Again, what is the best (current) VW Mouse

[Cody Worthman]

I use a Mx master 2s and really like it. Between the extra customizable buttons/scroll wheels & the Touch Bar on my Mac book, I’m happy with the extra shortcuts available .

[zoomer]

On 10/18/2023 at 4:44 PM, zoomer said:

 

I already ordered one.

But it will take some time until it arrives as I also ordered some not

deliverable cables and adapters ......

(Last time when I ordered I chose only products marked as available

 and some switched to not available while waiting 3 weeks anyway)

 

 

Did a quick look over all Mac compatible mice in an online shop.

Logitech's overall looked most reasonable.

 

Then I was a but unsure about Mac or Mac/PC/Linux version.

Or if MX 2 would be enough too (?)

Not sure why the Mac version is more expensive, although it misses

the Logi Bolt USB Receiver (Would I need that for Linux ?)

and has a USB C to C cable vs USB A to C in PC version,

while my M1 Mini has only 2 (already occupied) USB C Slots.

 

But I chose the MX3 Mac Version.

And therefore the USB adapters and cables 🙂

 

 

Short update,

I never got my delivery because alternating any of my USB C adapters was not available.

From time to time I got new availability/delivery updates by email.

At one point in March or April I accidentally clicked on the "cancel order" button instead

of the link to my order .... there was no way back and my money was send back ....

 

So no MX and I forgot about Mice because my 3DCon CADMouse currently clicks reliable

again for now.

(Might have been a special humidity and temperature window that made clicks fail)

 

But I still would go with a MX after your feedback.

 

I was just again warned about Logitech's monster driver from many sides.

As I need to keep the other monster drivers,

(Wacom for my Cintiq and 3DCon for my Enterprise/Navigator)

I am not that amused to need a 3rd one from Logitech.

[Poot]

I don't have any additional drivers for my MX master @zoomer

 

It can pair with up to three different devices via Bluetooth, and there is no adapter or special drivers needed.  You can of course install the software to customize keys/buttons more easily, but it isn't drivers as far as I'm aware.

[zoomer]

Ah, yes.

 

But for me it is always important to be able to assign extra buttons App specific

for all 3D and CAD Apps. So I usually need the driver suite bloatware.

 

It is easy if for standard Apps like browsing, mail and such.

I could even use the magic mouse for this comfortably.

But as soon as drawing on screen, I would need bettertouchtool for extra cursor

speed without acceleration. And still never reached a satisfying MMB or "scroll

wheel" click.

(I really admire all Mac CAD and VW users staying with their magic mice)

 

[zoomer]

On 4/22/2024 at 10:01 PM, Poot said:

You can of course install the software to customize keys/buttons more easily,

 

Update,

as my CADMouse clicks get unreliable each humid summer above 60% humidity,

means there are missing clicks on ALL buttons and even worse - unwanted double

clicks (think of wanting to delete a single eMail or File WTH),
(Why at all does 3DConnexion spec a $100 Mouse with the cheapest click sensors,

under the same conditions all my other Mice, even the cheapest, work fine !)

I now therefore I currently use an old cheap Logitech M500 USB mouse 😮‍💨

 

I therefore installed the older Logitech Options Software

to be able to assign App specific keys to mouse buttons ....

(The Logi Options Plus only scanned for bluetooth and did not find my M500 USB)

 

I even installed the Logitech (without plusAI) Software to be able to assign buttons specific

according to Apps.

(The current "Logi Options Plus" only scanned for bluetooth and did not find my M500 USB)

 

The main problem was first its Scroll Wheel with its side scroll option !

That lead to important middle mouse button to being unreliable.

E.g. instead of CTRL+MMB in VW to temporary Fly Over it zoomed in accidentally most times.

Could solve this by resetting scroll left/right option for each of my 3D/CAD App Settings by

setting them all to MMB for now.

