Ask Slashdot: Where Can You Get a Good 3-Button Mouse Today?

guises writes Ever since mouse wheels were introduced the middle mouse button has been sidelined to an inadequate click-wheel function, or in some cases ditched altogether. This has never sat well with me, a proper middle button is invaluable for pasting, games, and navigation. More than that, my hand categorically rejects two button mice — the dangling ring finger causes me genuine physical discomfort. I have begged Logitech on multiple occasions to make just one, among their many screwy specialty mice, to replace the Mouseman which I loved so dearly. I thought for a moment that I had been answered with the g600, only to find that they had put the right mouse button in the middle.

So my question to Slashdot is: where does a person turn for a three button mouse these days? I've only found two, both ergonomic and priced accordingly. I use the Contour and like the shape and wheel position, but would love to find something wireless and with a higher DPI sensor.

Comments

Simple solution

[Anonymous Coward]

Just glue three Apple Mice together.

Re: Simple solution

[Anonymous Coward]

Damn it, I was going for more obsolete than EISA. Curse you Linus Torvalds!

Re:Simple solution

[frisket]

where does a person turn for a three button mouse these days?

The one on my desk you may have only when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.

Re:Simple solution

[Mr. Slippery]

Are there any valuable functions mapped to a middle button anyway, that make it so important?

Yes. For people who use real computers, middle button = "paste selected text".

Who puts three fingers on the surface of a mouse?

People who use real computers but have not yet found the one true pointing device, the 4-button Logitech Marble Mouse Trackball.

Re:Simple solution

[pthisis]

I presume "real computer" was snark for "not Microsoft Windows".

Selections and the clipboard both have their uses.

Selections are faster and leaner--you can just highlight some text, then center-click wherever to copy it there. It's faster than having to highlight, then explicitly copy with Ctrl-C or whatever, then click somewhere, then paste with Ctrl-V or whatever. It's also guaranteed to give you plain text, rather than bringing along formatting and images and stuff.

The clipboard is more featureful, it's useful when you want to bring along formatting or images or other non-text stuff. It also allows you to highlight another area and paste over it, as you mention. It's also more persistent, so if you are working on code or something and have a string you're going to paste repeatedly, you might put that on the clipboard with Ctrl-C and have it until you explicitly cut something else; you can still do selection copy/paste for quick little stuff in the interim, but still have your main item saved on the clipboard so you don't have to go re-copy it.

Having both is useful. Selections are a lot faster, I use them the majority of the time but still use the clipboard sometimes.

Pay up and quit whining

[Pope Hagbard]

$69 for a mouse, especially a specialty one like you're wanting, is not that much. The only alternative is going to be buying a good used one from eBay.

Re:Pay up and quit whining

[ArmoredDragon]

Chances are you can re-map that logitech g600's buttons to do whatever you want. You can probably do it driverless as well, which means the changes survive across plugging the mouse into a different PC. Pick one up on Amazon and if it doesn't work the way you want, they let you return it.

Re:Pay up and quit whining

[majormer]

I have a G600. It is trivial to remap the buttons to perform like you want.

Performance Mouse MX

[dandaman32]

Can't recommend enough the Performance Mouse MX enough.

While it does have the middle button integrated into the scroll wheel, once used to it you will find it completely intuitive. I middle click hundreds of times a day and only found it difficult during the first two weeks of owning the mouse. 5 years later I still prefer the Performance MX over anything else.

To middle click I typically shift my index finger over a centimeter or two. My hands are slightly above average size and ergonomically the PerfMX is perfect for me.

Re:Performance Mouse MX

[vbraga]

Middle click pastes the last selected text segment under X11. For people who uses Linux for work, or at home, having a mouse with three buttons is very convenient.

Don't you get tired from using a trackpad all day? I think a mouse is more comfortable for long term use.

Re:Performance Mouse MX

[SgtAaron]

but you still have to use ctrl c and ctrl x. how does it help to have a dedicated ctrl v button? seems like a strange hill to die on to insist on a 3 button mouse. don't you think?

The middle button acts like CTRL-V. Selecting the text automatically places it in its own paste buffer, so you can CTRL-C some other text and have an entirely different selection and two paste options--I've actually done that before. After using Linux 20 plus years, I can tell you it's weird not to have that functionality when I happen to be at windows machine.

