:-D

I've been using an Icemat 2nd Edition for several years now - truth be told I don't find it that awesome - it can get uncomfortably cold, you need to clean it regularly (ironic, considering it used to be mice you needed to clean before) and obviously you run the danger of shattering it... Actually I got it as a present and if it weren't for this fact I don't think I would care too much about "gaming surfaces" - to me it's all just marketing hype.

My mouse is a trusty IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0, now in its second incarnation - boy, am I glad that MS re-introduced this mouse series. All those new "gaming mice" are full of marketing bullshit or unnecessary features and don't really fit my hand.

I had a Razer Diamondback once and dudes, I tell you, it was the worst mouse I ever saw - I trust that Razer has made better mice since then but I swore to never ever touch a Razer product from then on.

Let me elaborate: the mouse had 7 buttons with mouse4 and 6 on the left side (thumb) and mouse5 and 7 on the other - for some reason the "awesome" Razer drivers didn't allow to rebind these keys which made e.g. using mouse4 and mouse5 as back and forward buttons in the browser an epic fail venture - also, many games didn't recognize mouse6 and 7 back in the day. I wrote to Razer support about it but they told me it was a "hardware design feature" and couldn't be changed. Funnily enough I installed the MS IntelliMouse drivers and my Razer Diamondback got recognized as an IntelliMouse Explorer WITH ALL THE KEYS WORKING PROPERLY and, that's the best part, mouse4 and mouse5 both on the left side - ha, ha, ha.

Next part - after around a month the rubber padding around the mouse started to wear off and became rough so it was quite unpleasant to hold the mouse...

Even more unpleasant was the fact that after several weeks my LMB started locking up, making the mouse pretty much unusable.

The "pièce de résistance" was the fact that I wanted to put some varnish over the Razer logo so that it doesn't rub off that quickly - I like my logos to be crisp and clear. ^^
However, it turned out that the Razer logo was actually DISSOLVED by my varnish - and mind you, it was a high-quality modeling varnish...

What a piece of garbage... Luckily I got it very cheaply from a friend who was playing in a clan sponsored by Razer...

Anyways - in my opinion you can buy pretty much any mouse that fits your hand well and anything that to you provides a smooth enough surface. Even cheap mice can be fine since you can replace them easily and they usually provide a similar performance to much more expensive mice that get sold on marketing hype - e.g. multiple sensors and impossibly high sensor resolutions, which don't do crap but look good in advertisements, because more sensors and higher dpi = automatically more precision, right? Wrong! -.-
It's all very similar to other pastimes that spawned a distinct culture around them - paintball, skiing/snowboarding, you name it. The amount of marketing bullshit surrounding many products is absolutely staggering - and they charge you for every conceivable made-up feature. :-\

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War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell

Diamondback has 2 Buttons each side because it is designed for right- and lefthanders (lefthanders - right mousebuttons, righthanders - left mousebuttons).

But true, more sensors and more dpi and higher price doesnt mean better mouse. You wont ever need more than 1800dpi as you can adjust ingame and windows sens as well.

BUT, a good gaming mouse doesnt skip when moving fast and has no negative acceleration (I have a cordless lasermouse lying around somewhere, god its so crap, its like you move it upwards and the cursor moves somewhere on the right side )

Also see here.
And:

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All roads may lead to Rome, but all Wikipedia pages eventually get you to the Third Reich. - m3n

I realize that - that's not the problem.

The problem is that you have mouse4 and 6 on the left side and mouse5 and 7 on the right side, instead of mouse4 and 5 on one and 6 and 7 on the other making the layout equally horrible for both left- and right-handers if you use the default shortcuts in many programs - and the drivers didn't let you change that like I wrote above - unless you used MS IntelliMouse software not designed for this mouse. ;-)

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War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell

+666, i had 2 of them broken but third one is rock solid since 2006 and its the best mouse ever k thk bye ;]

yeh...usin the same~

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...:::~*We Can't Be Adults! We're Steadily Growing!!*~:::...

