Mice and keyboards, advice upon

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Till this point I have been content using cheap normal mice and replacing them every 18 months or so when they have just become too messed up for even cleaning to help. However my current mouse I have had for only 3-4 months and despite having just cleaned it the y axis is stuck in the middle of the screen. Ok a better explanation:

Imagine a box about a quarter of the screen size in the centre of the screen. When I move the mouse to do accurate selections in this area (and also at the edges of the screen - start menu, side toolbars etc) the mouse gets 'stuck' and I have to wiggle it to get it to move where I want it.

Having just cleaned my mouse and seen no notable improvement I have decided that an optical mouse (not cordless) may be the solution for me.

A cheap (£4.23) mouse is a micro$oft optical mouse, but seeing as it is m$ I wonder if it would be a significant improvement. Does anyone have any good experience (i.e. good DPI with cheap to midprice ranged optical mice to advise me with?

Secondly is the issue of keyboards, and the woeful trend of providing the end-user with a tiny backspace button and a power button next to the f12 key.

My first keyboard (8 years ago) lasted seven years and was perfect: proper sized delete key and no power buttons whatsoever. When it finally died, the space key became largely unresponsive, my friend gave me his old keyboard - dirty but functional: again proper sized (3 key sized) backspace key. The problem here was that the stands for propping it up were missing on one side and I find it easier to type with the keyboard propped up, and it had the power key (what is the point of power/sleep/wakeup buttons anyway?) next to the f12 key.

I then bought a new keyboard which had the picture been accurate would have been perfect - full size backspace key and power buttons away from f12 and finger slippage. Alas this was not to be for the keyboard arrived today with a tiny backspace key and the power buttons again next to the f12 button - though at least this time they are arranged Wake up - Sleep - Power so I shouldn't turn of the computer when turning on the light in deus ex this time.

Does anyone know where to get keyboards with full size backspace keys (two key lengths minimum, preferably three though - one key longer than the thinnest part of the return key) and with either no power buttons, or if they must insist on putting them on there then either with the power key furthest from all the other keys, or all of the power buttons away from the other keys, i.e. a row above the f1-12 keys.

Any help would be much appreciated.

[ September 27, 2005, 16:53: Message edited by: Lazy Bonzo ]

 

Historically speaking, Microsoft was actually one of the best mouse manufacturers in the pre-optical days. Their optical mice are decent but you get a bad one from time to time.

My mouse at home is one of the earlier Microsoft optical mice. I have had it for years now and it has never given me any problems. However, in my old office we had a couple die within six to nine months.

My brother is on his third cordless mouse (all Logitech I think) - it seems to me that they are nothing but trouble.

As far as keyboards go, it is actually surprising at how limited the selection is in the computer stores these days. They tend to have a selection of expensive cordless mouse/keyboard combos and maybe one or two cheap models and that is about it.

 

I have just gone through the new mouse routine. I had 2 MS 5 button intellimouse(mice) go bad in a row. Seems MS has gone cheaply made these days. I tried a Logitech wireless laser and hated it. The laser is very sensitive to the surface and the buttons require more pressure than normal to press. The wireless also lags some. I now have a Razer diamondback mouse: http://www.razerzone.com/ that I bought through Newegg. It is very nice. Tracks flawlessly and the buttons have a nice click to them. The side buttons take some getting used to as I do not like their design. The smallness of the mouse also took some getting used to. My hand lays flatter than with other mice. But overall I do recommend it.

 

Why not get the "Personal Yacht" type of mouse and keyboard and go with the Logitech diNovo? It has the keyboard similar to a laptop's (i.e. flat buttons that feel nice once you get used to them), it has a wireless, optical mouse that uses Bluetooth as it's means of connecting to the PC, and the mouse's recharging dock is also a Bluetooth hub, so you can use it for other Bluetooth enabled devices.

I know I'm getting one for my computer once it's completed.

 

Due of my recent PC purchase, I can say that Logitech G5 laser-mouse and this smoooth lightpad were a pleasant surprise. When compared to my previous Explorer 3.0 optical-mouse and standard pad, they are far more comfortable to use (mainly because of that smoothness).

Now, if I actually got my PCIe card back, I could start using them.

 

Logitech's optical, wired mice are very, very good, speaking from experience.

For the keyboard, a few months ago I stumbled upon an old (ancient?) stock of IBM keyboards that were being sold. They're something like 5 years old, but unused, and they're excellent. Large backspace, hard yet sensitive keys, simply amazing. And it was cheaper than anything else available (including the tinny keyboards that seem to melt as you press their keys)

 

I recently bought a keyboard, I broke my old one in a berserker rage when I pressed the "Sleep" key which was placed next to the "Escape" key, what kind of a moron would even think of placing a "Sleep" key on the keyboard?!
Never mind what the "Email", "Website" and "Shopping" keys are doing there.

I went back to the shop and asked for the most plain keyboard they had, they sold me one for 1 euro, best keyboard I have used so far.