scroll-wheel mice that treat the gentlest caress of the wheel as a click. The AOpen mouse is also

    • Myself, I'd certainly differentiate between a scroll-wheel mouse and a generic three-button mouse. When I want to press the middle button, I don't want it rolling around under my finger (or tilting, the way some of the track-point style ones do).

      That said, I think the poster just isn't doing his homework. I realize that Micro Center [microcenter.com] is only in about 13 States, but their online store seems to have about a half dozen [microcenter.com] likely candidates. $1.50 for a white Belkin, or be a big spender and plop down a whole fi

    • Re:How is a scroll wheel mouse not a three button? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by nocomment ( 239368 ) on Friday December 12, 2003 @12:02AM (#7697654) Homepage Journal
      because in newer x apps (galeon for example), the third button on the scroll actually does the same thing it does in windows ( becomes a multi-headed arrow in a circle, which you simply move the mouse about to scroll in any direction ).

      Really, a Scroll mouse with third button emulation is the way to go. YOu get the best of both worlds with that. YOu get the scroll events in the apps that recognize them, and still get to keep middle-click pasting.

    • Re:How is a scroll wheel mouse not a three button? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Brandybuck ( 704397 ) on Friday December 12, 2003 @02:33AM (#7698446) Homepage Journal
      I'm using the original Trackman Marble 3-button. It's awesome.

      What's wrong with a scroll wheel? Several things. First, most scroll mice aren't wide enough for three fingers to rest naturally. A two button scroll mouse that isn't any wider than a two button non-scroll mouse is too narrow.

      Second, given a wider two button mouse that I can comfortable rest my middle finger on, I need a scrollwheel that is stiff enough that I'm not scrolling accidentally all the time.

      Third, a scrollwheel isn't a button, even though it can act like one. It doesn't feel like a button. What if instead of two buttons and a scrollwheel, there were only one button and a scrollwheel? Click on the scroll wheel for the RMB. Do you think people would be happy with that? Of course not!

      Fourth, and most important, why shouldn't I have a real middle button? Since 98% of my computing is done in a UNIX environment, that middle button gets used a lot. More often than the right button in fact.

      A scrollwheel is convenient. I won't deny that. But why must it be on the mouse. Think about it. You don't position anything when you're using a scrollwheel. And you don't need any fine control over it. A scrollwheel on the middle-bottom of the keyboard would be much more convenient. Or keep it on the mouse but put it on the left side by the thumb.
      • A scrollwheel on the middle-bottom of the keyboard would be much more convenient.
        Check it. [amazon.com]

        Maybe not the middle bottom, but still pretty cool, if you ask me. Microsoft may suck at a lot of things, but they can usually churn out pretty decent hardware.
        • Many Logitech keyboards have a scroll whell along the left side of the keyboard as well.
        • Is it my imagination or did that Microsoft keyboard take the function keys and make four groups of three across the top (deviating from the normal four groups of three)?

          Holy fuck, why not just rearrange all the keys on the damn keyboard while they are at it. I don't even think about keyboarding anymore - after 20+ years the keyboard is simply an extension of my thought process, words move from my head to the screen in a swift fluid motion ... and things will go bad when they start dicking with the layout.
          • First line should read : (deviating from the normal three groups of four)?

          • Re:How is a scroll wheel mouse not a three button? (Score:4, Interesting)

            by ShavenYak ( 252902 ) <bsmith3.charter@net> on Friday December 12, 2003 @01:00PM (#7702170) Homepage
            What's really funny is that I'm sure they rearranged the center cluster to save space. But then, they wasted that space and more with the huge expanse of darker plastic on which they've put five tiny buttons, a rocker, and a wheel.

            That's like the epitome of bad design, but it's not just Microsoft. All the "internet keyboards" have similar idiocies. I guess that's why I still use an IBM Model M at home.
          • I like the idea of 4 groups of 3 buttons. If I'm not looking at the screen, feeling for the key I want would be just a little more simple.