You are correct about it not replacing CTRL-X.

just swap the buttons

[Anonymous Coward]

xmodmap -e "pointer = 1 3 2"

Re:just swap the buttons

[radarskiy]

Solving a middle click problem by creating a right click problem isn't much of a solution.

Middle wheel/button seems to work ok, no?

[dbrueck]

Can you share details on what the problems are with the clickable middle wheel? You mentioned it's "inadequate", but what makes it so? Just wondering because I use the middle-button/wheel all the time and it seems to work as well as the other buttons - no discomfort, no extra thought, etc.

Re:Middle wheel/button seems to work ok, no?

[war4peace]

Not trying to flamebait, but this looks more like a "me, oldtimer, can't adapt" thing.
Indeed, some mice have a harder to press mid-button/scroll wheel, but there are some which are easier to press. I have a G700S and the middle click requires greater finger pressure than I'd like, however I bought it because it features both step-by step scrolling and continuous, which is the feature I was looking for. At any rate, I remapped middle click to a side button too and retrained my muscle memory.

Re:Middle wheel/button seems to work ok, no?

[Nemosoft Unv.]

It's harder to push and often inadvertently invokes a scroll event. Plus, you need to bend your middle finger to push it in properly, otherwise you may perhaps click the left or right button as well. To be honest, I think a mouse with side buttons is a better choice; and I don't really buy the 'dangling ring finger' argument; mine is always holding the mouse with the ring finger; my pinky is just below that, holding the mouse too. Unless you have really Rachmaninovian hands, there's no need for fingers to dangle.

hp 3 button mouse

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/products/oas/product-detail.html?oid=403895

Re:Not programmable?

[Cinder6]

I have a G600. I just checked, and you can reprogram the primary buttons to anything you like.

Re:Just hope middle click paste still works in fut

[HalfFlat]

The erosion of middle-button paste functionality is a continual frustration.

There are cultural differences between the Windows and Macintosh personal computing worlds, and that of X11 on Unix workstations. While always allowing customisability, we should hold on to the good ideas of the past, rather than dismiss them as being unfamiliar to the personal computer user.

What irks me especially is that the same forces that are driving us towards a Windows-like experience on the Linux desktop are also removing the ability to easily customise our environment, if only to retain the functionality that is being deprecated or dismissed. (I'm looking at you, GNOME.)

Reprogram the G600

[Cinder6]

A lot of people are suggesting that the G600 might be reprogrammable, but they all note that they don't have the mouse, so they don't know for sure.

I do.

I just checked it, and you can reprogram the primary mouse buttons to anything you want. You can also set that as the mouse's built-in configuration, so you don't need to use the drivers and the settings will be persistent across computers. Have fun.

Re: What's wrong with a scroll wheel?

[Mr. Freeman]

What a typical Slashdot user answer.

User 1: "I have problem X"
Slashdot user: "No, you don't."

See also: Linux users.

Re: What's wrong with a scroll wheel?

[willy_me]

Usability of the scroll wheel as a center button varies greatly from mouse to mouse. With some mice it is impossible to use without scrolling and with others it is ok. My current mouse, the M525, is poor - but tolerable once you get used to it. My previous mouse, some generic Dell mouse, was much better.

One should go to a computer shop and try them out. Do not assume they are all horrible just because some are.

Re:Not programmable?

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes, I can confirm that.

I have used the G600 for a long time now and the way it works is that you need a computer with the logitech software installed, reprogram all the buttons any way you want (you can move the right click button to the side shift-function button and then program the middle button however you want) then save the profile into the mouse memory which will let it remember those settings on any other computer without the drivers installed (with the exception of some game-specific macros).

Most of the recent logitech mice are capable of this.

Re:Thrift store

[guruevi]

Or you can do that all in the settings (at least on Linux and OS X)

Re:Thrift store

[ShanghaiBill]

Or instead of calling the person an idiot, try reading the summary?

"...the middle mouse button has been sidelined to an inadequate click-wheel function..."

But he doesn't explain why it is "inadequate". A middle button that functions as both a button and a scroll wheel is a clear improvement. The scroll wheel does not detract from the button click functionality, and in fact, improves it, since the middle button has a distinctly different tactile feel, so you don't fat-finger it by accident. The old three-button-no-scroll-wheel mouse died for a reason. It was inferior in every way.

Re:We don't all work in Windows + efficiency

[Atzanteol]

and occasionally less efficient - especially if you want to paste *over* something like a URL.

Select new URL, select old URL, paste, oh crap, delete old URL, got *back* and select new URL, paste.