Ah - I don't know exactly what these benchmarks are trying to prove since they are pretty meaningless. E.g. I'm unable to exceed the "malfunction speed" on my mouse with the quickest moves (even with a 125Hz USB port polling speed!) I'm able to pull off on my mouse mat and usually I'm far away from even approaching these since I set my sensitivity in any game so that reaching the edge of my pad from a centered position completes a 180 degree turn (usually with a certain margin too). So - does it matter to me that I could move a Deathadder at light speed without it failing? Not at all...
I'm not entirely sure about the benchmarking methods either - e.g. the perfect control description is very vague and IMHO has to do as much with ergonomics and the fact if you can move your mouse in a straight line as it has with actual hardware performance. Again, I wasn't able to exceed the speed at which my mouse would become imprecise... Usually drivers also let you adjust the horizontal and vertical directions depending on what angle you're holding the mouse at.
Some virtual performance benchmarks don't take into account real-life usage of mice and the fact that ergonomics are usually far, far more important than any other things. E.g. I know that Logitech produces excellent mice but their top models are profiled in a way that just doesn't feel right in my hands and that would actually reduce my gaming performance and precision.

I deem the chart pretty much irrelevant because mice are not as easily benchmarked as stuff that actually yields measurable performance - e.g. computer internals. However, even for internal components many benchmarks are not very relevant since they can post scores like 220 FPS vs 200 FPS for graphics cards which again are pretty meaningless as any normal person will have their FPS locked at 60 or 75 depending on their monitor's refresh rate...

Again, I might cite examples from the paintball scene... i.e. my Angel One marker is able to cycle at speeds exceeding 30 times a second BUT this is completely irrelevant since even the best commonly used loaders have a hard time reaching 20 balls/sec loading speed, not to mention the fact that the rate of fire at tournaments is usually capped at 15 balls/sec. Does it stop anybody from including this piece of data in advertisement brochures and holding discussions or making benchmarks at internet forums? Hardly so... The marker even has a special "demo mode" for dry-firing at the highest cycle rate to show off and attract potential customers...

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War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell

As long as my MX518 is somewhere near the top, I dont care what these benchmarks try to say

But i think its described somewhere on the page how they tested the different speeds.

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All roads may lead to Rome, but all Wikipedia pages eventually get you to the Third Reich. - m3n

There's a website where you can design your own mousemat using circular or whatever shape mousemat you want. Upload a picture, edit it with the tool on the site and purchase it for only $2.99 SHIPPING INCLUDED - WORLDWIDE.

Here's mine:



To summarise: Choose a mousepad shape and size, upload any picture you want, fill in the discount code, fill in your personal stuff and BAM.

Here's the description for one of the mousepads: This 9" x 7" rectangular mousepad is made of a durable heat-resistant polyester fabric top, will keep your mouse rolling in style. Backed with a neoprene rubber non-slip backing, keeps the mousepad from sliding. The mousepad is 1/8" thick. It will not discolor or fade, machine washable. (Underlined important bits relevant to the OP)
Damn, we have the same mouse! Internet high-five!

Yeah, and as long as I had all the problems I described with the Razer Diamondback I don't care where on this list it ended up either. ^^

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War does not determine who is right - only who is left. - Bertrand Russell

Everglide titan Monstermat+ G5

My mousemat arrived!

haha cute.

Does it stick? I bought a cheap mousemat just for kicks, slides all over my shiney desk *bins*

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

It feels really smooth. I find myself running my fingers over it just to feel it.

i mean stick to the desk and not slide everywhere lol.

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

It stays on the desk fine.

*totally missed the blatently underlined bits in your post*

¬¬

sorry

Might have to get one

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

^Awesome

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a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a bird in a pig

Looking really good!

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Ze Ãœbermensch

My identical mouse twin!

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Computer is fixed. That is all.

Haha... great one McMoist.

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SaintK: I'm completely lost