            As for the center cluster, they've been made more useful. In Windows, the Insert key is almost never used anymore. The Delete key is quite often used, and makes more sense to an inexperienced user than the Backspace key. I, and probably the majority of others, use Home more often than End. In the new arrangement, Page Up and Down are one key-width closer.
            • I can agree with what you are saying and still retort with this :

              In today's vehicles the pedal arrangement is : Clutch, Brake, Gas. Most people don't give it much thought anymore and rely on muscle memory to create a direct link from thought to vehicle control. It may be argued that rearranging them Clutch, Gas, Brake is more efficient, but that won't stop a million people a year from killing themselves with the new arrangement. More likely, the cars with the new arrangement won't sell very well and the
      • I picked up a Logitech optical mouse from Wal-mart like a year ago, and before I had actually tried it, I had many of the same reservations as you. However it took like 20 minutes for me to fall in love with the scroll wheel/middle button. I find that I rest my index finger on the scroll wheel, and my middle finger on the right button. I've never really paid too much attention to the pure size of the mouse however, if it got much bigger it would definitely start being a little cumbursome. Now the wheel
    • "some scroll mice have the problem that the wheel will generate scroll events when the scroll wheel is clicked"

      Its worse than that, even when not even touching the wheel HalfLife will randomly register an event, which is a real pain considering I have my mousewheel down set to switch to a flashbang and mousewheel up set to switch to a grenade, so out of nowhere in the middle of a fire fight I'll be force to pull out a grenade, leaving me unable to shoot for about 500ms, enough time to get shot in the face
    • I also like a big old style normal third button... When I play Quake, use the middle button as reverse, right button as forward, and left button as shoot.
      I also do a lot of cutting and pasting in X, and a real button is just so much easier then a scroll weel for me.
      • BTW, I use an older Logitech First Mouse 3 Button, they are still avalible, and are a pretty good quality mechanical mouse. I have been keeping my eyes out for an equivalent optical mouse, but so far no luck.
        I have a big old ratpadz plastic mouse pad that makes the mechanical mouse ok if I keep it clean, but pure optical would make me happier..

  • Let me see (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ttfkam ( 37064 ) on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:39PM (#7697484) Homepage Journal
    Standard 3-button mouse or wheel mouse. And you want the standard 3-button? Hunh?

    There's a reason they're not being sold as much. You can click a wheel perfectly well, but you can't scroll a button.

    • Re:Let me see (Score:2, Insightful)

      by trentfoley ( 226635 )
      You can click a wheel perfectly well, but you can't scroll a button

      Sounds like a song by REO Speedwagon [openupandsay.com].

      While the wheel can and does function as a button, I can understand the frustration of the poster. I have used various wheel mice and have yet to find consistent feel even between identical models (logitech cordless freedom pro excluded). On some mice, scrolling the wheel inadvertently generates clicks if the spring is too soft. If too hard, you generate scrolls when having to force the click.

      For t

      • Re:Let me see (Score:3, Insightful)

        by rekkanoryo ( 676146 ) *
        I use a Microsoft Trackball Optical (I hate M$, but I have to admit they make damn nice keyboards and mice). Actually I have 4 of them, one on each of my PCs. They provide a consistent feel on the scroll wheel, and the wheel is sufficiently large to pose as a 3rd button for me. There are also two extra buttons that are slim and long on the outside of the mouse--these are excellent for remapping things to the mouse. And they are very difficult to hit by accident, but not difficult to click on purpose.

        On

    • StrongBad [homestarrunner.com] agrees :)
    • You can click a wheel perfectly well

      If this was true, there would be no mice with buttons - you'd have them with three scroll-wheels instead...

      As a previous poster already said - imagine if your RMB was a scroll-wheel - how happy would you be with it?

      The fact that mice come with buttons and wheels shows that they are not, in fact, the same.
      • I never said they were the same. Okay, let me rephrase: You can click a wheel in place of a third button perfectly well. A large portion of the consumer population seems to agree with me.

        Just because a scroll wheel can be used as a button does not mean that it's logical to have nothing but scroll wheels. You are trying to adapt the notion of ad absurdum, taking a particular facet of an argument to its most extreme case. This rarely works with engineering. For example, a suspension bridge may have thre

        • You can click a wheel in place of a third button perfectly well. A large portion of the consumer population seems to agree with me.

          You can do work in Windows in place of Unix perfectly well. A large portion of the consumer population seems to agree with me.

