Looking for a wireless, relatively inexpensive, gaming-capable mouse

I'm sick and tired of my wired mouse. I'm looking for something relatively high-performance, minimal latency and good tracking etc., but nothing too high-end.

I've been looking at Logitech M705 and M515. Any thoughts or other suggestions?

 

Logitech G602 - only $50. Great performance and battery life.

 

Isn't there anything out there without all those extra buttons?

 

...there's the Madcatz Office RAT The entire series looks like complete overkill, regardless of use. But if you're making a semi-expensive purchase anyway, this is actually a very good pick. And it doesn't have fifty ways to prod your hand in painful ways, in spite of how it looks. Very, very comfortable since it's adjustable in every possible way - weight back and forth, length, that sort of thing.

Or maybe the Razer Orochi. Small thing, you likely won't get all that much use out of the extra buttons (but you won't accidentally click them, and they're not in the way, like on the logitech mice). And the control software is excellent for what it is (acceleration, dps, etc., is the very best you can get for mice without it's own on-board powerplant and processor.. some of the gaming mice actually get hot after use - and this doesn't, but it's still accurate and reliable. Usually you won't get that kind of accuracy out of any wireless mice option. That you can switch to cable without the cable getting in the way also is a good thing - very well thought through design, unlike some of the Razer products). The main buttons and the wheel is worth the purchase as well.

 

If you want high-end gaming, go with a Logitech G602.

If you want "good enough" gaming all-purpose mouse, go with a Logitech M705 marathon mouse. It's light, simple, relatively inexpensive, and "good enough" for whatever you need to do with it.

The problem with your title is that once you mention "gaming" and "mouse" in the same sentence, you're pretty much indicating that you want a high-end gaming mouse. And gaming mice come with features like lots of buttons, lots of programmable software, high-DPI sensors, etc. And the poor battery life to go along with all of that. In your posts, you mention that you pretty much want something simple, reliable, and can be used for multiple purposes (including occasional gaming). For that use case, go with a Logitech M705 Marathon Mouse.

 

Thank you for recommendation. You pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'd like a general purpose mouse with excellent tracking and reasonably minimal latency that I won't be able to blame on when I die during an in-game fight. I don't need buttons or macros or specialized software. However, a DPI around ~1500 is what I'm used to, and it'd be nice to have something adjustable, whereas it looks like the all-purpose mice tend to stick at 1000.

G602 is looking like a good bet. I also saw the MX, but that's starting to get a bit pricey. Is there anything like that with particularly good value?

 

Yeah, stick with the Logitech M705 Marathon Mouse. It will do everything you need it to do.

It has an optical sensor, which is going to have superior tracking reliability over high-DPI laser sensors.

It has a ridiculous battery life of 3 years on alkaline batteries. This pretty much completely eliminates the negative drawback of battery life when dealing with wireless mice. I'd recommend you actually put Lithium AA batteries in the mouse, for weight and balance reasons. Alkaline batteries will make the mouse heavier and rear-balanced. Whereas Lithium AA batteries are lighter, and will give the mouse a center-balanced weight profile

The mouse has an unpublished DPI, but most guesses place it around 1400-1500dpi. It's not adjustable, but it's "good enough" for you to get used to pretty quickly.

And it uses 2.4Ghz wireless, which is going to be the best wireless technology you can find right now in terms of reliability and low latency. You want to stay away from Bluetooth mice, for this reason.

 

.. mm. Basically the "practical" tracking resolution has two modes, depending on whether you are using the wireless option or not. That you're getting a similar reading on the mouse hardware (and all of the up towards "upper class" gaming mice have a small ARM processor built in that runs on passive cooling, with various different soc setups. I believe the marathon and hyperion mice both actually have the identical processor you have in the Orochi, by the way, just with different embedded control software). But when going through bluetooth, things drive up towards 8-10ms response time very quickly, polling interval is variable, depends on the usb polling interval, that sort of thing.

So if you're only going to use the wireless option, you might not want to go for a gaming mouse at all.. that's really a good point. The "unified" interface for the logitech mice is what limits the polling interval and transfer speeds, so no matter how many dpi the laser has - ..or at least that's my experience - you get the most comfortable results by turning acceleration and smoothing in the hardware off completely, and adding interpolation in software in the program/game you're running instead. Because the real-world response time is shorter then. So in the end you might get the best results from a wireless mouse that has a very short information packet to send (i.e., no smoothing, just the position, no extra supersampling before sending, etc), since it invariably makes the feedback more consistent when going through the 2.4Ghz band.

Of course, then I tried that razer mouse, I ended up using the wireless option with smoothing, and was actually very happy with the response. They do know what they're doing with the control software at razer, just no denying that (waking the usb hub on beforehand, switching band frequency when results stop being consistent, etc.). But I'm still using the mouse wired when playing Battlefield, because it's so ridiculously much smoother than wireless. The 6400dpi they have in the specs is not.. you know.. technically possible on a normal mousepad, or if you have dust in the environment, and so on. But you do get the kind of response and input accuracy here that you don't get even on the best Logitech mice. Both the Orochi and the R.A.T. simply are better than the best Logitech kit - and it's noticeable, simple as that. I didn't think it was the case, and that as long as the laser is above a certain level, you can't notice the difference - but you actually do. They're also built in such a way that they last and operate consistently for as long as you own it. Having to scrape off the buttons and the wheel and so on, not an issue. That the laser reader is placed inside a casing with an outer seal that collects dust and particles - the kind of thing you expect from the logitech mice, also not an issue. Rubber coating that works fine for a few months, before starting to stick on your fingers. Or buttons that suddenly stop responding, or have to be clicked harder to function (or worse, start to double-tap) - and then can't be fixed by cleaning them... again, not an issue. ...and even if you don't use the control software to program buttons and so on, you get profiles that switch with the game, so you can have different dpi modes/interpolation depending on what you're doing. Ability to pass keystrokes as mouse controller input rather than forwarded keyboard scancodes for the actual click through directx. Also pretty useful.

So there's that - that it really is worth the extra $20-30 if you're buying a semi-expensive mouse anyway, in the class that has an onboard programmable soc. But if you are happy with one of the simpler logitech mice, and will use them wirelessly, then you might not really need, or be any more happy with, the expensive mice they have in the end. That you simply will turn off all the extra functions to /approach/ the results you would have with a.. m320 or something like that on wire.

 

I do recommend Logitech G602!

 

Can anyone recommend something BESIDES G602, and not something that looks like a failed Transformer? I want just a basic wireless three button gaming mouse. Every gaming mouse I've seen that is worth a damn has a bunch of side buttons and I always accidentally knock them. Even if I don't have anything programmed, it's still uncomfortable and annoying.

 

If you want GAMING mouse, then you're implying you want adjustable DPI, high USB polling rates, and programmable keys. And if you want something that doesn't have a crazy amount of buttons, the mouse that fits the bill is the Razer Mamba.

If you're looking for a mouse that can be used for gaming, and care more about a reliable wireless mouse more than features like DPI, polling rates, etc, then I'd recommend a Logitech M705 Marathon Mouse. That mouse is simply the best general-purpose wireless mouse you can find.

 

The best wireless gaming mouse :- Logitech G602