USB rechargeable mouse without receiver

Hi there,


I just changed my former Vaio Z ultrabook for a Lenovo Helix and I'm now looking for a mouse to travel around (I'm totally inefficient without a mouse, even with touchscreen, when it comes to editing and working).

My wish list is the following:
- Small or mid-sized, not full-size;
- USB rechargeable without dock, if possible still useable while recharging;
- compatible with Bluetooth built in the laptop, not only with a USB receiver that would come with the mouse (I don't want to have a USB receiver to carry around, it would use a USB port and with the Helix design it would be very inconvenient).

I utterly hate mice that cannot be used without a specific battery charger, or new batteries, hence the need for USB charge. Every models I found on Amazon or a few other websites had pretty bad reviews.

I can live with a battery-life of approximately 3 days if the mouse is useable while charging, and if the cable is not too bulky. The ideal port on the mouse would be micro-USB and not mini-USB, so that I can carry only one cable for both my phone and my mouse.

Any ideas? Thanks in advance for your replies!

 

Honestly, you are better off using a mouse with long battery life, than you are with trying to find a Bluetooth mouse that is rechargeable via USB.

If you absolutely must use a Bluetooth mouse, your best bet would be a Razer Orochi in bluetooth mode. It's a great laptop mouse on USB wired mode, but a so-so mouse on Bluetooth mode. If Bluetooth is a must, this is the one to get. Battery life lasts about 1-3 months on 2x AA batteries, and up to 6 months on Lithium AA batteries.

If you want the best wireless mouse, hands down, then you're looking at a Logitech M705 Marathon Mouse. Inexpensive, straight-forward to use, with batteries that last 3+ years. Tiny USB receiver that can be stored in the mouse itself, or can be left in your machine.

 

The problem with receivers is that they cannot be left on the Helix, because the tablet's ports are on the side that attaches to the keyboard dock. I guess there were constraints if designers made the tablet this way, but that still is a drawback of the Helix. Therefore you cannot leave a receiver on the tablet and just forget it because it will prevent docking; and removing it to replace it on the dock will be inconvenient. You could of course leave it on the dock and use the mouse only when in ultrabook mode. A mouse might be kind of useless with a tablet, but that is not true anymore when you want to use your tablet with a cover that can act as a stand (like the Flipsteady one). In addition, the Helix only offers two USB ports, so you cannot sacrifice one when you could just pair your mouse with Bluetooth. A USB receiver is an absolute deal-breaker for me.

No USB recharge feature might be OK, but I'd like to avoid it. The problem with batteries not rechargeable through USB while inside the mouse, even long-lived batteries, is that you have to anticipate their discharge and/or to carry their own (bulky) charger) or you risk the mouse to die at the worst moment when you're travelling or at work. The risk is not specially high, and you just have to check prior to your departure, but the fact is that you have to worry about your batteries and I'm not good at that. :/ A mouse that could send me a pop-up announcing discharge in like 3-7 days would be OK. Leds usually start to warn about low battery levels too late for me, plus I often see the led hours later it started to blink because my hand was covering it or because I just did not pay attention to the mouse. I have a Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000 that would be perfect if rechargeable through USB. I think the batteries I put inside are NiMh, but they will hold charge only a few days/weeks, plus the charger is extremely bulky. :/

Why isn't there any good USB rechargeable mouse? What is the drawback of designing such a mouse?

 

I'm not sure about Bluetooth, but most modern wireless USB mouses will give you a warning when the battery goes low, and all major operation systems are capable of displaying it. For Bluetooth you may need a non-standard driver or something.

Some models also have battery indicator lights. It's kinda counterproductive though. With a light on the battery goes down even faster.


It's not that difficult or inconvenient to put one backup battery or two in your notebook bag.

 

I get what you're saying. You should be able to use most standard bluetooth mice with your Helix, as long as it's compatible with Windows 8. Unfortunately, there won't be a whole lot of rechargeable bluetooth mice out there. It's just not standard to put a rechargeable battery system in a peripheral as small as a mouse. You can always go with a no name brand like this: Rechargeable 500/1000DPI Bluetooth Optical Mouse with Carrying Pouch - Free Shipping - DealExtreme

But you may not get the results you're hoping for. Mainly because rechargeable batteries lose some of their maximum voltage capacity over time. It's part of that pesky "memory effect" that plagues rechargeable batteries. It's gotten better in recent years, just not so much for smaller powered items. Mice usually take one or two batteries. Effectively 3 volts. If a rechargeable battery pack inside a mouse loses a bit of voltage capacity over the course of 100 charges, say 0.2 volts, it may not seem like much, but for the mouse, that difference in 2.8v and 3.0v may be enough to where the mouse's circuitry can't function. It's why OEMs have made their wireless mice and keyboards to use disposable batteries. I found all this out when I tried using a rechargeable battery in one of our wireless mice. The red light started flashing immediately cause the battery was only able to put out 2.6 volts after all it's use in the last couple years.

There are others whom have had problems with using rechargeable batteries in their wireless mice:
Finicky Bluetooth mouse? Check your rechargeables

My advice would be to get a standard bluetooth mouse that uses batteries. You can always turn it off to save the battery and keep a pair of AA's in your bag for backup.

 

What is the point of a USB recharging when the batteries can last 3 months, 6 months, a year, or more?

 

need a batteries ?? this a USB device