"Chris Martin" said in
t:
Long explanation, TIA.

I have the Microsoft Wireless Optical Desktop (Wireless Optical Mouse
and Microsoft Wireless Multimedia Keyboard). The issue that I am
having is: Doing stuff fine on the computer, la di da, I don't use
the mouse for a little while, then go to move it.. and it does not
respond. Interesting. So I click. It then works fine.. until i
don't move it again. So I flip the sucker upside down and try and
get a little more technical about it. I set a timer and wait. After
60 seconds of inactivity, the laser dims, then starts flickering. At
this point the cursur will not move until I click. Ok, some sort of
battery saving standby, I assume, but it should be taken out of
standby from movement as well as from a click. (I've installed the
latest intellipoint and intellitype software from windows).
Microsofts knowledgebase has an article that kind of describes this
issue... but it's solution is wiping my mouse from registry and
reinstalling. Honestly I hate messing with my registry when I don't
have to, especially when I don't know if that is the actual issue.
Any other ideas? Thanks again for reading.

~Chris Martin

My Logitech cordless went dead (after I tossed it across the room in a fit
during gaming). So I trialed several other cordless mice to see if any were
better. I tried the IBM cordless. Didn't like it because it goes into
sleep mode mode too quickly. The Logitech doesn't go to sleep until about a
minute after no movement, and it comes out of sleep much quicker because it
polls (blinks) much more often while sleeping (i.e., it peeks its eyelid
open more often to see if it is being moved). There is no inertial sensors
in the mice to detect when to wake up out of low-power mode to prolong
battery life. How often then peek to check for movement dictates how
quickly they will come out of sleep mode. IBM was slowest. Microsoft's was
faster. Logitech's was fastest. However, the more it peeks the more juice
it uses from the battery so battery life for the Logitech is shorter.
That's why I bought 2 sets of rechargeable NimH batteries so one is always
ready when the inuse set gets too low on juice.

I also found the IBM and Microsoft more jerky in movement than the Logitech,
especially in games. I tried editing the mouse properties to speed up the
sample or poll rate but that didn't help much. In fact, with the IBM (and
to a lesser degree the Microsoft) cordless mouse, the cursor would actually
stall or even move in the opposite direction with extreme fast whips of the
mouse across the desk. Although you can up the sample rate for the mouse
driver, I don't think this affects the hardware poll rate between the mouse
and the receiver unit.

When I had to replace my cordless mouse, the reason I looked at the IBM and
Microsoft was that they are lighter in weight than the Logitech. My pinkie
gets tired squeezing the mouse to push it around or when lifting it. I've
tried several trackballs (I like them better than mice). I somewhat like
the Kensington Expert Mouse because of its large ball that rolls freely on
steel rollers with ball bearings (the ball can be replaced with a snooker
ball if the kids take the original) but I never quite liked the buttons at
the side of the ball instead of slightly ahead where my fingers would be,
and I didn't like the reverse tilt that cocked my wrist upward. But it was
the most durable and smooth trackball I've ever had. Their other trackballs
suck: too much resistance, the ball won't keep spinning when you flick it,
and they don't feel right. I eventually went to a mouse only because I
could get cordless mice; otherwise, I'd still be using a trackball (although
the Expert Mouse is pricey). With the trackball, I wasn't moving it all
over the desk and so my pinkie wouldn't tire like when squeezing a mouse to
move it around or lift it. The IBM was lighter so I tried it first. Too
jerky in games, stalled or reversed direction when snapping the mouse
quickly but only occurred in one direction (don't recall which), and kept
going to sleep way too soon and took too long to wake up. Microsoft was a
bit heavier but still lighter than the Logitech, so I tried it next but it
went to sleep too soon and took too long to wake up (shorter than the IBM
but longer than Logitech) and would sometimes stall or jerk when rapidly
slid across the desk. So I ended up going back to the Logitech which was
the heaviest of the three.

So while the Logitech doesn't last as long before the batteries get too low
for reliable performance or when it goes completely dead, I still find it a
better mouse than IBM's cordless mouse and Microsoft's blue cordless mouse.
Batteries don't last as long in the Logitech and it is heavier than the
others but it does move smooth, doesn't go to sleep as soon, comes out of
sleep quicker, and the battery cover is much easier to remove and replace
than the others (especially important since the batteries have to be
replaced after 15 to 22 days).

Although these use RF instead of infrared to communicate between mouse and
receiver unit, you still should not have anything between them that will
shield the signal, like the monitor or system case. Also, after replacing
the batteries, be sure to hit the reset button on the bottom of the mouse
and the reset button on the receiver to make sure they are in sync.
Otherwise, when not synched, I've seen jerky movement of the mouse cursor or
none at all.


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