Why does no-one make a mouse that I want?

As far as mouse types go you tend to find 2 different styles (lets ignore wired mice for now which are the spawn of the devil).

There are notebook mice. These tend to be small, making them uncomfortable for me to use. The big benefit with notebook mice though is that they can come with ultra-small USB dongles, or even better, bluetooth connectivity.

Then there are desktop mice. These are larger, ergonomically designed, with more buttons and all around nicer to use. However the USB dongles you get for them are generally a minimum of an inch long.

My problem is that I use a laptop all the time, I travel with it frequently and I like keeping the same mouse with me that is setup the way I like it. But the notebook mice are too small to use and the dongles with the desktop mice stick out too far which makes them very inconvenient.

What I really want is a desktop sized comfortable mouse that connects over bluetooth (I’d accept a sub-1cm USB dongle but really that just loses me a port). I’ve never found one, do they exist?

21 thoughts on “Why does no-one make a mouse that I want?”

  1. Err – logitech?
    logitech.com
    look at their mice.

    They have quite a few with very small USB recievers and desktop mice.
    Bluetooth is unfortunately less common.

    1. That’s interesting, it looks like after years of being fed up with this Logitech might have release one or two mice that fit the bill, they just don’t appear to be in shops yet. Unfortunately I believe Logitech have made a critical mistake with their frictionless scroll wheels. They are very nice to scroll with to be sure, but you cannot stop scrolling a tiny amount when you middle click with them. This has in my experience made their newer mice nearly unusable.

      1. I use a Logitech V550. It is larger than most notebook mice, has a tiny USB adapter and even has a stick on hook that allows you clip the mouse to the computer. Cheap and sips the battery.

        Oh and the frictionless scrolling can be turned off with a click of the wheel (toggles between frictionless and friction scrolling).

        1. That sounds interesting, the frictionless scrolling can’t be turned off on the MX620, just between totally frictionless and geared, which is still as bad unfortunately.

    1. I have one, but I can’t use it. I find the mighty mouse’s acceleration model to be extremely frustrating.

  2. I’ve got a MS Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 which is both Bluetooth and a decent size, but they seem to be rarer than rocking horse poo now (as I discovered when I lost mine a few months back :().

    There was someone selling them on Amazon though…

    1. Hi have one of these too, which I bought after the sort of long search that Mossop has done. On the whole I like it, but there are some issues when using it with the builtin Bluetooth on a MacBook Pro (two year old model), where it will lose connection and take about 30 seconds to renegotiate the link. I’ve not tried the USB dongle because it’s pretty chunky (about 30mm long).

    1. I don’t deny it. Sadly I spend some 12 hours or so a day using a mouse, having one that meets my needs is pretty important to me.

  3. Get a Logitech bluetooth mouse that uses standard NiMH AA rechargeable batteries.
    Ignore the USB docking cradle with custom crap Bluetooth stack
    Ignore the CD with custom bloating unnecessary software

    Examine the manual for the device pairing code (or Google it).
    Install fresh charged batteries and turn the mouse on.
    Use the built in Bluetooth stack on your computer to look for a new HID to pair.
    Hit the connect button on the mouse.
    Enter the pairing code.
    Enjoy.

    All the comfort of a full sized mouse with none of the annoying hassle. You can keep the docking cradle around if you want to use it to recharge the mouse, but when traveling, I would usually just carry a couple of extra pairs of NiMH batteries or a small charger.

      1. The Logitech V270: bluetooth, desktop size (for me), two AA (rechargable last about 6 weeks on a charge, and I hardly turn it off). Has worked without a hitch for three years now on Windows, Mac and Linux. Comes in dark blue and grey as far as I know

        Still, I also have no appreciation for the lack of choices, but this is a good option.

        http://cgi.ebay.com/Logitech-V270-Wireless-Bluetooth-Optical-Notebook-Mouse_W0QQitemZ380149081551QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCA_Mice_Trackballs?hash=item5882a6a5cf&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

        http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Cordless-Optical-Bluetooth-Charcoal/dp/B000BDH2Y8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1250736155&sr=8-2

  4. I own a desktop sized Kensington bluetooth mouse. It is at my summer cottage, so I can’t check the model number and see if it is still available till the weekend. I’ll let you know what i find though.

  5. I use a Logitech MX Revolution (wireless with inch-long dongle). The mouse itself is fairly decent (minus the battery that periodically refuses to charge until it’s fully depleted). The software and drivers you need for the fancy features, however, are absolute crap. The top scroll wheel stops working randomly until you kill and restart their process, back/forward send weird commands that leave random bytes of junk in any focused text fields and it randomly forgets button customizations – just to name a few.
    It’s pissed me off enough that I don’t think I’ll ever buy or recommend another Logitech product to anyone. I had good luck with a simple wireless desktop 2-button + scroll mouse from Microsoft that lasted for couple years – can’t remember the model unfortunately…

  6. I see the issue. The mouse I have, which at the time was the only one of it’s type that I could find is a Kensington PilotMouse Bluetooth Wireless model #72225. It seems to no longer be in production. Guess we are in the minority in looking for a product like this.

  7. Googleing around, I found the RadTech BT600. Unfortunately, it costs twice as much as the Kensington one did, but it is rechargeable, which the Kensington one was not.

  8. Oh looking back through the thread I see that Rob Campbell already found and ordered the BT600. I guess we will wait for a review because the batteries leaked in the Kensington I have, and it has been flaky ever sense and I have been looking for a replacement.

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