Right-click to attack!

December 29, 2005 2:01 PM

What is the best 3-button mouse for OS X 10.3? I'm looking for a 2-button+scroll wheel mouse that's good for gaming. More buttons than that would be OK, but solid, responsive left-click, right-click, and scroll is imperative. I know, it's a very subjective question, but what do you use, and how well do you like it?
posted by bricoleur to Computers & Internet (18 answers total)

Mighty Mouse is freakin' awesome. You'll need OS X 10.4 to feel the full power of it, but you should be able to use it as a normal three-button mouse with yer Panther.
posted by mds35 at 2:09 PM on December 29, 2005

Also, I'd bet that someone somewhere has created a 3rd party shareware app that extends the full-flavored Mighty Mouse experience to non-Tiger OS X'ers like yourself.
posted by mds35 at 2:10 PM on December 29, 2005

Oops. Sorry. I missed the "gaming" part when I read your post. I don't game, so ignore my comments. Very sorry...
posted by mds35 at 2:12 PM on December 29, 2005

I have a Mighty Mouse, and although I love that is has that well-designed Apple look, I find that I often click the wrong button since my hand still thinks that the whole mouse is just one button... so I often misfire when trying to left-click as I'm used to resting my whole hand on the mouse.

Also, maybe I just have a dud, but the scroll-ball's performance is often wonky and needs some fiddling with when it seems to get stuck.

That being said, every time I find myself using a regular Mac mouse, I long for that little scroll ball (sideways scrolling is pretty cool). It's a love-hate relationship.
posted by Robot Johnny at 2:15 PM on December 29, 2005

Best answer: Kensington PilotMouse -- comfortable, doesn't feel cheap and flimsy, good tactile feedback, rubber grips on the sides so you can use a light touch, doesn't assume that you're right-handed, and comes with the world's best mouse configuration software, Kensington MouseWorks.
posted by jjg at 2:46 PM on December 29, 2005

Best answer: Seconding jjg - the Kensington Pilot Mouse is also light enough where the light touch really works well. Logitech's corded mouses all feel too heavy to me.
posted by nathan_teske at 3:00 PM on December 29, 2005

The mightymouse had had a weak reception at best, so I'd think twice before going that route.
posted by justgary at 3:05 PM on December 29, 2005

I've been using the Microsoft Intellimouse Optical for several years and I'm very happy with it. Also, it has 5 buttons, so in addition to "fire" and "alternate fire," you can have "reload," "last weapon," and "use," or whatever best suits your gaming needs.

It feels very responsive to me, although I don't really participate in online gaming much, so it's hard for me to know how it works under competitive circumstances, but it works great for solo gaming. (Also for word processing and other unimportant stuff like that.)

The one drawback is that it has a very long cable which can weigh it down a little; I find I end up resting the excess cable on my desk to stop it from tugging on the mouse.
posted by yankeefog at 3:20 PM on December 29, 2005

I use the MS Intellimouse for Call of Duty. It's very comfortable, and the scroll wheel is a click as well as a scroll. Depending on the game, I think you could assign different things for scroll up and down, so you could have effectively 7 different button functions.
posted by mzurer at 3:27 PM on December 29, 2005

best gaming mouse: logitech g5
the older mx518 is awesome too, but the laser makes a difference in everyday mousing comfort
the wireless versions of these 2 are equally good (and can be used for gaming too)
personally i also like the intellimouse explorer (good for gamers with bearclaws)
posted by suni at 3:47 PM on December 29, 2005

poop, i forgot to say that they all work on macosx
posted by suni at 3:48 PM on December 29, 2005

I don't have large hands, so most mice out there are pretty uncomfortable for me to use. The best I've come across so far is the Logitech Optical Mouse. Not only does it work very well, it's dirt cheap.

Using it, I've utterly dominated many a Wolfenstein game. And I've been pleased with its performance in just about all other games I play. Accuracy is great and button response is quite good. Feels nice in the hand.

By the way, all but the most incredibly esoteric and proprietary USB mice will work just fine under OSX. Don't worry too much about compatibility.

Also: The Apple mice are irrefutably sucktastic for gaming. And for all other purposes, in my opinion, but that's purely subjective. As someone who used to play Quake and Hexen II multiplayer with (the previous, non-ugly, non-hand cramping version of) a Kensington Orbit, perhaps my tastes run towards the odd.
posted by majick at 7:25 PM on December 29, 2005

Everyone makes fun of me, but I'm partial to trackballs myself, even for gaming. I swear by the Trackball Optical - I'm on my second, and I've used the model for 5 years.

I'm not fantastic at FPSs, but I don't feel like the trackball is a hinderance. I like being able to throw the ball in a direction to move quickly, not ever having to pick the mouse up. Plus, it's better for your hand if you're playing a lot of games.
posted by heresiarch at 7:37 PM on December 29, 2005

Oh, and about the mighty mouse, I'll echo the: "not for games" sentiment earlier. The scroll ball is awesome, but it's really poor at telling between right and left clicks. You have to make sure your left finger is OFF the mouse when you click on the right side. I could never remember, and it was maddening. It's not bad in usual OS X use, but for games with heavy right clicking, it's bad news. Also, you can't do left and right mouse events at the same time, which is important in some games.
posted by heresiarch at 7:39 PM on December 29, 2005

As far as I'm concerned, the Logitech MX510 is an amazing all-around mouse (great for gaming, too). Comfortable, responsive, colorful (shiny red or blue), and it beats the socks off the Intellimouse series. It's similar to the equally recommendable MX518 suni mentioned (the MX518 has a higher maximum resolution, and has buttons to dynamically switch the resolution, which depending on your gaming style you may find eminently useful or completely useless), and much cheaper than the G5 laser mouse.

I find the Mighty Mouse annoying, but your mileage may vary. As a gamer, it probably won't vary.
posted by musicinmybrain at 7:44 PM on December 29, 2005

i've been thinking about getting this radtech mouse, it has two buttons and a scroll wheel, but since I don't know anything about gaming, I don't know if it will meet your needs.
posted by echo0720 at 9:15 PM on December 29, 2005

Not a gamer but I love Logitech's MX500 mouse and it's wireless sibling. (I've forgotten the name and it's at another location.)
posted by Dick Paris at 6:17 AM on December 30, 2005

Kensington PocketMouse Pro works great for me. It has a retracting cord so it goes nicely into my laptop bag.
posted by neuron at 12:09 AM on January 2, 2006