Well built gaming / office mouse

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This is a very long post that I’d previously written and looking for somewhere to post it.


I’ve been trying to find a decent wireless mouse with certain features for nearly a year now. There are several options, but I have no luck with the build or quality control.

I have really lost my trust in Logitech and feel similar about the direction many other brands have gone too really. It seems to me like they are intentionally building things cheaper than they used to so that they don’t last much beyond their warranty period – forcing you to buy their next model. Effective for the company but infuriating for the customers especially when you have had so many duff products. I however am noticing their build change on the exact same model of mouse.

I had a Logitech M705 that I bought in 2016 and it lasted a decent 4+ years. I loved the scroll wheel. The fact that you can tilt it side to side as well as having two different scrolling modes (freewheel or ratchet) was incredibly helpful. But when this mouse gave up, I bought another M705 and it felt like they had cut costs virtually everywhere on it. The scroll wheel was much harder to use. I gave up with this and bought an M720 which had similar problem with the scroll wheel as well as mushy and inconsistent side buttons. Actually requested a replacement of this which was no different, so after having two M720s, had to request a refund in the end. Put up with my M705 then in just a few months, the scroll wheel problem got steadily worse so I asked Logitech for a replacement. Got one and despite being brand new, the scroll wheel problem was even worse than the one I returned. It seems to have an issue when in the ratchet mode of springing back and forward one or two clicks when you release it making it a nightmare accuracy wise.

I tried another brand altogether which I now regret. A Hama MW-800. Bought this specifically because it had a scroll wheel with side clicks like my old Logitech model. I thought I would do without the freewheel as I guess it introduces too many issues. While this mouse is nice for having this feature, the laser on it is awful. You are unable to drag the cursor slowly in a straight line, no matter how smooth your surface is. It is just a jittery zigzag line unless you move your mouse pushing against something straight and even then isn’t perfect. Terrible for editing pictures and gaming.


5 purchases in less than a year due to faulty or poor mice is too much so I think I need to go for something rather different to what I have, but I do have several features that I need, but at least some are very easy to get, but I may as well mention them anyway.


Quite a few requirements:

It is hard to do without something that I’ve had for so long. The side clicks to the scroll wheel are pretty important for me.

The side back and forward buttons are also something I miss hugely every time I use a old or basic mouse without them, so they are essential, but also rare that I see many mice sold without them now.

Wireless mouse. I do quite a lot of gaming but not a wide range of different sorts. Also not serious enough to notice any delay. All I noticed was that moving the receiver close to the mouse on an extension cable or USB hub (just for mice and keyboards) does fine for what I need. Would much rather have wireless over wired for convenience. If a wired mouse greatly increases my options, I may have to consider one though.

No lights that stay illuminated on top of the mouse. Or at least have an option to disable them. I get frustrated by the amount of gaming mice that are cluttered with LEDs. You put your hand on it and look at your monitor – why does it need them? I usually am using a glossy monitor and the reflections when in a dark room would really irritate me when watching something and not using the mouse.

Very similar size to the M705. I have a very comfortable palm grip on this mouse and I do have rather small hands. I don’t like to have to do the claw style grip long term for desk top use, so a mouse of this size and a similar shape (right hand oriented) is important for me.

Linux compatible. Mice and keyboards should already be fully functional with Linux, but I would rather not have a mouse that is complex enough to need the windows oriented software to make it fully useable. I only want a limited amount of extra buttons, which I have mentioned.


Preferable, but not essential:

Having an option (not software related) to adjust the speed/tension of the scroll wheel would be nice, but I think I can accept just a wheel with tension rather than a freewheel. Maybe the freewheel thing I’m on about is just a Logitech exclusive?

I’m not fussed on having any DPI options. I prefer it to be at 1000dpi and fixed. Can change all I need on my PC. If mice have an option to change it, I prefer it to be a button that is not extremely accessible so it isn’t accidentality pressed - such as underneath. Sensitivity changes by the press of a button would likely be hard for me to get used to because I would have to remember to always avoid that button – or I will wonder why the mouse seems to travel quick or slow at times.



I think to myself that I shouldn't need a gaming mouse even to play games as often as I do, as older mice that were built well seem to last more than a decade no problem even if they were really cheap and treated without much care. I still have a Logitech mouse that is around 12 years old that has a decent scroll wheel – but none of the extra features I now require.

I also shouldn’t have to spend so much to get a mouse that isn’t even fully oriented around gaming. I just want a solid all rounder that is reasonable at everything, but doesn’t exactly need to stand out. Just seems to be so hard to get a mouse where the manufacturer hasn’t cut costs heavily in some area with an obvious negative effect.

Would probably say up to around £75 will be the maximum I would accept for a more premium mouse, but would much rather go well under that. As an example, the HP mouse I mentioned earlier was £12 and that had less issues with quality control issues than my M705 which was triple the cost. I think price has little to do with what I am after if I’m honest.


Would much appreciate some advice!

Thanks.

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Having done a bit more research, I am finding that there is a severely limited range of gaming mice without RGB lighting included. I still can't express how much i get frustrated that most are included with these - and often don't have a simple non software related way to turn them off. They often imply that the battery life is improved quite considerably by having the lights off which really makes me think is is yet more pointless to have them. Surely nearly around 90% of the time you are at your desk, you will be using your mouse making the light entirely pointless. Then, how much of the time will you actually spend looking at the light thinking it is worth having? Guess I must be in the minority with this.

Something else I've noticed is that most gamers seem to like mice to be lightweight. Like I said, I don't consider myself to be a serious gamer, but I certainly am not keen on lightweight mice. My M705 is nearly 140g and I never consider it too heavy. Feeling some of my other mice makes me think I certainly wouldn't want one much less than 100g.

I've probably spent over 30 hours in total trying to find a suitable mouse and it is getting very frustrating. My M705 is such a perfect shape for my hand that I would get it again if I had confidence that the scroll wheel would be reasonable, but their ratchet/freewheel technology seems very temperamental.

To widen my options, I thought I could maybe do without the tilting scroll wheel. I've looked at the Logitech G305 and Corsair Katar pro wireless and both do look reasonable other than the fact the shape doesn't look as comfortable as what I would like as they are not intended specifically for right handed users
3. But they are some of the very limited number of gaming mice i can find without these stupid lights.


There seems to be a very wide range of suspiciously cheap gaming mice on amazon full of features that look ideal (other than the lights) but I can only imagine the build quality/laser or something else will be the reasoning behind the price so I think I would avoid these.

I'm just so stuck. I know what I'm after - something like my M705 with a proper scroll wheel. But I just can't get a reliable one or anything else that is close enough to the design.
 
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