(Also did this for "Any App" Setting in case there come new 3D App's version in future)

 

But my biggest problem is still that I see no option in Logi Options (without AI Plus) Software

to being able to assign "Macros" !

Meaning that e.g. a "Fit View" in Bricscad (DWG style) needs a Macro : to print a _Zoom_E

 

I have not found a way to do so in Logitech Software.
(As opposed to my Macros Settings per App in 3DConnexion Drivers)

[Poot]

15 hours ago, zoomer said:

I have not found a way to do so in Logitech Software.
(As opposed to my Macros Settings per App in 3DConnexion Drivers)

 

 

The  new logitech app has the ability to program 'smart actions', which are basically macros.  I am not sure if this is available for the m500 mouse, though it is for the MX series mice.

[zoomer]

9 hours ago, Poot said:

The  new logitech app has the ability to program 'smart actions', which are basically macros.

 

This is very good to know !

 

Not sure the newest it is compatible with my cheap M500.

It was offered with for my M500 but I could not see my Mouse as it looked for bluetooth only.

So I uninstalled it immediately ....

But I am not sure as as each reboot, with the older Software as well, needs to re-plug the M500

anyway. Maybe that would have worked with the "plus" software too.

 

If the new Software allows Macros by adding keystroke combinations, I can finally buy a MX

Mouse. It was just that my M500 test showed that this mouse, with its side scroll option

did not reliable worked as a CAD App needed MMB, from the beginning.

Which I finally solved by deactivating side scrolling option.

But the M500 feels cheap and bad anyway .....

 

I had not had any CAD scroll wheel MMB problems with any Mice before,

I have tons of beloved Microsoft Intelli Mice which were great at that time for CAD - until

MS dropped Mac driver support many years/macOSs ago.

Edited September 17, 2024 by zoomer

[Poot]

Yeah, the m500 is pretty basic. I have had the original MX Master now for....6 years? And I got it second hand. still going strong, with pretty good battery and works well on most surfaces. 
 

Version3 has a much higher DPI sensor, and different thumb buttons which I think I would prefer, but not quite enough to make the switch yet. You can probably get the V2 at a reduced price.

[iHolmes]

Totally get what you mean! The Steel Series Rival's button layout is definitely great for bigger hands. It's a shame about the grip wearing off after a while, though. That sticky feeling can be a real hassle. I guess a good mousepad really does help with that, though!

[Jonathan Pickup]

6 month ago, I would have said the Logitech mouse, but it wore out the other day, the buttons became hard to activate after carrying it in my computer bag. I’ve lost a lot of mice that way… 

 

I have been playing with a 3D Connexion mouse on my windows machine, it has taken a while to get used to it, but I like the speed and programability of it. On my Mac, i’me using a Targus AMB582 bluetooth mouse. 

[jmcewen]

I am back to sing the praises of cheap gaming mice.

 

Still loving the Redragon M990 Legend Chroma. I have my most commonly used standard views programmed to the 16b thumb buttons, so remembering what the buttons do is not difficult like everyone assumes-- they are just arranged spatially. The top buttons i use for common functions like extrude, compose, decompose, etc.  If you program one of the top buttons as shift or control or alt, you can effectively have twice as many thumb buttons by using them in combination, too.  i am still optimizing my layout.

 

It is just $50 so if it dies it is not the end of the world.  

 

it is wired which will be a turn off for some, but it has a little sister with only 12 thumb buttons called the M913 Impact Elite that costs even less but is wireless. 

 

Both are pretty big, but if you are accustomed to a palm grip instead of claw or fingertip they are both very comfortable.

 

They are ugly gaming mice, but you can turn off the lights in both.  there are a lot of higher end versions of the second one from more expensive manufacturers if you are opposed to cheap gaming mice for your work, but these have served me very well for years.  if you want a higher end mouse of the same style, look to SteelSeries Aerox 9, Corsair Scimitar, or the Razer Naga line

 

With this in your right hand and a stream deck for you left, you may never need to touch a keyboard except when  you are typing notes.