          This may be true, but it's irrelevant. Some of us, myself included, strongly prefer a real, honest-to-god, middle button that's just as big as the other two, and feels like the other two. Yes, we could use a wheel, just like we could drink Pepsi

  • Scroll wheel (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Cuthalion ( 65550 ) on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:42PM (#7697499) Homepage
    Is the classic 3-button mouse largely dead? If so, what are you folks moving toward?

    You mean what did everyone start using so long that nobody even makes the old 3-button mouses anymore?

    Most people I know use wheel mouses, duh. I use a Logitech Trackman Wheel.

    In Windows the third mouse button was never very heavily used, which is why it's being relegated to the secondary function of the scroll wheel, which gets used tons. I for one find the soft rubbery click of the scroll wheel a sublime tactile sensation. Plus it scrolls stuff!

    Though really, what's wrong with clicking the scroll wheel to middle click? It's in the middle (like the old middle button used to be) and if you have a stiff enough one (logitech!) then you won't also accidently scroll while doing it.
    • I for one find the soft rubbery click of the scroll wheel a sublime tactile sensation.

      Your finger goes from solid form to gaseous without stopping at the liquid state in between? Neat!



      PS Welcoming the sublimating overlords as well. ;-)

    • Though really, what's wrong with clicking the scroll wheel to middle click?

      Because it's not a button. I work in a UNIX environment 98% of the time, and I actually use the middle button more often than the right button.

      Would you accept a mouse that didn't have a right button but a scrollwheel instead? You can still click on it, so what's the problem? My guess is that you wouldn't like it though.

  • Button Numbers on Mice (Score:4, Funny)

    by Bombcar ( 16057 ) <racbmobNO@SPAMbombcar.com> on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:42PM (#7697501) Homepage Journal
    Didn't you get the memo? The number of buttons is like the size of the subwoofer or speed of the processor! Get with the timez!

    1 button mouse: Click your single |3u770n, n00b!
    2 button mouse: Stiff, corporate dweeb.
    3 button mouse: Trying to be cool
    5 button mouse: Cool in a Yugo sort of way
    7 button mouse: Almost there.
    9 button mouse with scroll wheel: H4x0r g0d!

    Of course, I blow everyone away with my 105 button [pckeyboard.com] mouse.....

  • No wheels? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MachDelta ( 704883 ) on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:46PM (#7697533)
    IMHO, yes, 3 button mice without wheels are dead.

    Why? Wheels are just too handy for browsing the web to not have one. And since quite a few million people tend to use teh interweb on a regular basis, wheels are quite popular. So it only makes sense that you'd find them on every product out there - consumers want, producers give. Hell, i've got a scroll wheel on my keyboard! (Logitech Elite [logitech.com])

    For most people, theres just no good reason NOT to have a wheel on their mouse. The third (middle) button function is built right into the wheel (wheel-click), so you loose nothing while gaining extra functionality. Whats not to like? :)

    PS: I use a Logitech MX500 [logitech.com], and its awesome. Two thumbs up (just beware of Logitech's drivers :P)

    • Re:No wheels? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by meta-monkey ( 321000 ) * on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:54PM (#7697588) Journal
      I love my Logitech MX500. It's great in OSX 10.3, because I map the Expose features to the extra buttons. I love having the "show all windows" feature right under my thumb.

      • Re:No wheels? (Score:3, Interesting)

        by futuresheep ( 531366 )
        Here's a tip: Get some Teflon Baking Sheet liner. It's the best for these mice.

        Link [teflon.com]

        It's feels like you're on a sheet of ice, well, without the coldness. I've had one scotch taped to my desk for several years now, and it's just now needing replacement. Using a regular mousepad feels like slogging through mud compared to the Teflon Sheets.

    • Does anyone here actually don't use the wheel feature on amouse? I don't really like it because I do not have an index finger (four fingers on both of my hands since I was born with multiple physical disabilities). Same for middle button. :(
      • I lucked out and got the full compliment of phlanges, and I _still_ don't like wheelmice. I have hoarded a mess of old PS/2 Mouseman ergo-mice from Logitech. I have thought seriously about gutting a newer USB led mouse and sticking it's innards in one of my Mouseman bodies, but fear that chimera would be a pain to get working.

