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Silent Mice for Silent PCs?
UnrefinedLayman asks: "In the quest for a silent PC, one item that seems to be consistently overlooked is the mouse: it's one of the more noisy computer components if only by virtue of the fact that it is a staccato noise. I don't notice my fans or hard drives very often, given that they are constant background sounds whose levels don't noticeably change. My mouse, on the other hand, makes a very audible *click* each time I use it, and while providing a pleasant tactile feedback, it keeps my girlfriend awake during my late-night work sessions. So I turn to the Ask Slashdot community: have you found a silent mouse for your silent PC? Numerous Google searches have yielded
little. It's not as though it's impossible, as touch pads for laptops have been around for quite some time, and the iPod makes great use of the technology. ThinkGeek also sells a force-free keyboard with a "mouse replacement" built into it, but while the keyboard technology looks very promising, I prefer to stick with a mouse (not to mention something a bit cheaper). Mouse manufacturers have long touted optical mice as being superior to their trackball cousins for having no moving, mechanical parts, but it seems like they're overlooking the most obvious and still mechanical function: the buttons themselves! So what say you Slashdot? Are there force-free, truly non-mechanical and silent mice out there to be had?"
I don't know wich operating system you use but I presume there will be some accessibility-software for it to accociate some keys of your keyboard with your mouse-keys.
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I know it's kinda a foreign concept in windows, but I've learned most of the keyboard shortcuts/ commands to do navigation things, and I think sometimes it's actually quicker than using the mouse. And there's no click. So I don't know what exactly what you're working on, I know some programs will obviously require a mouse, but if you can, see how much you can do with the keyboard.
Good luck.
Try these:
++ Learn to use the keyboard - there are easy keystroke shortcuts to perform the mouse clicks for you.++ Move the computer out of the bedroom into another room.
++ Tell your girlfriend to get over it.++ Get another girlfriend.
++ Go to bed with your girlfriend (what the hell are you doing at night anyway?).++ Get on with your life.
Could someone please explain why this was submitted???...we are from the government - we are here to help...
Your best option is a trackpad or touchpad of some sort. Most modern touchpads have several functions you may assign to various actions such as double-tapping, tap-dragging, dragging along the left or right edges, tapping in certain zones, etc. to keep you from ever having to use the function buttons.
Michael C. Hollinger
Your girlfriend isn't complaining about the clicking per se. In my opnion she is probably complaining because you are on the computer. So even if you find a quieter mouse she will complain about something else. Pay more attention to her and she won't care about the sound your mouse makes.
Thank you all for the well thought-out and insightful replies. Especially the first poster. I'd like to address some of the replies, but rather than hit them one at a time, I'll give it a single go.
Yes, I am serious. Don't look at me shocked and appalled, regarding me as some retarded freak of nature. If you think the question's stupid, don't reply. I think that if someone should stand over your shoulder and everytime you ask a question whose answer you don't know insult you and degrade you, you'd grow a little tired of it. So to all insightful posters, thanks. To all trolls, fuck off.
While I understand it's possible to modify my existing mouse, my question mainly centered on whether or not there are silent mice manufactured. Notably, I'm looking to get rid of a mouse that uses mechanical parts, because since optical mice have come about I've gone through several simply by breaking the buttons or having the cables die. So while it's possible, that's not the focus of my inquiry.
Yes, I'm happy with a scroll mouse and not a three-button mouse.
If you re-read my post, you'll see I'm not interested in using the keyboard as my mouse. For example, the ThinkGeek keyboard replaces a mouse, but I'm not interested in doing that. I simply want to have a mouse that does not make noise, not relearn how to use a keyboard as a mouse.
I don't go to bed when my SO goes to bed because I have to work for a living. Sometimes my work requires me to work at home, and sometimes into the night. But you're right, I should say "Fuck work!" go to bed, and worry about getting fired some other time!
