Most important features in a mouse

[Mercutio]

I'm... considering a bit of tinkering on the rodent front. Have a few ideas where I'd like to take things but rather curious what others thoughts might be on what makes a "good mouse".

Amazing sensor aside (I'd be prototyping it with a very "hacked together" setup with whatever shell fits best and the sensor it comes with but with a plan to eventually throw a top end sensor at it.

Thought on mine at the moment is adjusting the size in ones hand (with a view to better suiting claw or palm grip folks) and a... few other bits I'll keep a little closer to chest.
I'm planning to keep it as light as humanly possible as weight = inertia = inaccuracy (in my mind). Appreciate some prefer a heavier mouse (seems a bit odd) so I'm sure I can find space somewhere for it to be loaded down for those that prefer.

So... anyone who cares to reply, what's considered "vital" features on a mouse in your eyes? ("good", "useful" etc would be nice to hear. It's all very individual but... it might well spawn a useful idea/direction).

Mine:
Light
Lots of well placed buttons

 

[Mercutio]

Sensors are all much of a muchness, IMO, especially these days.
Some people are fussy over whereabouts in the mouse it is, but I've never found it made a difference. Same for the weight - A heavier mouse is my preferred, but dinky little micro-weights don't change much for me.

DPI is another thing - 16,000dpi is obviously good, because it's a bigger number than 8,000, innit, noooooob!!!
And yet, even on 1440p, I don't use anything higher that 3,500dpi. I claw the mouse and need less than 2" of movement to carry my pointer across the full width of my screen.


Obviously I use the mouse for all things, not just twitch-shooter gaming, so I look for more functional features...

Size - I have very large hands and prefer a wide mouse. CM Storm Inferno, Logi G700S, Steelseries WoW v1 sorts of things.

Buttons - Lots!! Three down the outside of each main button, four or six under the thumb, a coupe of dorsal ones, a couple for the 3rd finger... So many options and so rarely utilised.

Resistance - Too many mice are too lightweight on the main buttons. If I so much as rest a finger on them, they click under that weight, leading to all manner of accidents or finger strain from having to keep fingers hovering over the top. They should require a good amount of force to actuate, same as most HOTASes.

5-way scroll - forward, backward, tilt L&R and press. Should be mandatory nowadays. Scroll clutches are useful, too.

Profiles, on board memory, indicator lights. All useful.

Wired/wireless option an especial favourite on the G700. It just needed braided cable to complete everything.

Interchangable/adjustable points.... Usually a weak pont, unfortunately, especially with Madcatz mice. I wouldn't mind swappable panels, as too many mice have an thumb indent which I find quite painful at times.

RGB - Kinda have to, these days, I suppose.

I generally relate sensors with DPI? There's a difference?

Width, with what I have in mind, wouldn't be a problem. I've got a couple of ideas on the button front too (without resorting to "deep click" type non-sense) totally agree there's a load of good button ideas that just need pulling together. I'm a current G700s owner too and also have a lot of love for SOME of the design ideas in the wow mice (mostly the extra left/right). I may just steal those directly rather than re-inventing the wheel (was thinking perhaps fingertip/stretch left+right). I can never get on with the tilt switch on scroll-wheels but if I can engineer it in easy enough, it'll be present.
Got other plans on axis design

My basic approach is going to involve essentially "re-skinning" an existing mouse (desolder microswitches, wire them so I can move then around/etc, steal the button moulds from other mice and re-home them, that sort of thing. A little 3d printing if needed but the mk1 is going be a complete Frankenstein effort) so I may well pick on a gX03 as my start point. Considering dropping an arduino pro-micro in the casing somewhere to handle button input for-now, re-engineering the sensor control into arduino requires all sorts of v-usb knowledge I just don't have so that part, some other rodent will be doing the heavy lifting, with basically another USB controller grafted over the top . It'll be interesting for sure, I can see me running out of space real quick though.

I do have an old Razer/MS Habu I was looking at too (removable side panels ) but I think it's using rather too much space for the mounting mechanism to be useful.

Weight is going to be a problem I think. I _prefer_ to keep weight down and have some space to load it up with more, if wanted (suits everyone). I've been a wireless user for ages too (apart from the wow mice which managed to weigh heavy anyway) so I'm perhaps going to find light a bit weird too. Does seem to be where the FPS crowd are for better accuracy (less inertia to be corrected for).

 

[Mercutio]

I'll keep in mind the testing offer. It's all a long way off yet and I don't think the mk1 will really be worth much external testing. Just... putting out feelers for what folks want/look for/ideas. Fair point on the DPI/Sensor, I'll have to see what I end up "borrowing".

 

[Mercutio]

Which mice do we generally consider to have a "good" sensor + logic? If there's a model someone can suggest that's pretty cheap (the cheaper the better really - I'm just cannibalizing parts) that has a good sensor without smoothing/inertia/etc it'll help me know what to track down.