        I have purchased a Happy Hacking Keyboard to go with the Mouseman and have had many fewer cases of RSI flareups. (Wouldn't be much help to anyone not living in vi all day! :-)

        The Mou
    • The problem isn't the wheel. It is that with only two buttons and a narrow scroll wheel, some people (My self and eschasi apparently) can't comfortably use three fingers for all the buttons. With my old Logitech Mouseman Cordless, I could have three fingers on the buttons in a natural position. On my new MX700, to put my middle finger on the wheel causes me to have to hold my middle 3 fingers together which gets very uncomfortable after a little while.

      Now as to why I need it... My reason, is I am a gam

  • Not google, but froogle (Score:4, Informative)

    by satanami69 ( 209636 ) on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:49PM (#7697555) Homepage
    Although they are the same.

    Search: large 3 button mouse

    Plenty to choose from.

  • WTF (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Frequanaut ( 135988 ) on Thursday December 11, 2003 @11:50PM (#7697556)
    Seriously, the wheel is just fine for a middle mouse button.
    Looks like it's a slow news week. Isn't there a SCO story to post or something?
  • If you want to hand cape yourself then Yes. Be warned though, like the pinkie finger, you won't notice its usefulness until its gone.
  • I stand by my IBM Scrollpoint Optical [ibm.com]. You get a very nice ambidexterous mouse that happens to have three buttons, and instead of a scroll wheel, you get a pressure sensitive scrollpoint, which is similar to the eraser heads featured on IBM laptops. The scrollpoint even glows blue, contrasting the red LED for the optical sensor.

    360 Degree scrolling is very useful.

  • Costanza (Score:5, Funny)

    by irix ( 22687 ) on Friday December 12, 2003 @12:12AM (#7697723) Journal

    eschasi asks: "eschasi recently got a new job..."

    George is getting upset!

  • I started with a 2 button MS mouse.
    Switched over to a 3 button Logitech mouse ("the claw"). It was awesome for fraggin.
    Logitech's 4 button wasn't as good.
    Logitech's 5 button (thumb + wheel) was alright.
    Logitech's MX700 (8 button) rocks.

  • Here you go (Score:5, Informative)

    by n00bieriffic ( 732021 ) on Friday December 12, 2003 @12:22AM (#7697777) Homepage
    Hop your happy ass over here [compusa.com] and get your 3 button mouse.

    Don't always just look on the shelf, ask somebody.

    -------

  • Perfit: Quite possibly the perfect 3-button mouse (Score:3, Informative)

    by helixblue ( 231601 ) on Friday December 12, 2003 @12:34AM (#7697841) Homepage
    I've been using 3-button mice since the PC Paintbrush IV days, and I have to say, I still use them every day. Nothing like that big middle button to slap to pop browser links into new tabs, and paste text.

    At first I used to be a fan of Logitech, SGI and Sun's 3-button mice, but now I don't leave home without a Contour Perfit Mouse [contourdesign.com]. It's 3-button, and there are not only left and right handed versions, but multiple sizes for each. It melds into your hand, so you only have to inch forward a bit of muscle in each finger to press a button. Very nice and ergonomic.

    I'm dying to try out their new optical mice myself. They were pretty slow to the game there, to be sure. I do like where they've put the scroll button for those.

    Long live the *real* middle button.

  • I guess if you're used to a simple three-button mouse, nothing else will do. But those of us who came to X from Windows have a simple workaround: XFree can emulate a three button mouse on a two button mouse. You just press both buttons at once. Dunno if this works on other X implementations, but I can't believe the XFree guys are the only ones to think of it. Then again, given the parochial nature of the Unix world, I guess it's possible.

    Maybe it's not too late to re-program your mouse hand.

  • 5 button miscrosoft mouse w/scrollwheel > * (note: i use this mouse in linux ;)
    • The don of mice. [microsoft.com] Great for left and right handers.
      • Yep. That's the one I was talking about. I have two of'm. That mouse is one thing Microsoft not only did right, but did very-fucking-well(tm). I feel limited when I use any other. I particularly love binding the farleft and farright buttons in games.
    • 5 button miscrosoft mouse w/scrollwheel > * (note: i use this mouse in linux ;)

      Can anyone point to instructions on getting the rest of these buttons to work in XFree86? I've got my scrollwheel and middle button working, but I've not had any luck with the two side buttons.

