to go cordless or not

Mona, I have a cordless optical mouse from Microsoft and I love it! Could never go back to the cord… Response time is plenty quick and batteries (2 AA’s) last a couple months (I should try rechargeables for the cost savings and environmental effects). One of the best accessories I’ve bought for my desktop!

Chuck

I second Chuck (Microsoft Web Explorer Optical Wireless), only my mouse is probably older and consumes batteries at the rate of 2 per two-three weeks. But, since I had NiMh batteries left from my previous digital camera, I’ve recycled them and, this way, I save a great deal on batteries 🙂

Ray

I didn’t buy cordless because i was afraid my kids would find it and hide it but i did buy Logitech optical and it’s soooo much better than having that stinkin ball to roll around ! My artwork has also improved since the transition.

I’m with Jodi. I love the optical, but I figured it was safer for my mouse to stay attached to the computer! I spend enough time looking for the cordless phone. 🙂

Beth, do you have yound children at home? A cordless mouse isn’t like a cordless phone… You just don’t run around the house using it everywhere. It’s not like you can cook in the kitchen and use the mouse at the same time 😉

There are, in my opinion, far less risks of loosing it.

Ray

Ray, come to my house and meet my kids, you’ll know then why i chose the cord 😉

Jodi, I know about kids. My friends have a certain quatities of them (5 in the same familly!), and so does my brother (4). So, I understand when there are children that things need to be "attached"
to their original location otherwise, they have a charming tendency to simply vanish !

For adults, money has the same magical attribute 🙂

Ray

Oh, yeh? Who says I can’t cook and use the mouse at the same time?! That’s the wonderful thing about laptops with wireless!

And at least with the phone, you can buzz it and usually it’ll locate itself. Not so with a mobile mouse, but without it wandering, cordless is great<g>.

Bob

Mona,

I have a Logitech cordless optical mouse and it is fantastic. Children are grown and gone from this home so it just stays put next to my keyboard. Even when I used it with my old computer running Windows 98, it was precise and sensitive with no lag time. The batteries last about 2 months. As I purchase them at Costco, I consider the cost to be negligable. It is wonderful to not be tethered!

Nancy

Beth… I never tought of that. I guess my kitchen is too small to even hold the TV’s remote control, not to mention the laptop (mouseless laptop!) The only other place I use a mouse is in the living room with my laptop. But then, I use a dedicated smaller mouse.

The basic line is, there’s a mouse for every individual needs !

Totally out of curiosity, does Apple computers have cordless mouses as well? Or do you go and buy a 3 buttons mouse (regular) ?

Apple has both wireless meese and keyboards available, but they only work with the computers that have Bluetooth. I know there are third party wireless mice, but I don’t know for sure about keyboards. Whether or not the wireless mouse and keyboard ships with a new computer probably depends on the model.

I can’t use a mouse with buttons or scroll wheels, so I just stick with the Apple Pro. A whole lot of people don’t like it, but it’s the best I’ve found so far for my condition, and I’ve even been having trouble using it lately. 🙁 Fortunately, that comes and goes depending on the quality of the drugs!

I chose cordless because of my 4 year old daughter. I was afraid she’d want to swing from the cord 🙂

I’m sorry to hear about your condition Beth. Has the tablet helped, even a little ? I know it did for me. This, and using every possible shortcuts.

I do, at times, have a problem with the wheel on the mouse. That’s when I know I have to become a left handed person for a few hours. I’m ambidextrous, so it’s less of a problem when this happens. But using the tablet has really helped me to work without having to depend on my left hand too much. The only thing is, the left hand is weaker (not as resistent) because it’s not used as much as the right one.

use a logitech cordless optical mouse. it has no batteries, it has a base station which recharges it when not in use.

Mona,

I have the corded Logitec optical mouse and find it really smooth and easy to control. Whatever you decide, get an optical one.

Mona,

I have the corded Logitec optical mouse and find it really smooth and easy to control. Some people like the trackball and they can fly with it. For me, every time I use my wife’s computer her trackball drives me up the wall. Five minutes with it, my vision would begin to dim and my head hurts like its squeezed by a lemon press. 🙂

Whatever you decide, get an optical one.

Shan

Apple has both wireless meese and keyboards available,

The question of whether mice, mouses, meece reminds me of the story of the guy who wrote away to order two mongoose(s). Since he couldn’t figure out the correct plural of the work mongoose he simply wrote:

Dear Sirs:

Please send me one mongoose. Oh, and while your at it, send me another one as well.

