[Naman]

I've got a Microsoft Comfort Optical 3000, which is fairly decent, but only has one additional button aside from the usual left+right+middle, and I find I could really use at least one more button. Also, the drivers are a little dodgy; WoW causes my mouse's acceleration to go nuts when I move the cursor out of the game window, and it's gotten pretty annoying. I had a Logitech MX 310 for years (it's probably still around somewhere) and it was great for its time, but nowadays there are mice with much smoother tracking and horizontal scrolling, among other things.

What I'm looking for:
-USB wired only; don't want to deal with batteries.
-Works well with a claw grip. (Held and moved with fingers. Most small to mid-sized mice are fine for this)
-Modern good optical tracking. (So probably a laser mouse)
-At least 5 buttons (including middle-click, so at least two in addition to the standard set)
-Decent drivers. Something that either works extremely well with OS X's native curves, or has solid drivers that don't tend to have weird issues like my MS mouse's drivers.

Any help is much appreciated! I did a lot of googling around for the better mice for OS X, but all I could find were recommendations 3+ years old or recs for wireless mice.

[the Battle Cat]

My Logitec G5 fits your description. I'm loving mine.

[jgwdoc]

I vote with tBC. I have the G5 and have been very happy with it. Be sure to get the current generation with the thumb buttons.
I suspect a few will chime in with votes for the Razer mice.

[The Liberator]

jgwdoc, on June 30th 2009, 11:35 AM, said:

I vote with tBC. I have the G5 and have been very happy with it. Be sure to get the current generation with the thumb buttons.
I suspect a few will chime in with votes for the Razer mice.

…Right on time.

Go for a Deathadder, you will love it. It is nearly half the price, with basically nothing less than the G5 (well except for a few less buttons (but it still has five). Anway, it is cheap, and great. I still do not have one yet (thanks to Streetwise).

By the way, you might want to look at these threads: DeathAdder thread, Mamba thread and general mouse thread.

Liberator.

[Quicksilver]

http://www.insidemac...view.php?ID=958

[Thain Esh Kelch]

Logitech MX 510 ftw!

[Naman]

Thanks for the help! I ended up ordering a Logitech G5 on Amazon, as it seems like more what I'd want in a mouse than the DeathAdder, and I'm pretty sure either way I'd end up having to get USB Overdrive.

Speaking of, I'm guessing I'll need USB Overdrive to get that G5 working properly?

[the Battle Cat]

Naman, on June 30th 2009, 03:56 PM, said:

Thanks for the help! Couple of questions... does the G5 actually have OS X drivers? I was under the impression it didn't, and according to this article the extra buttons don't actually work in OS X. Also, I've heard the DeathAdder's drivers don't work for OS 10.5.6 and above, and it doesn't work at all without Razer's drivers. Has this been fixed?

Edit: Also, the G5 is cheaper than the DeathAdder right now on Amazon.

There are no official Logitec G5 drivers. The G5 uses OSX's mouse drivers which can easily recognize all of it's buttons except for the plus and minus resolution buttons. That's not a problem because the mouse knows what to do with those buttons. All of the buttons work in OSX, and are easily programmable in any game that can recognize a mouse with more than a left and right click. I use the thumb button and scroll wheel button in exposé to remove all windows and show all windows. OSX mouse drivers are aware of and can utilize the G5 buttons.

[Naman]

the Battle Cat, on June 30th 2009, 04:57 PM, said:

The G5 uses OSX's mouse drivers which easily recognize all of it's buttons except for the plus and minus resolution buttons. That's not a problem because the mouse knows what to do with those buttons. All of the buttons work in OSX, and are easily programmable in any game that can recognize a mouse with more than a left and right click. I use the thumb button and scroll wheel button in exposé to remove all windows and show all windows. OSX mouse drivers are aware of and can utilize the G5 buttons.

Sweet, thanks! Guess it works out to cheaper than the DeathAdder too, then, if I don't need to buy USB Overdrive for it.

