Microsoft Optical Wheel Mouse

[kok328]

I installed a MS Optical Wheel Mouse today.

I'm failing to see what's better about this mouse versus the original one w/o optics.

As I understand, I no longer need a mouse pad (that was just for the roller ball). However, the new optical mouse has rubber pads on the bottom that makes dragging it across any surface much harder than the roller ball style.

What am I missing here?
How is this mouse better?
How do I reduce/eliminate the resistance of the rubber pads?
If your recommending that I remove the pads, then why are they there to begin with?

On another note, I upgraded to a 17" flat panel monitor and my font sizes are all messed up. I got Windows to increase fonts and icons OK but, the Internet explore and web pages are so small I have to struggle to see. Of course the monitor is now set back further due to it's size but, surely someone has a way to make the fonts & icons larger or I might just go back to a CRT.

[Scott]

Hey buddy, I guess you took time off answering questions to finally get to ask one yourself!

I have an optical mouse at work, and two of the old fashioned kind with the ball at home. All of these are the branded Microsoft Mouse. I just like the feel of them, with and without the ball.

The mice with the ball require a cleaning every once in a while, and in fact one of them just pretty much quit on me. This is after probably 4-5 years of use, so I probably got my money's worth.

The optical mouse at work, which is otherwise the same design, is about as old and is still kicking. Without the ball picking up dirt/dust/whatever from the mouse pad, it seems to have a longer lifespan, so I would say that's the #1 benefit.

As far as the pads underneath, they give the mouse something to slide on without scratching your desk. I don't use a mousepad with the optical mouse, I just slide it on my desk, and it works nicely. Don't use a mouse pad with the optical mouse, and don't press down on it, just lightly drag it around. I think you'll get used to it and like it better eventually. If not, you can always return it for the old-school model!


Regarding the font sizes on the flat panel, that's a long story. LCD panels are built for a set resolution. They can scale down to lower resolutions, but almost always the look is a bit blurry, as the display is scaling pixels out to meet the resolution of the LCD. In effect, the LCD ALWAYS displays at its predefined resolution, and scales the output from the video card to match it.

So, one solution would be to *decrease* the resolution output from your video card, and go back to normal size fonts and icons. It's your call if the look is too blury or not. Sometimes if the dimensions are the same (1024/768 and 800/600 have a 1.33 ratio, but 1280/1024 has a 1.25 ration) the bluriness is not very noticible.

If the monitor is built for 1280/1024, then going down to 1024/768 may not look that good, but try it.

One other thing to clear up -- when you changed sizes, did you change the font size, or the DPI? If you didn't change the DPI, try setting the fonts and icons back to normal, and set the DPI to 125% (go to Display Properties->Settings tab->Advanced, then set DPI to 125%).

Let us know how it goes!

- Scott