 

 

 

[iHolmes]

Yeah, carrying a mouse around in a bag definitely wears them out faster—I’ve had a few go out that way too. The 3D Connexion mouse sounds interesting! I’ve heard they take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, they’re super precise and customizable. Glad it’s working well for you. How do you like the Targus on your Mac? I haven’t tried that one yet—does it pair reliably?

 

Best regards,

iPresyo

[Jonathan Pickup]

I quite like the Tiger mouse, it's small and fits my hand and when I leave the room it switches off. I have it connected to 2 different devices I can switch between them which is really handy. But I do a lot of travelling so I need a mouse that will actually stand up to the abuse of being in a bag. The Tigers mouse has got two programmable buttons, but I can't find a driver that will allow me to choose them on a Macintosh. I'm sure there's some drivers from my window machine if I want. 

 

The 3Dconnexion mouse comes with a little case to protect the mouse when you're travelling, it's a shame more mice don't come with a little protection case.

 

 

[Pat Stanford]

@Jonathan Pickup Have you looked at Steer Mouse?  It is a Mac mouse driver that allows for a lot of customization. I use it to set the button on my Logitech G602 and another wired Logitech. For me it works much better than the Logitech software.  It will also allow you to do multiple device customization at the same time.

[Jesse Cogswell]

@iHolmes The 3D Connexion mice come in a couple of different varieties.  There's the Space Mouse, which is what put the company on the map way back in the '90s and can make navigating 3D views much, much faster.  I bought a Space Mouse Compact back in 2016 but its spent most of its time in a box since then.  I think it would be great for things like Blender and other 3D applications, but I found it really annoying to use in VW.  When moving around in 3D space, it's super smooth and works great, but there's a slight delay every time you release it when the VGM redraws the screen.  It's much faster for me to just use the Ctrl+middle mouse button flyover shortcut anytime I need to navigate in 3D, so I gave up the Space Mouse.  That said, it works GREAT when using the Walkthrough Tool set in the "gaming" mode.  When I need to walk clients through a model, it's perfect for it.  But that happens very rarely for me.

 

The other mouse, of which I am a very large fan, is the CADMouse.  This is a more traditional mouse but with a dedicated button for the scroll wheel button, and I cannot recommend it enough for VW.  There are a couple of programmable buttons with some dedicated VW functions available.  My current configuration is almost entirely related to changing views.

• Scroll wheel click button does Fit to Objects
• Forward button launches a radial menu with front, top, bottom, left, right, left isometric, right isometric, and Top/Plan available, super easy to bop around different views
• Back button is mapped to the Ctrl key, so I can do the Ctrl+middle mouse button flyover thing entirely one handed.  Also convenient for click and drag + Ctrl duplication.

 

A couple quick caveats about the CADMouse:

• The drivers can be hit or miss, especially on Mac.  I am rocking an old driver because I know it works, but it also means that I have to make my own XML configuration files for each new version of VW.  I don't know the current state of the drivers at the moment, they might be great.
• On Mac, radial menus are restricted to only 4 items, on PC they can either be 4 or 8 items.  So my view radial menu wouldn't be possible on Mac.
• I would stay away from the compact models.  I have big hands, so the fullsize Pro model is perfect for me.  My partner has much smaller hands, so she bought the compact mouse but had the scroll wheel stop working after a couple of months of use.  3D Connexion has a decent warranty, so they sent her a new one free of charge, but the scroll wheel died again after only a couple of months.  They finally sent her a Pro and it's been working ever since.  I've had mine since 2019 (when I replaced my old Canon X Mark 1 calculator mouse) and have had no problems aside from the rubber grips on the side wearing out.

[E|FA]

I have an almost unused 3D Connection SpaceMouse & CadMouse set that I'd be happy to sell at 50% off retail for anyone interested.  DM me if you want additional info.  I know some people swear by them, but I could never get the hang of it.