  • I know this is a bit off-topic, but I want a scroll wheel that I can somehow paste on my keyboard. It will go right above the arrow keys (just above the left or right key on my inverted-T arrow key section). That way I could scroll easily with my hands on the keyboard. Anyone seen something like this?
    • Maybe you should be contacting the patent office rather than telling everyone your (imho) really good idea.
    • Logitech Internet Keyboard. Scroll Rocker Switch (which you asked for) plus browser start, history, open url, home, send to back, print, back, forward, stop, refresh, search, find, add bookmark, open bookmarks and "hot links". All work in X (Mozilla, Konqueror, kmail etc..) except for "hot links" (I don't use windows at all so I don't know what that is supposed to do)

      However I rarely use those buttons as the Logitech Trackman Marble FX is so easy to use and in addition provides scrolling both vertically a

    • They have that. It's called page up and page down.

  • eschasi asks: "eschasi recently got a new job, which includes a new PC on which to run UNIX and X. ... he finally had to bring one from home. Shortly thereafter he was browsing ... Frankly, they're too small for eschasi's big hands. ...

    quakeslut, for one, hopes that the use of 3rd person is more dead the the 3 button mouse!
  • i feel your pain about how clicking the wheel is rather stupid compared with clicking an actual button. the mouse i'm using right now, logitech's "mouseman wheel" ps/2, has the 3rd button under the thumb instead of between the right and left. it doesnt take much getting useful, and i find its more natural than normal 3 button mice... for 3 buttons, i have 3 fingers instead of 2.

    this mouse is logitech model # M-CW47 if it matters.
  • I bought one of the first optical+radio mice on the market from Logitech and I fell in love with it. It has wheel doubling as a button and the thumb button.

    Today when I use the mouse I keep my thumb on the additional button and index finger on the wheel, occasionally moving it to right or left button. I can't imagine any other way of working with mouse anymore.

    Robert
  • Well, for this time, I have to agree with some of the 'Flamebait' moderated posts, this is a very lame question...

    So, you are basically asking why you are no longer able to buy obsolete hardware (3 button mouse)? Especially considering the fact, that for the same price, you get a mouse which offers the exact same functionality (3 buttons) even more, it offers a scroll wheel (i.e. 5 buttons).

    Basically you are wondering why you get more for the same price, because this is what it is: even though you are off

  • Maya... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dr00g911 ( 531736 ) on Friday December 12, 2003 @04:57AM (#7698866)
    Maya was ported from the SGI platform -- so originally many features were coded to support the 3-button mouse.

    To this day, the Win and Mac ports still rely on the middle mouse button. (ob one-button-Mac jokes commence...)

    Any workstation I've worked on, I've been able to map the scroll-wheel-click to middle mouse button features -- no matter the platform.

    An aside: Maya has hands-down the best interface I've ever seen for controlling a 3D camera in a window. It relies on the alt-key and all three mouse buttons that you gesture-click. Very, very fast precise and intuitive.

    I'd be interested to try something like that with the new MS mice that scroll up down and sideways. /aside

    My current favorite Maya/Comfy scroll click mice (many don't feel good) of late are the Logitech MX series and the Click! series corded opticals (for a few reasons -- ie corded vs. wireless for single-pixel precision, more Mac-like weight, clicker 'feels' right as a MMSB).

    Hope this helps

  • Maya! (Score:2)

    by robson ( 60067 )
    Alias/Wavefront's Maya was designed for a 3-button mouse, since the application began on the SGI. The middle mouse button is utilized for common operations like panning, zooming, and rotating the viewport. Sure, you can do it with a wheel mouse, but it's pretty uncomfortable.
  • Logitech are still selling 3 button mice with balls, and they are VERY cheap - around 10-15 quid in PC World (UK), last time I looked.

    I don't like the scrolly-wheel clicks because the springs are usually quite tight (to prevent accidental clicking when scrolling, presumably). Generally I don't have a need for a scrolly wheel because I use the keyboard most of the time and PgUp/PgDn/cursor keys work do the grunt work of my scrolling requirements, and I find the scroll bars usually more accurate than the sc
    • I personally don't mind wheels, as I rarely see the need to middle-click under Windows (or even Linux - I run KDE), and the middle button is mapped to left+right on just about every 3-button or wheel mouse. BTW, I can't drag with the wheel on this MS IntelliMouse 1.3A (it's my school's box, and it's not a bad mouse - Dell made good keyboards, and they package great mice), but I can middle-click just fine. A Logitech First Mouse Wheel is an even better middle-clicker, as the wheel is sunken further between t
  • What do I do?