[The Liberator]

Naman I am sorry, but the DeathAdder actually will be cheaper. You do not need USB Overdrive. Ever. Razer have built OSX drivers for the other buttons and on-the-fly sensitivity. Personally I would buy the G5 (or the G9 for that matter, although I am not sure if it is supported in OSX). I would only do that if I was willing to spend another $50 +, only then.

Liberator.

[Eric5h5]

I wouldn't use USB Overdrive in any case, because it's not compatible with everything. I use Steermouse, which seems to be 100% compatible.

--Eric

[AussieMacGamer]

The Liberator, on July 1st 2009, 10:09 AM, said:

Naman I am sorry, but the DeathAdder actually will be cheaper.

In Australia maybe, because of the ridiculous price of Logitec mouse in this country. But i highly doubt it in the US.

[Naman]

The Liberator, on June 30th 2009, 05:09 PM, said:

Naman I am sorry, but the DeathAdder actually will be cheaper. You do not need USB Overdrive. Ever. Razer have built OSX drivers for the other buttons and on-the-fly sensitivity. Personally I would buy the G5 (or the G9 for that matter, although I am not sure if it is supported in OSX). I would only do that if I was willing to spend another $50 +, only then.

Liberator.

Sorry, must've edited that out of my previous post. The DeathAdder was $45 on Amazon, the G5 was $40. (US) Didn't really scrounge around more than Amazon and Newegg, though.

Edit: Also, does the DeathAdder even work in 10.5.6+? I was under the impression it didn't.

[AussieMacGamer]

Naman, on July 2nd 2009, 07:15 AM, said:

Edit: Also, does the DeathAdder even work in 10.5.6+? I was under the impression it didn't.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Razer Have issued theyre very own driver set and control panel for the mouse. Hell you can even buy the Razer DeathAdder Mac Edition (comes in special mac color of white).

[Quicksilver]

Have you read my review, Naman?

[The Liberator]

AussieMacGamer, on July 1st 2009, 03:33 PM, said:

In Australia maybe, because of the ridiculous price of Logitec mouse in this country. But i highly doubt it in the US.

I see. Damn high prices for technology here.

Naman, on July 2nd 2009, 07:15 AM, said:

Sorry, must've edited that out of my previous post. The DeathAdder was $45 on Amazon, the G5 was $40. (US) Didn't really scrounge around more than Amazon and Newegg, though.

Ah, okay. Well that makes sense.

Going to pick up the DeathAdder tomorrow. Yay!

Liberator.

[Naman]

Thanks for the help, folks! Got my Logitech G5 today, and it's nifty so far, though I'm going to need to find a way to tweak the acceleration curves so it'll actually work smoothly. (I still don't understand why Apple thought messing the curves up that badly was a good idea.)

[the Battle Cat]

I took all the weights out of mine. I didn't want the mouse to be anything but a part of my hand.

[Quicksilver]

Naman, on July 3rd 2009, 03:52 PM, said:

Thanks for the help, folks! Got my Logitech G5 today, and it's nifty so far, though I'm going to need to find a way to tweak the acceleration curves so it'll actually work smoothly. (I still don't understand why Apple thought messing the curves up that badly was a good idea.)

Apple? If you have OS X drivers from Logitech, then that's what's determining the acceleration.

As a side note, you don't want ANY acceleration. The DeathAdder's CP allows you to dial it down to nothing, and to boot, Razer just added a new firmware option for gamers that want drift control permanently disabled (the first manufacturer to give people that option).

[Naman]

Quicksilver, on July 5th 2009, 12:22 AM, said:

Apple? If you have OS X drivers from Logitech, then that's what's determining the acceleration.

As a side note, you don't want ANY acceleration. The DeathAdder's CP allows you to dial it down to nothing, and to boot, Razer just added a new firmware option for gamers that want drift control permanently disabled (the first manufacturer to give people that option).

The G5 doesn't have Logitech drivers for OS X, so yes, I was speaking of OS X's native "almost any mouse will at least work partly" drivers. But yeah, I have the G5, and I love it now that I've tweaked things to get the speed and acceleration to where I want it. If it ends up dying on me at some point, I'll definitely consider the DeathAdder. Thanks for the help and info.