Which Bluetooth Mouse?

Hi,

Just got a new laptop with built-in bluetooth, and I want a new mouse to go with it, primarily for CAD. I don't want to have to plug in extra USB dongle receivers, I want to use the built-in bluetooth. I quite like the look of the Logitech MX Performance mouse, but this seems to need their USB dongle - does anyone know if this will work via bluetooth?

What about Microsoft's mice - any good? The Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 looks ok. Any suggestions?

Cheers,
Paul

 

I've always had good experiences with both Microsoft and Logitech wired/wireless mice.

Check them out on Amazon and NewEgg and read the user reviews. I always seem to find answers to my questions in the reviews since the product info is usually lacking key information.

 

My recommendation goes to the Razer Orochi. It's got 7 buttons and one of the most comfortable form factors I've ever felt in a Bluetooth mouse. It can also be used as a wired gaming mouse with the detachable USB cord. It comes with a nice case, too.

 

I use the Microsoft 8000 while docked at work or home and a Microsoft Notebook 5000 while mobile...all Bluetooth all work well...

 

Im going with Mastershroom, The Orochi is a great mouse, its a bit on the small side but if your going to be carrying it with you its perfect, and for you doing CAD with it, it as a super high DPI, making your pointer very precise.

 

Just because it is Bluetooth, and Bluetooth is the "newest" wireless technology, does not automatically make it better. In fact, Bluetooth technology is one of the WORST mouse connectivity technologies.

If you're talking about mice in general, then wired mice are by far the best mice in terms of pure performance and convenience. They always operate at full performance, and never have batteries that need recharging / replacing.

After wired mice, you have 2.4Ghz wireless. On the high-end of 2.4Ghz wireless, you have some high polling rate mice. The Logitech G700 (which is easily one of the best mice out, wired or wireless) falls into this camp, with polling rates as high as 1000Hz (1ms response time). If you do not need all of the super ultra-powerful gaming features of the Logitech G700, then the Logitech Performance MX is an excellent mouse. I use it all the time on my work laptop. Nice, full-sized mouse, smooth mousing motion, and darkfield imaging which allows the mouse to work on any surface (including glass and polished granite).

And at the very bottom of the connectivity technologies is Bluetooth. Just like low-end 2.4Ghz wireless, Bluetooth operates at 125Hz (8ms response times). The Razer Orochi is probably the "best" mouse in this category, but "best" is relative. There is the annoying 3-second sleep timer, the 8ms lag time, and the relatively low 2000dpi engine when running in Bluetooth mode. Just about the only reason to ever buy a Bluetooth mouse is if you don't want to give up a USB port. Or, you are a total Razer fanboy who has bought into their marketing, and are absolutely convinced that paying for their absolutely useless "1337 g4M3rZ features" like gold-plated USB connectors or the ability to turn your wired Orochi mouse into a half-assed wireless Bluetooth mouse somehow makes a better mouse.

In short, nobody who is serious about mice buys a Bluetooth mouse. They either go with wired, or high-performance 2.4Ghz wireless. Even Razer Orochi apologists and fanboys will tell you that they use wired mode when they need serious mouse performance, because the Bluetooth mode sucks for anything that requires your mouse to operate at peak performance.

 

Gentlemen,

Thanks for your help. I think I shall go with the Logitech Performance MX. Ok, it has a dongle receiver, but it's small enough I can live with it.

I had no idea that Bluetooth had the limitiations kent1146 has described - I guess this is why people like Logitech use their own wireless protocols.

Thanks again.

Regards,
Paul

 

good luck with it, let us know how it works for you.

 

Ok, I received today a Logitech Performance MX mouse from Amazon, paid ~£65 for it.

First impressions are it's not quite as solid as the MX Revolution, and Logitech are obviously squeezing every last drop of profit from the deal as they no longer supply a fancy charging cradle, instead you charge via a micro-USB lead (supplied, with an AC wall adaptor).

On the plus side, the battery is replaceable without major surgery.

They've toned down the scultping a bit, it's not so extreme as the Revolution, which is good imho.

The USB receiver protrudes about 8mm or so - enough to be vulnerable in transport, so I shall probably remove it when moving around.

The button above the wheel swaps between cogged and free rolling - this is now a simple mechanism, whereas before this could be controlled via software. This button feels the flimsiest of all the controls.

At over 6ft tall, I have reasonably large hands, and the Performance mouse is big enough that my hand is not cramped up. It's not too heavy, and the main buttons are comfortable to use.

I've used it all afternoon in Solidworks, forgot I had a new mouse after the first few minutes. The button mapping can be changed in Setpoint to suit different applications. I have the dynamic zoom on the thumb "back" button and ESC on the forward button - works ok for me.

One last thing is the "Application Switcher" - press down with your thumb and it tiles the open windows to allow you to toggle between apps. Not sure what was wrong with Alt-Tab or Windows-Tab, but there we are...

In short, it's a mouse, and I ususally manage to kill a mouse in about 18 months or less, so only time will tell if the build quality is ok - or not.

Thanks,
Paul

 

Hi, I'm looking for a nice cordless mouse for my new laptop as well. I'm really ensnared with the idea of using Bluetooth so I can free up one of my USB ports over a corded connection or nano/dongle receiver. Now that you mention BT is very poor for wireless mice, it's making me rather curious. What in particular is so bad about using Bluetooth for mouse connectivity--does it have poor response, heavy power use (on the laptop's side), or weak battery life? I have never used a Bluetooth device before except for BT headsets and PS3 Dualshock controllers, so I assumed that Bluetooth would be fantastic for mice as well.

Thanks for your help!