And for those times when it's not because I'm working into the night, but rather because I worked into the evening at my actual place of business, I should just say to hell with my relaxation time, go to bed, and worry about having no time to unwind some other time!
Yes, I *was* talking about my girlfriend, not my sister, as one poster pointed out (and another corrected).
To the poster who recommended the simple steps of:
1) Buy a Mac
2) Buy a wireless Mac mouse
3) Quiet!!!!!!
Thanks, but as I mentioned in the question, the ThinkGeek keyboard is too expensive, so I don't think getting an Apple is going to help me.
I did not sing "Silent Night" when writing either this or the question.
I know a lack of feedback can cause people to press too hard, which is why I'm looking for something like the buttons on the iPod on a mouse. Pushing too hard breaks keys, which is why I don't have a mechanical mouse. The adaptation to a non-mechanical mouse and not pressint too hard should be a non-issue for someone serious about it.
It's not a foreign concept not to use the keyboard in Windows. I'm rather adept at using the keyboard only in Windows. The point is there are many things that cannot be done without a mouse, and even if I could do everything with the mouse, that wouldn't resolve the question I posed: is there a silent mouse? That's like saying "Use a banana!" when someone asks for an apple to make apple juice. You cannot make apple juice no matter how many bananas you have.
To the person who recommended I learn how to use the keyboard, please note that I already know how to use a keyboard, as you may have noticed from me typing this reply and the original question up.
I also cannot move the computer out of the room. Again, that doesn't answer the question of "is there a silent mouse?" If someone were to ask how to make their garage door quieter, you wouldn't tell them to move their garage somewhere else, would you? Unlike some people, I don't live with mommy and daddy and must make do with the space available in my 600 sq. ft. apartment. With two people living here, that means the computer goes in the bedroom.
And just in case you're planning on telling me to move, I suggest that you note what I said above and note the fact that l
If your GF can't stand the sound of the mouse clicking, get her some of those foam earplugs. No, I am serious. They are pretty comfortable to wear at night, and will cut all the sound (I wear some at times because my wife likes to watch TV when we go to sleep). I doubt you will find anything, simply because it is such a niche product. Plus, there are the HID (human interface design) issues - the click is both a tactile and audible feedback for the user, without it, you might feel "odd", as if something is out of place, and uncomfortable, when using it (kinda like how those rubbery chicklet keyboards never caught on)...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
When the editors post an "Ask Slashdot" question, they aren't doing it to help the person asking the question. They post it because they think it might be a problem shared by lots of people. You, the original questioner, are not the primary audience of these posts. You're just one of hundreds of thousands of readers, some of whom are just looking for the funny responses, some of whom have similar problems, some who's curiosity is piqued (because hey, I've never seen a silent mouse... let's see what people say) and some of whom just want to get a frist pr0st out there.
Slashdot's moderation system is designed to keep the content as helpful as possible to the general readership (which includes you, but also includes lots of other people).
Lots of the posts that you are slamming in your response were good posts -- they just weren't useful to your specific situation. Well, they're still good posts. Someone buying a new computer might like to know that they can get s silent Mac mouse. Someone with a yen for taking stuff apart might like to read how they can mod their mouse to silence it. Personally, I was sorry to see that there doesn't seem to be a standard-but-silent mouse (and I think you knew that already, since you've been searching for a while), but I might get one of those TouchStream keyboards on ThinkGeek to try it out... it looks cool. I thought the "learn how to avoid using the mouse" is a decent solution to your actual problem, which is noise. There are plenty of silent keyboards, some with touchpads (which would also help). If you know all the key combinations, you can certainly reduce the need for the mouse.
I guess my main point is that I was kind of shocked by your reaction to a decent discussion on an interesting question. If you didn't find what you wanted, maybe it's not out there at the moment... that's no reason to flame a bunch of people offering helpful advice for free.
There are only 10 types of people: those who understand decimal, those who don't, and, uh, 8 other types I forget.