Real Programmers Don't Use Mice

Logitech MX Revolution

The Microsoft Intellimouse Optical.

I've bought about half-a-dozen of these critters over the years, and I just love 'em to death. Five well-placed buttons, a perfectly weighted scroll wheel, and a lovely ambidextrous shape.

I use Logitech MX510:

While programming I love my Trackpoint. The advantage is, that I don't have to move my hand to reach the mouse. My finger tips can remain on the keyboard.

The red point in the picture above is a little joystick to move the courser.

For some years now, I've been using one of these ^[1] TrackMen -- yes, it's a trackball, not a mouse. After a very short time getting used to it, I find it much less annoying then a mouse -- I don't need to find space on my desk to move it!

I have a Logitech MX 1000 which continues to serve me well. It tracks brilliantly, and never does sudden jumps like optical mice do. Plus, I really like the "cruising" buttons above and below the scroll wheel, which make it very easy to zip to the top or bottom of a web page.

I love my Razer DeathAdder ^[1].

Simple as it gets: Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical

• Not quite as old as my IBM Model M keyboard
• Feels solid
• Doesn't have any extra buttons to accidentally press

I like my Evoluent VerticalMouse ^[1]:

The Genius Mouse, of course. It came with a mouse pad that doubled as a Xacto cutting board.

Logitech M-UV96

As simple as they come :)
Best of all, it's really comfortable and precise.

Microsoft Trackball Explorer

This is one of the best trackballs, but Microsoft has pulled it out of the market.

• Trackballs are better than mice because you are moving your finger around instead of your entire arm. Finger muscle moves accurately while your arm is in rested position.
• Trackballs are better than touchpads or TrackPoints. Trackballs can move the cursor from one end of the screen to the other end in one motion. Aiming specific pixel is easier too. (One advantage of touchpad/TrackPoint is that they tend to be closer to keyboard, but who likes laptop keyboards).

Are all trackballs the same? Not quite.

• Trackball Explorer is tracked using fingers, not the thumb. Thumb doesn't have much range in motion, and not so good at pointing things, unless you happen to go see gladiators on Sundays.
• Trackball Explorer has a scroll wheel.
• Trackball Explorer has big buttons that are programmable. Logitech's Cordless TrackMan Optical ^[1] meets the above criteria, but the buttuns are too small.

Blue Track from Microsoft.

No laser!

You can see detail here ^[1].

Logitech MX620 Cordless Laser - very comfortable and precise, great battery life so far. It's my first wireless mouse and I'm surprised how great it works.

The Logitech G7 - Awesome sensitivity (in multiple modes depending on the situation's need for precision or speed) and two batteries for quick swapping and no downtime.

Lifehacker covered this recently: http://lifehacker.com/5054519/the-best-mouse-youve-ever-had

I quite like the idea of a vertical mouse:

I've always used an Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 ^[1], ever since my Counter-Strike days. Just the right amount of buttons for me and fits my hand nicely.

The Logitech VX Nano ^[1], the younger brother of the MX Revolution ^[2].

The Kensington Expert Mouse ^[1], which is (rather confusingly) actually a trackball.

I used to get pains in my right index finger from mouse clicking, so I switched the mouse buttons to left-handed. That worked for a while, until I got pains in my right middle finger as well. Despite trying, I can't get on with a mouse in my left hand. So I decided to go with an amidextrous trackball, on the grounds that since I couldn't use a trackball with either hand, I'd be learning from scratch either way. The Expert Mouse was the first trackball I found that:

1. Could be used in either hand
2. Had a scroll wheel

It turned out to be a great decision - After a week, I was just as quick as I was with a mouse, and after 18 months neither hand gives me any problems. I love it, and don't really see any room for improvement.

I love my Microsoft Trackball Optical...

The key factor here, reprogramming those small buttons to copy and paste respectively. Increased my productivity 3 fold.

Kensington Orbit® Optical Trackball

Symmetrical so you can swap sides every couple months to fight RSS (that's Repetitive Stress Syndrome). Not sure it's a drawback: Just two buttons... so you'll need to use the Ctrl key, too.

I really want to try one of these ^[1], but I don't think they are in mass production yet.

My preference is to not use the mouse. But when neeeded, I prefer to use a tablet from Wacom (currently the previous generation Intuos3 A5) or a good trackball.

Absolutely love my Logitech G9 ^[1].

The free wheeling scroll has helped a lot with the little niggling pains I used to get in my index finger.

Fully customisable X and Y speeds, adjustable on the fly, so can switch from high speed text editor mousing to ultra slow precision for image editing in a matter of seconds.

Not too many buttons, weight adjustable, and it rocks for gaming too.

For what little mousing I actually have to do, this ^[1] has suited me perfectly.

Apple's Magic Trackpad.

I got used to using the trackpad in my Macbook. This is just like it but bigger, external, and Bluetooth. Scroll with two fingers, drag with three fingers, squeeze and stretch just like on your iPhone. The whole surface works as a button and it has support for a separate action for two-finger click.

Intellimouse 4.0. Very comfy mouse, works very well on almost any surface. scrollwheel very good for normal use, but very bad for changing weapons - I bound the side buttons on mine.

I like my logitech mx518. Basically, i like high resolution mice so i don't have to move my hand very much.

@aku

Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000

I have been using the same mouse for about 4 months and love it. Was a little odd at first, but great as soon as I got used to it.

I tend to get a lot of tightness in my forearms when I mouse, so I use 2 mice...