 

It's really not that bad, it's just not as snappy as USB wireless. But unless you're trying to game with a Bluetooth mouse, you won't consciously notice the different in response time. It also has some effect on your laptop's battery life, but we're talking a matter of 10 minutes or so over the duration of a full charge.

 

I have a Microsoft Notebook Mouse 5000 and it's in no way in hell that bad as he is making it out to be. I don't game with it so maybe that's what he's comparing it to. I don't game on my laptop anyways, that's what PS3 and Xbox is for so i've never used any of those "gaming" ones but for everyday browsing and application mousing it's just fine. I don't know about super accurate Photoshop work either as i don't use my laptop for those.

According to Microsoft,the mouse "Dynamically adaptable to 6000 frames per second," so it's not some crappy system either. Surely they don't make the best mice on the planet, but the general concensus around their mice is that they are good enough to great (wired and wireless).

As for the power draw, bluetooth uses less power than USB. Even the best USB micro receiver might use 100mA of power (USB 2.0 = 500mA MAX). Granted most Bluetooth internal devices are still connected to the USB bus but they don't take as much power than say a device connected to the USB port.

 

For a smaller, more portable bluetooth mouse, I've had a lot of good luck with this one:

DELL Dell Bluetooth 5 -Button Travel Mouse - Matte Black : Desktop Accessories | Dell

I've played WoW and Half-Life 2 with this mouse, and while it has an occasional hop or isn't as super responsive as a wired mouse, it's overall just fine.

It's often on sale for $10 or $15 either at Dell's site or through them on eBay. I got it for $15 on eBay I believe.

 

I too have the MS bluetooth 5000 mouse. I might have purchased the Dell if I had known about it when I got my MS Mouse. The Dell appears to have a forward button as well as the back while MS only has a back button which is great but a forward button would be greater. I do like my mouse just fine, it works great and no dongle to snag on things and also all my USB ports are clear.

 

I have this mouse also. It's a very nice mouse & most of the time inexpensive.

Every so often Dell has it as part of their "Daily Deal" for a good price bet. $9.99 to $12.99.

Cin...

 

^ is there a wired version of that ? it looks familiar ?

 

From Dell? Dell has 2 wired mice:
MS111 USB Optical Mouse and,
Dell Laser USB Mouse

Or, are you thinking of Logitech, maybe?


Cin...

 

Perhaps a bit off topic, though it would help me decide on the Orochi:
I read that the 3 second sleep issue can be resolved by going into bluetooth settings inside windows and disabling power safe mode. Is this true? Doesn't seem like it would work since it would only affect windows and not the mouse, but I figured it worth checking with someone who actually has one.

 

When i used my Orochi i never had that problem ???

 

Ok, thanks. Gonna give the Orochi a try.

 

Well I got my Orochi today and I'm disappointed. The tracking is surprisingly poor in wired mode when it comes to small movements. Maybe it's the surface (I have a SteelSeries teflon mat), but even my VX Revolution tracks better.

The micro-sleep issue is real, even after updating to the latest firmware. I'd say it's only somewhat annoying since it doesn't affect momentary hesitations, but there's a noticeable lag when it wakes after sleeping for 4+ seconds.

The design of the side buttons is another issue, though I haven't seen anyone mention it. Since they are flush with the side of the mouse, you have to push inward rather than clicking them with your thumb. Since the mouse is so small and light, this usually makes it jerk a bit to the side. This also makes using the other set of side buttons useless for adjusting dpi on the fly.

 

Your experiences are pretty consistent with what other people report when they are unhappy with the Orochi.

Is it too late to return it and get another mouse, like the Logitech G700?

 

Well newegg wants restocking fee plus shipping, which is nearly half what I paid for it. So I'll probably try tweaking it, scrub down my mouse mat, and see if things improve. I like the Orochi's size and I love the cord--much more flexible and higher quality than any mouse cord I've ever seen. I like the scroll wheel, too. I'd really like to like this mouse...

I just tried playing LFD2 in bluetooth mode and didn't notice the micro-sleep at all since the mouse was moving the whole time. I expect MMOs might be more of a problem...we'll see.

Btw, the reason why I didn't get the G700 (aside from price) was the size (too big to travel with my M11x) and the buttons (more than I'll ever use).

EDIT: changing out the teflon mat for a bog standard cloth mat solved the tracking issue. Go figure.

EDIT: ok, played LOTRO for a couple hours, wired and bt. Once I swapped mats, tracking was fine and everything works very smoothly. In fact, I completely forgot about the micro-sleep while in bt mode. The second set of side buttons still aren't great but the mouse is growing on me. Maybe it just takes time to get used to it. I really like the fact that you can set x- and y-axis dpi separately.

 

Hi,

A quick update on the Logitech Performance mouse:

So far, so good. Used it a lot for SolidWorks and AutoCAD, and the best recommendation I can make to anyone who buys one of these mice is this: do not use Setpoint!

Setpoint stops the middle mouse button functioning correctly in SolidWorks, which, for anyone who uses this system, is a major, major problem, as the middle mouse ("press down") function activates the dynamic rotate view.

With Setpoint uninstalled, the mouse works fine in SW and in games (I'm not much of a gamer, but you have to have a little light relief now and again, and exploding helicopters does just fine

I had the same issues with the MX Revolution and Setpoint, as soon as the bloated monster that is Setpoint is installed, your mouse will stop working. Really, I fail to see what use Setpoint is - it's a massive, intrusive install that seems to provide very little additional functionality, and in my experience quite the reverse: it reduces functionality, so for me, you're better off without it.

One last observation: the middle mouse button only seems to work properly when you press down and to the right - straight down and nothing happens. A minor irritation perhaps, but this *is* a £65 mouse. Logitech had better up their game with the next device or I'll be looking elsewhere.

Regards,
Paul