🙂
Dick

Dick, that’s a good one! Thanks!

p.s. Just HAD to look it up: plural is either mongooses or mongeese. But I think I’ll adopt your approach…

Dick,

You have no idea how many times I have to rewrite a phrase completely because I’m missing one single
word… 😉

LOL !

Ray

A little off topic here but I’m needing some of your thoughts on how you clean the inside of your computer towers. About every 8 months I take the side off and use the vaccum hose to collect the dust etc… I never put the tip of the hose directly on anything with fear that a part will get sucked up. I pretty much keep the end of the nozzel about a half inch away and hope for the best. Do they sell something specifically for cleaning fans etc… ??? Have any good tips for me ? I just finished doing it and had my fingers crossed when i turned it back on….so many little parts in there to worry about !!!!

Jodi, you can buy compressed air in a can to blow away the dust. That’s what I use. This air duster contains 100% tetraflouroethane, is non-flammable and non-ozone depleting, and comes in a 10 oz. can.

Beth, thanks for your tip but wondering though…doesn’t that just push the dust around ?? I’m not so sure how this would work for me.

Oh, I just thought of something Jodi! From now on, quit worrying about dust and start thinking "cat hair!" 🙂 How are the babies, anyway? I don’t remember seeing a link yet to their baby pictures.

Beth, you are right. I am behind on this portion of my life ( taking pictures that count ). They really aren’t babies anymore though. When i adopted them the paperwork said 8 months old Soooo, no kitten pics. Although, i did include a pic of them ( tiny one ) in Grant’s Photo Challenge ~ self portrait assignment. Hey, where’s yours ????

I have just read this section and have to say that I haven’t laughed so much in ages. All sorts of pictures have flashed through my mind … the thought of a wireless mouse loose about the house is just so funny. Maybe the next challenge should be just that.

Thanks everyone for making life fun 🙂

Jodi, the compressed air blows it right out of your computer! I use it on the keyboard too.

Jodi, re ‘pushing the dust around’….isn’t that what dusting is all about?? Or have I missed part of my training….?
😉

Beth, Thanks

Chuck, your walkin’ on thin ice. 🙂

Chuck, na, the ice is thawed, your walking on water 🙂

Back to the problem of moving the dust to another place. Has anyone tried compressed air from a can to remove the dust from the sensor of a digital SLR? I know manufacturers recommend to use "sensor swabs", but they and the fluid are extremely expensive.

Leen

I turned the Mac off and manually picked the dog fur out of the fan, once I had located the buzzing noise. Somehow a tuft had gotten in, I didn’t want to use the air hoze, nor the vacuum. So I just pulled it out.
The cat’s fur is next,,,,, But I would rather the animals be in the computer room than the grandkids!
Jane

Hi, Leen. Well, I would hesitate to use compressed air around high-quality optics because there is propellant in the can and it can spray out in a fine mist if you aren’t extremely careful. Not sure I’d use it on the inside of a computer either, really.

Compressed air is OK inside the computer. Best to do it when it has been off overnight. Even better if the motherboard is out of it’s case. If not, dont fight gravity, blow the dust so it falls to the bottom of the case, pick up with a slightly damp tissue.

Using a vacuum cleaner is not advisable as you can drag statically charged particles over all of those sensitive components – bad idea.
Its OK to vacuum the covers, and keyboard.

If your keyboard is a bit yukky, use an old toothbrush and warm water/detergent. Make sure after rinsing toothbrush in the water you remove excess water on a cloth, so the toothbrush is damp, but cannot drip. Scrub away, even between the keys.

Leen – if you blow the dust/dirt off with a blower, how do you get it out of the casing ?. Could be more of a problem, as well as Beths observation.

Paul

I don’t commonly in the course of my private or professional life have to use the word mongoose in the singular or the plural. Still, it’s always well to be prepared . . .

Andrew

Paul, both sides of the case open. I don’t do it that often, maybe a couple of times a year.

Beth, I’m with you. On my Compaq tower, three sides of the case are a single unit which slides toward the back and can be lifted off. Plenty of access at that point.

Canon recommend not to use compressed air on image sensors as the pressure can damage the diddy little pixels.

As for the insides of a computer, a vacuum cleaner with a small round brush attachment is fine in my book. Most of the bits are stuck in there pretty well.

Tel.