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"Red is Dead" Optical Mice LED Change

Posted by Hemos on from the i-want-mauve dept.

A reader sent us the HOWTO for changing that red LED on your fancy-pants new optical mouse to blue - or, I suppose any other color. I think I'm fine with what I've got - although, the glass tops on tables does make using optical mice a pain there.

7 of 490 comments (clear)

  1. logitech is blue... by b_pretender · · Score: 5, Interesting
    When I bought my Logitech optical a 1.5 years ago, I stopped at RadioShack on the way home to pick up a blue LED. I was planning to change it first thing when I got home.

    However, upon pluggin my mouse into the computer, the logitech logo and mouse in general glowed blue!!! I was happy. Although the LED on the bottom was red, they had an *extra* LED that was blue for the logo and the *glowing* plastic. That made my day and it involved NO soldering.

  2. Resolution by DrLudicrous · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I wonder if the resolution on these mice is at all wavelength dependent. If it were, than a blue LED would be superior to a red LED, since blue is at about 400nm and red is closer to 700nm.

    I do have to say that a blue LED mouse looks about 10X cooler than a red one. But it looks like this type of project will only interest serious modders who have some cash to spend.

  3. Black light by hero · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How about black light on a white mouse pad? That would be pretty nifty.

    -hero.

  4. Cool looking, But... by CaffeineAddict2001 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The problem is that this can seriously degrade performance.

    What I want to know is: Would it be possible to come up with a mod design in which it switches between red and blue? (Red when it's moving, Blue when it's idle)

    I noticed the light turns off when the mouse is Idle with my intellimouse, maybe this could be switched around a bit.

  5. Red is Dead by ajs · · Score: 4, Interesting


    A great scene is a great film (and I presume a great play, but I was too young to see it at the time).

    The line is, of course, from The Wiz, which starred Diana Ross (Dorothy) Michael Jackson (Scarecrow) and Nipsey Russell (Tinman). My favorite song was "You Can't Win", which was sung by MJ. It's basically the three laws of thermodymamics, turned into a song about pessimism.

    The "Red is Dead" line comes from a scene were they first get to the Emerald City. Everyone's dancing around this huge city square that's all lit green. Everyone's actually wearing white, but because of the lighting it looks green. Then there's an announcement that green is no longer in and the new color is red. Lights change, everyone is in red, and the dance continues. A few minutes later, the announcement proclaims, "Red is Dead" and I think the color moves on to gold.

    This film was made at the hight of the disco craze, and Diana Ross was very much a part of it. I was kind of suprised to see her poking such fun at the whirling fashion trends that came and went in weeks in the late 70s.

  6. Re:The reason they use red... by BeBoxer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Works great. I've had an IR LED one of my mouse for quite a while now. It's hooked up to my jukebox PC which is out in the den. I got tired of having the mouse randomly flashing from dim to bright and back whenever it thought that maybe something was moving underneath it. It liked to do it the most when I was trying to watch movies. Dropped in an IR LED, and it works great. No more flashing.

  7. Blue is Cool - here's an article on why! by swordboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I do have to say that a blue LED mouse looks about 10X cooler than a red one.

    Here's Why

    After reading this article yesterday, I pondered changing the LED in my mouse. Has slashdot implmented some sort of psychic cookies or something?

    --

    Life is the leading cause of death in America.