Mice that will work on a glass desk?

The left mouse button on my Anywhere MX is starting to wear out (Logitech quality ain't what it used to be ), so I'm looking for a replacement.

Ideally, I'd like something roughly the same size as the Anywhere MX and with back/forward buttons as well as whisper-quiet clicking (as in the muted noise level of a trackpad button click rather than the sharp thonk of a typical mouse button click), but I suppose that I can't be too picky given that this still seems to be a bit of a niche...

 

Sorry I'm pretty new here but I hope this helps. I used to have the Anywhere MX as well because of a similar need. My suggestion is instead of trying to find a mouse that works on glass, of which I don't know many besides the Anywhere MX and Anywhere MX 2 etc, why not get a mousepad which would allow you to use any mouse but if you specifically need a mouse that works on a glass desk then from what I understand the Darkfield technology which allows the Anywhere MX to work on glass is proprietary to Logitech so you'd have to get one of their Anywhere MX Mice. I'm not 100% certain but this is the conclusion I came to based on my research, hopefully someone more knowledgeable than me can chime in!

 

I have sensitive skin, and every single mouse pad I've ever tried has given me a rash on my right wrist after a few days to weeks of use.

Desks, on the other hand, can simply be wiped down every day.

 

Ahh yea me too but clearly yours is more sensitive but I feel you . It does look like the Darkfield is proprietary to Logitech. Microsoft has something similar called the Microsoft BlueTrack Technology but they say " BlueTrack Technology does not work on clear glass or mirrored surfaces." Unfortunately it looks like the Logitech Anywhere MX 2 would be your best bet from what I can tell. I hope this helped and hopefully someone more knowledgeable can chime in if they know of anything and be able to help more.

 

Have you tried a hard surface mousepad? There are some out there that have a hard polymer surface rather than some kind of soft material. You can wipe them down easily and I haven't had issues with the one I use aside from the residues left behind by my mouse feet wearing off. Those are easily scraped off the surface though.

I'm throwing this one randomly: http://gaming.logitech.com/en-ca/product/g440-hard-gaming-mouse-pad just as an example.

 

One thing that worked when my Performance Mx began acting up was to take it apart, put a drop of super glue on the button contact. Just under the mouse button, and then put it back together. I also had to replace the feet pads with some from Amazon.

You can also look at bending back the tiny thin piece of aluminum inside the microswitch. Worked for me a few days ago. But if you open the micro switch it's a pain in the ass getting it back together. Be ware. Watch some YouTube videos on this issue. Better to fix than replace. Cheaper.

 

Hmm, I don't think I've ever tried anything like that before. It's worth considering, I guess.

Yeah, I figure it's probably just some minor mechanical problem that's causing single clicks to sometimes register as double clicks, but since I'm not a very handy person I figure I should explore my options first.

Given that there doesn't seem to be very many options, I guess I could give the repair route a try since the worst that could happen is I'll lose this mouse.

 

I know it wasn't exactly what you were looking for, but in case you ever need a workaround, hopefully, this would do the trick. I said goodbye to cloth mousepads ages ago and started using a hard surface one because I was wearing out furniture. I gotta say that so far I haven't regretted it.

 

First I was going to say... get a thin glass sheet with sandblasted texture on it. Then I figured out that someone else must have thought about it before me. So once again I turned my keyboard to google...

And they have: tempered glass mousepads.

 

OP wants a smooth surface for the mouse to work on due to skin issues. A textured piece of glass would be even worse than normal (soft) mouse pads.

 

I was thinking about that swipeability part. Easy to clean.

Altough original idea in my head was sandblasting the bottom side (something for the mouse to track on), leaving the actual surface smooth. I don't know how those in the picture are made, they could even be smooth but colored glass...

 

The mouse will not track well (at least for demanding work/play) unless you can adjust the lens to focus on the bottom surface.

Not sure about the glass pads linked, but I've seen some other glass ones and they are all textured on the upper side.

 

Just carry a thin metal mouse pad with you. Mine is 10 years old from Razer.

 

I've got a $20 Microsoft 3600 and it works great on a glass desk.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

As a quick update, it seems I destroyed my Anywhere MX when I took it apart and tried to fix it (as expected...), so I took the old Microsoft Explorer Mini Mouse back from my Surface Pro to use as a backup for now.

Surprisingly, it tracks on glass - decently enough for casual computing in the short term at least - though in the longer term I'm still in the market for either a mouse pad or a mouse as things can get a bit annoying on occasion when it isn't tracking properly and the cursor jumps.

 

I've noticed Microsoft mice seem particularly good with glass surfaces. You can use just about anything as a temporary pad as well.