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Building the mouse Logitech won't make

samwilkinson.io

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Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#161

Post by Zak »

Scoundreller wrote: post #156
Zak wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AA-size Li-ion is called "14500" for anyone needing to source these. I'd love a mouse (or various other gadgets for that matter) that uses one behind a tool-free battery door.

Since the mice run 2xAA in series, you might get away with running one of those and jumping the other cell space. If 3.7-4.2V is too much to handle, jump with a 1n4148 diode or two in series.

My Logitech G604 takes only one AA. I'm not sure the advantages over NiMH (lighter weight, higher capacity) are worth soldering in diodes especially when the efficiency loss would negate the capacity advantage.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#162

Post by bitwize »

Perz1val wrote: post #106
bitwize wrote: post #94

Wired USB or gtfo. Currently rocking a Kensington wired trackball. Honestly I miss the days of systems whose latency was constrained by c -- and not much else. It is literally impossible to get a modern system with a MIDI clock as rock-solid as the Atari ST was.

Wasn't the CPU clock number entirely made up for some time? Afaik on old systems one cycle was one cycle and it lasted as long as frequency implied. Now it's... complicated

The Atari ST ran at 8 MHz. The Amiga ran to nicely sync with the video signal; slightly different numbers for PAL (7.09 MHz) and NTSC (7.16 MHz) systems. But yeah, it used to be you could design a system with rock-solid timing that made an implementation specialized to certain I/O applications cheap and easy... now... not so much

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#163

Post by salynchnew »

> After first publishing this article a helpful commenter let me know Logitech released the MX Ergo S in late 2024, with quieter switches, USB-C, and a $20 price increase. Let's just pretend I wrote this article a year ago! Still, at least this project let me avoid some e-waste.

This is slightly funny, but I've noticed over the years that Google's decline in function as a quality search engine has correlated with lots of wasted time on my end, DIY-ing things that I later found to already exist somewhere in the world.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#164

Post by choo-t »

bityard wrote: post #39

My favorite mouse is the Logitech Anywhere MX. It's highly comfortable despite being pretty small. The back/forward buttons on the side are indispensable for web browsing, file management, and switching weapons in first-person shooters. It takes two AA batteries which last for months and take seconds to swap out. The dongle is small and has good range. The scroll wheel switches between clicky and free-scrolling. It's…

You don't really have to replace the microswitch, at least on my Logitech (M570) I can pull them open, bend the metal strip a little, close the switch back and I'm good for another year or two.

It's still tedious, as the metal strip is really small and is hard top manipulate, but far easier and less risky for the pcb than desoldering.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#165

Post by danielvinson »

moron4hire wrote: post #114
monster_truck wrote: post #41

I've been using a mouse from https://pmm.gg , it weighs about half as much as the mouse I swapped the guts out of (28 grams vs 60 grams). Basically a couple sheets of printer paper. I don't really care about the weight, what caught my attention was they offer ceramic? coated magnesium scrollwheels. My otherwise mild skin condition completely destroys the shitty grippy/gummy rubber they put on scrollwheels and sometim…

I actually like a heavier mouse. A lot of modern devices feel inconsequential and cheap (well, because they are). I've gone so far as to open my mice and glue in a few pennies to increase the weight. Makes it feel much better. At first it seemed kind of silly, but then I realized it doesn't matter. All that matters is how I feel about the devices I use for hours a day, every day.

I felt this way for a long time and used a heavy mouse for daily use then switched to my lightweight mouse for gaming. I changed my mind very fast when I started developing carpel tunnel symptoms from the heavy mouse - using your wrist to move a heavy object in the same pattern for 6+ hours a day is just not healthy for you and when your job involves doing that, its 100% worth it to just use the lightweight mouse for everything. I actually found that my wrist felt better with the 55g mouse than with a trackball or a touchpad.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#166

Post by jimmies »

stn8188 wrote: post #2

"Balking at the $50+ charge for turnkey assembly, I opted to take the financially responsible route and pay $200+ for a hot-air rework station to solder it myself." Yeah, I feel this :)

Alternative way to see it: The author had either a $50 solution, or a $50 solution that comes with a discounted hotair rework station for $150…

I learned it from Superfastmatt. He needed a piece of plastic that retails for $1500 for his van, so he said: “either I have a $1500 solution or I have a $1500 solution but I get a free fancy 3D printer in the end…” that stuck with me.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#167

Post by mmh0000 »

swiftcoder wrote: post #140
Liftyee wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure about online mouse communities, but it intrigued me that you prefer replaceable AA batteries to built-in rechargeables. I realise now that because of my dislike (leaning towards hatred) of single-use alkaline batteries I unwittingly dismissed the benefits of having quick replaceability. Nickel metal rechargeables are a good AA/AAA substitute for devices designed to tolerate their lower voltage. For more powe…

I too was surprised by this view when I started at Oculus, where the game controller folks who had come over from Xbox were adamant that players would rather swap in a fresh pair of AAs than plug into a charging cable. Personally I've never come around to their side of things, although I do recognise the inconvenience of charging cables while you are using a peripheral (Apple Mouse charging port location especially :…

For me, I'll always choose a device with standard, user-replaceable batteries over a built-in battery.

1) If the device battery is dead, I can swap it out in seconds and be up and running immediately.

2) Built-in batteries fail, and replacing them ranges from difficult to near-impossible and often involves damaging the device's casing to get the built-in battery out.

When I'm spending $100 on a computer mouse, I'd really like it to last longer than the life of the battery and not have to destroy the casing to get to the battery to replace it.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#169

Post by Tsiklon »

bityard wrote: post #39

My favorite mouse is the Logitech Anywhere MX. It's highly comfortable despite being pretty small. The back/forward buttons on the side are indispensable for web browsing, file management, and switching weapons in first-person shooters. It takes two AA batteries which last for months and take seconds to swap out. The dongle is small and has good range. The scroll wheel switches between clicky and free-scrolling. It's…

Logitech appear to have made the unifying receiver legacy tech now. Preferring their Bolt receiver going forward. This does have a USB-C receiver available but not supplied with their devices

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F9DWFSHP

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#170

Post by esseph »

phire wrote: post #97
mbreese wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I too use the mx 3. It’s a great mouse that can also travel easily in my laptop bag. I went to get a new one to keep at my office last year and noticed that the buttons had changed from clicky ones to silent ones. That drove me nuts and I returned the new version. However, the issue you mention with static and the buttons might explain the change. I thought it was just a vendor making a good device cheaper to manufac…

Yeah... apparently the MX Anywhere 3S uses new "silent" switches, which I was hoping might fix the issue. But I've found one post complaining about bad switches on the Anywhere 3S and a few complaining about the MX Master 3S (which uses the same switches?). I'm sticking with my current mouse for now, since I know it's quirks.

I have a couple of 2s/3s.

I like the 2s feel better. I like the 3s USB C portable better.

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