    When I realized that 3-button mice will get rarer, and that many people take a scroll wheel as an excuse for a real button, I bought 7 Logitech Pilot Mice. They'll serve for a while.

    If PS/2 will not be available any more, I'll need an USB adapter; but I think they will be available.

  • All though balled, I am using an SGI 3-Button mouse right now. I have stock-piled these jems against the inevitable coming darkness of three-button-mouse-less chaos that is sure to consume the rest of the twenty-first century. You should have prepared for these new dark ages my friend. I and my comrades in arms have. We are ready. And, nobody gets to use our three-button-mouse stock pile... not without getting through our perimeter defenses and down in to our bunkers they don't!
  • at least over here(regular logitech 3 buttoners, and cheapo 3 buttoners).

    however, not in optical form.
    not that i miss them tho, the wheel is of more use.

    -

  • MX-500 (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Vilim ( 615798 )
    I originally had just a regular microsoft optical wheelmouse, the kind that only had one scrollwheel (clickable) and no side buttons or anything. Then when I got my laptop I found that a touchpad was horribly inadequate for any sort of small moter work, so I picked up my Logitech MX500. This is without a doubt the best mouse I have ever used. At school in one of the GIS labs we have 3 button mice but I still like my logitech better, the wheel just begs to be clicked.

    When my trusty Microsoft mouse died on m
  • I used to work on macs exclusively, which as you may know come with ONLY ONE BUTTON. By the time I was seeking a 3-button mouse, hardly a vendor sold -- much less manufactured -- them any longer.

    Dude, get the scroll mouse. You'll get used to it. And, as other respondants have readily pointed out, the wheel gives extra functionality in a single movement, rather than a keypress+middle button event. For example, you can transverse your web browser's (mozilla's) history using just the middle button, rather t
  • I like the scroll wheel as the middle button. My fingers can find the middle button by feel rather than me having to look.
  • Unfortunately, my cordless Mouseman Pro's wheel doesn't function anymore, and is only usable as a middle button. It's like the worst of both worlds.
  • And many CADD workers are used to the standard button, not a little scroll wheel. I'd guess that many of these people don't care about browsing the web, either.

    I actually work at a large corporation where this is the case for many clients of mine, and I've had a lot of trouble finding a simple 3-button mouse for them.

    We source our PC's from Dell, and they have 0 3-button mice on their website, and my sales representative could only find 1 that they would resell to us.

    I'll agree with the author that this
  • Look for a four or more button mouse and assign the middle mouse button to [one of the ]the thumb button[s]. I assume there is a way to do that under Linux. Under Windows the logitech software lets you do it.

    No offense, but why would I want a mouse without a scroll-wheel??? KDE supports the scroll-wheel. I assume Gnome does (or will in the future).

  • If you look hard enough, you can find them either on ebay, or someone selling old stock. Here's a review [neoseeker.com].

    Good size, very comfortable, no need to clean it very often. Not one glitch in four years.

    jonathan

    • I have two of these mice, they're great. Although I don't use them anymore, I use the scroll wheel too much with java programming in jdeveloper.

      I used to use them for gaming (Quake 3 mostly), but now I switched to a logitech usb dual optical mouse w/scroll wheel, it glides more reliably, without needing cleaning every week or so, plus it's a bit more comfy, it's a handful at first, but it really first just right. I guess I was just used to the tiny mice before.

      Kinda strange, logitech doens't list any of

  • Did you search the web? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by petard ( 117521 ) on Monday December 15, 2003 @03:10PM (#7727012) Homepage
    I was recently wondering about this myself, so I searched a bit. 3-button mice are widely available, and are still being manufactured:
    • USB [belkin.com]
    • USB [belkin.com]
    • PS/2 [belkin.com]
    • PS/2 [belkin.com]
    Or, if you don't want Belkin to get another dollar of yours due to the recent BS they pulled with their routers, there are many others: That's just what I found during 10 minutes of STFW. And I didn't take all the abuse you did by asking here :-)

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