I've been a Mac user for a decade, but I've always hated Apple's default one-button mouse, and I've never gotten comfortable with trackpad gestures. I grew up using a three-button mouse on the family Amiga. Years later, I loved scroll wheels, trackballs, and mice with thumb buttons, but I wanted more.
Not long after the first Deathadder launched, there was discussion amongst Counter-Strike circles about what was the best mouse to buy. The Intellimouse Optical or Logitech's MX500 were the two favourites. But Microsoft had canned production of the former, and the shape of Logitech's offerings (with the concave indent for your thumb) was very particular, and not at all conducive for certain mouse grips. So if you were in the market for a new mouse, or your Intellimouse had just died, what was a gamer to do?
The go-to mouse became the Deathadder: it had the same shape as the fat Intellimouse Optical mice, the optical sensor was just as reliable at the end of a tournament as it was at home, and it felt good in the hand. Razer's since refreshed the Deathadder line with the Deathadder Elite, and it's just as good as the original Deathadder was over a decade ago.
Dear Lifehacker, What is the best way to clean my mouse pad with the least amount of downtime? It's one the expensive side ($20+) so I don't want to ruin it or replace it.
Logitech and Razer both have some pretty awesome gaming peripherals. Whether you're playing games or getting real work done, they're both great options. The software they use have some small, but important differences. Here's how they stack up against each other.
Don't like the standard shapes of the common mice on the market today? You could always carve your own.
The repetitive clicking sound of a mouse can become pretty irritating. If you want to silence your mouse for your own peace -- and the peace of others around you -- a little memory foam can do the trick with no soldering required.
Windows: With a touchscreen computer or tablet, you can use gestures to interact with apps. Just Gestures lets you perform customisable gestures with your mouse in Windows.
Many computer games ask a lot of your mouse finger. There's only so much rapid-fire clicking you can do on your own. If you find yourself with an aching finger, this DIY rapid-fire mouse button hack might be just the thing.
Using a mouse for work all day doesn't have to be a recipe for carpal tunnel syndrome. If pain comes with the territory, you're probably using your mouse incorrectly.
Chrome: CrxMouse for Chrome brings mouse gestures for common commands to Google Chrome. Just click and hold the right-mouse button and draw your gesture to navigate between pages, open tabs, reopen closed tabs or refresh.
Windows: We love Autohotkey for its ability to automate keyboard tasks. Mouse movements are another thing though. Thankfully, MouseController is up to the task.
Mac: You can set up gestures on your MacBook to make navigating with the trackpad (or Magic Mouse) a breeze, but the default selection has its limitations. Jitouch is a utility that adds a bunch of useful gestures for browsing the web and using different software.
Mac: One of the minor annoyances for some people on a MacBook is that you can't customise the mouse acceleration settings by device. Acceleration is great for trackpads, but often it's awkward with a mouse. Smooth Cursor is an app that allows you to change the acceleration by device.
Chrome: Prefer using a mouse instead of hot keys to navigate Chrome? Gmail Mouse Gestures is a simple but useful handy extension that adds three simple gestures so you can navigate your email with just your mouse.
iOS (jailbroken): Tablets can actually be excellent productivity tools, but even with the iPad's great touch interface, sometimes you just need a mouse. BTC Mouse & Trackpad lets you use any Bluetooth mouse on your iPhone or iPad.
If your computer is low on open USB ports then you know the pain of disconnecting everything to free up space. Instructables user liquidhandwash shows off a way to add a USB port to your mouse for easy access.
The scroll wheel is often one of the first parts to wear out on a computer mouse. If you're keen to give an ageing mouse a new lease of life, you can replace the original rubber wheel with titanium (or another long-lasting metal).
Windows/Mac: If you have more than one computer at your workspace, ShareMouse will let you control them all with a single keyboard and mouse, as well as copy and paste text between them and drag files back and forth.
