🚀 go-pugleaf

>Well, I guess I'll jump into the optical vs. mechanical mouse debate.

Lots of good reasons why people shouldn't use optical mice. Let me
counterpoint, since I happen to *really* like optical mice.

I've used a number of mice over time -- the original Mac mouse, the ADB Mac
mouse, the A+ optical mouse and optical mice on the Sun.

My preference, very strongly, is the optical mouse. One reason is that
mechanical mice depend very strongly on the surface they're moved on. A
rough surface makes the mouse jumpy. A slick surface can keep the mouse from
working at all. Getting delicate placement and consistent movement out of a
mechanical mouse (when you're doing something like freehand drawing in a
draw program, for instance) can be problematic. Friction between the ball
and the surface and the ball and the internal parts means that the mouse is
going to jump about a lot in very small increments. This isn't a problem
when moving around on the desktop. It's a royal pain when all of those
movements show up in in your drawing and need to be pulled back out.

The optical mouse has the advantage of consistency. If you move the mouse
smoothly, the movement to the computer will be smooth. If you move it x
distance, the computer will register it as x -- not x minus some friction
coefficient that changes from surface to surface.

You find the need for a pad to be a problem. I don't. As long as I'm going to
need desk space for my mouse, the mouse-pad is a space that says *very*
clearly "keep clean" -- no matter how messy my desk gets, there's always a
clean spot for my mouse. I'm not one of these people who can simply put the
mouse down on whatever's convenient and hack away.

Having used both optical and mechanical mice on a Mac, I go with the optical
any chance I can. The consistency of movement and accuracy of placement
outweigh any disadvantages an optical mouse might have. For me, I hasten to
add. 

>And, only if it's aligned a
>certain way.  Sorry, I feel that a mouse should work no matter what I
>scroll it around on, and at what angle I hold it.

Interesting theory. Practically speaking, I never consciously have trouble
with being out of alignment on the grid. Experience using it might be part
of it, but the grid is actually fairly forgiving.

>Besides my Mac is
>(relatively) portable.  I DO travel with it.  I move it around my
>office in one piece.  I DO NOT want to have to move a stupid gridded
>pad around.  I do not even want to HAVE a mouse pad.

Because of above, whenever I move my Mac, I take a mouse pad -- it's small,
it's light, and it guarantees that if I put my mac down on a glass-top table
I don't have to turn the silly thing over and play trackball just to get
enough friction to move the cursor. Doing without a mouse pad is great,
until you run into a slick surface.

>This brings up the next point, reliability.  I got my first mac in
>September 1984, very early.  I just recently sold that first Mac
>(upgraded to a plus) in February, 1989, 4.5 years (about) after I 
>bought it.  It still had the original mouse.

I still have one of my two original Mac mice. Neither wore out, but the
second one got eaten by a cockatoo one evening. Both of my macs at home have
optical mice, and there is no mechanical wear so I expect them to outlive
the computers.

>It didn't wear out,
>nor did it get dirty, despite living in my various dorm rooms,
>apartments, etc.

I did have problems with my mechanical mice getting dirty and becoming hard
to move around (gunk on the rollers). Cleaning them every couple of months
takes 10 minutes and saves a lot of hassle. The optical mice never need
cleaning...

All this really proves, of course, is that you should work with both and use
the one you find you prefer. Both types of mice have advantages and
disadvantages, and it all depends on what is important to you.



Chuq Von Rospach      =|=     Editor,OtherRealms     =|=     Member SFWA/ASFA
         chuq@apple.com   =|=  CI$: 73317,635  =|=  AppleLink: CHUQ
      [This is myself speaking. No company can control my thoughts.]

Bookends. What a wonderful thought.