Are Optical Mouses reliable??

Are Optical Mouses reliable?? I ask this as a 2 years ago when i used an optical mouse, out of no-where the cursor would move randomly to a different spot on the screen. This also happened to me when i used to game, one minute im aiming my sniper at an enemy and the next minute my gun was pointed in the sky.

So i was wondering that are Optical Mouses reliable to use for gaming without this issue happening?

 

Yes, they are. I've been gaming with optical mice since 2003 and i've very rarely had any issues with things like that.

 

they're a lot more reliable than a ball mouse. And that's been the case for at least 5 years now.

 

yea they had some issues when they first started on the market of course
but my guess is that you just had a piece of junk one

from my experience, optical mice outperform any thing else by a landslide..in any activity

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse

 

Thanks for the advice and quick response guys/girls

 

I'm using a low-end Logitech mouse (tiny one with a short cable) and it's been working like a champ for the past 5 months.

 

1. They don't like shiny surfaces (my normal mouse mat is an old sheet of printed paper).

2. If it has a wire then eventually (several years?) the conductors may start to break.

I've been through several, but is more a case of me deciding that they are too big / too small / buttons giving problems than any problem caused by the optical mechanism. They are much more reliable than having to dismantle the ball mechanism and clean it and the rollers.

John

PS: The plural of "mouse" is "mice"

 

ive had the most basic logitech model, about scince they came out, and it is still the most reliable mouse i have ever had.... 0 maintainence

 

ball<optical<laser

only bad thing about the optical is that u cant use on glass and on certain surfaces, lasers on the other hand will work on anything...corded laser mouses are the way to go (Logitech G5)...

 

with laser mice theres a certain type of surface that is not good on too, so in the end they all have their issues but you should go for the optical at least cuz ppl will think u were stuck under a rock all this time if u get a ball mouse

 

since when is there a difference between optical and laser mice?

Also, I've only found that there was a problem with optical mice when youre using them without a mouse pad on a plain surface (usually shiny) because it because harder for it to differentiate between the current and previous areas.

mice with balls (haha) tend to get dirty VERY quickly and can get stuck on what my seem like nothing.

 

Thx for the help but now im confused. Are optical mice different from laser mice?

 

Yes, there is a difference. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_mouse#Optical_mice

 

yes, the light emitted from a laser mouse is not visible for one (i think)
and supposedly it is more accurate but it really depends on what surface you're using the mouse on. for gaming...i'd stick with optical still.

 

I've never had an optical mouse not work correctly, and the ones I use most often are cheap IBM, HP, and Microsoft ones. You probably just got a bad one two years ago - that'll happen with any product.

And since at least one person didn't catch John Ratsey's point, the plural of "mouse" is "mice".