For the right hand, I use the Microsoft Natural Wireless Laser Mouse 6000

For the left hand, I use the Logitech Marble Mouse

this might be worth a try for those button addicts out there...

featuring...
- 18 programmable mouse buttons with double-click functionality
- Three different button modes: Key, Keypress, and Macro
- Analog Xbox 360-style joystick with optional 4, 8, and 16-key command modes
- Clickable scroll wheel
- 512k of flash memory
- 63 on-mouse application profiles with hardware, software, and autoswitching capability
- 1024-character macro support.
- Open source support software for creating, managing, and customizing application profiles
- Import and export of custom profiles in XML format
- Optional audio notification of profile switching with customizable wave files
- PDF export of profile button assignments
- Adjustable resolution from 400 to 1,600 CPI
- 20 default profiles for popular games and applications, including OpenOffice.org 3.1, Adobe Photoshop, the Gnu Image Manipulation Program, World of Warcraft, and the Call of Duty series.
link text ^[1]

Logitech G5

I personally love trackpads. It took alot of getting used to but I've found a properly configured trackpad to be much faster than a mouse. (I set the acceleration and speed much higher than the default. I can scroll entire pages just but rolling my index finger on the side of the pad.)

On my desktop I use a Logitech V450 Wireless laser mouse.

This helps me when i have to do a lot of graphic work...

I have the wireless Apple Mighty Mouse ^[1] and it's... ok. It has Bluetooth connectivity, three "buttons" and a 2D scroll ball. It's not particularly ergonomic, but I spend most of my time at the keyboard or on my laptop trackpad so it's not a big deal for me.

After a few months of use the trackball tends to stick. While flipping it upside down and aggressively rolling the ball around works in the short-term, this tends to get annoying after a while.

update: I decided to go with a Logitech MX Revolution as Best Buy has them for $85 ($15 off). The mighty mouse is currently sitting in my drawer.

The ergonomic HandShoe Mouse ^[1].

I use the Habu Razer by Microsoft:

I like the high resolution and controls for changing the speed.

I love the Targus mini-mouse that I bought with my laptop. I rarely use the mouse (generally while reading) and I have got so used to the lightness of being with this mouse that I find using other mouses (mice?!) quite painful:) Of course I use my trackpad a lot too - as far as possible I hate leaving the keyboard.It has got a lot of buttons but I just use the right and the left in combination with the scroll button.

Logitech G9 for me, after an advice on Coding Horror ^[1]. The ability to add extra weight does not sound interesting at first, but it makes a HUGE difference.

Spare a thought for us left-handed developers. Any mouse that has a slight "banana" curve, extra "thumb" buttons on the LEFT hand side or odd "flanges" that stick out to aid the right-hander are all an absolute nightmare for a left-handed operator.

Imagine trying to hold this in your left hand. It wouldn't be long before you'd have a matching red blister the same size as that trackball in the palm of your left hand caused by the rubbing!

Great question and answers though with some really good hand-agnostic mice to take a look at :)

Actually the best mouse ever shoud only have two buttons: "get all work done" and "get all work done now!" Well, still no such mouse on market.

Cordless TrackMan® Optical ^[1]

I found that not having to move my entire arm around while using my mouse is helpful. And I found that the finger style trackball is easier to use. Not a good choice for 2D graphic design, but other than that it is useful.

I don't use mice. they just slow me down !

I use several different mice, but my favorite has always been the Logitech V270 Optical Bluetooth Mouse ^[1]. It's durable, portable and works seamlessly with my Windows desktop and Mac laptop. I've used it for several years now with no problems or hand cramps.

I have the Logitech mx518 as well, I think its a great mouse. I hate the scroll wheel on all the Microsoft mice I've used.

Scope out the new Microsoft ArcMouse and Explorer Mouse:

http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productlist.aspx?type=Mouse

I've changed from a Genius NetScroll to Apple Mighty Mouse due to the scroll wheel. The scroll ball in the apple mouse is so comfortable, because it is very small, and you can do a lot of scrolling with less movement, when compared to a regular scroll wheel. I was getting in pain in my finger due to massive code reading+scrolling, when I was using the Genius NetScroll.

But, the Apple mouse could be fatter and higher, but just like Kyle said "It's ok"

Does anybody knows another mouse with a tiny scroll wheel/ball?

I've been totally pleased with Logitech wireless mouse (with little dongle that fits in a 'garage' within the mouse itself).

• small since it's a laptop-like model
• precise (optical)
• touch sensitive slider bar for scrolling

Having a dongle is actually a good feature; allows switching the mouse on the fly between two computers, just by moving the dongle.

My favorite is the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer for Bluetooth ^[1]. I use it with both PCs and Macs. (Oh, the humanity!)

I use the Dell mouse that came with my company issued laptop. Really, I love the stock Dell keyboard and mouse, it just works.

Am I the only one who just uses an old Logitech FirstMouse+?

Mouseman Dual Optical. Since it's still (after 7 years+) perfectly working I never bothered purchasing a new one.

The Sidewinder series of mice has struck something positive in my heart. They look like futuristic plastic tanks and the construction is sturdy and the two metal thumb buttons are awesome - as is the metal wheel which feels just right. And of course, the Sidewinder brand induces a lot of nostalgia ^^

My hands are fairly small so most of the mice on this list are too big for me.

My favorite is the classic Logitech wheel mouse. It is just the right size for me.

The one I use is called iFeel. It has a driver that includes "force feedback", sort of...

For all you programmers .. I use the a mouse with supports hyper scrolling AND I reprogram the scroll-left and scroll-right pushes on the mouse to do cut and paste .. far more useful that left and right scroll ... e.g. any Logitech mouse that supports hyper scrolling can do this.

Hyperscrolling is the best advance on mice to come out since laser mice.