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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

#281

Post by Wololooo »

ropable wrote: post #280
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 :)

This statement also hit home for me when I thought over my woodworking tools. I could buy finished timber for $300, or I could spend $500 on tools and several hours to finish $75 of rough-sawn timber myself. We aren't doing these things to save money.

Almost never, in some cases you can but you need to be really in a nice and usually have access to the tooling for XYZ reasons. Then you would need to factor your labor cost, which is usually more than what would be billed normally in some cases...

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#284

Post by __mharrison__ »

basscomm wrote: post #18

I still haven't figured out why they no longer make wired trackballs. The thing never moves, why do I need it to be wireless?

I have a wired CST trackball mouse that is about 10 years old. Built like a tank. I believe they go by the name of "L-Trac" now (as the company was sold).

They are a little pricey, ~$200, but I love mine (so much that I bought an extra). Also, they use a pool-sized ball, so I replaced mine with a green ball.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#285

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

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 :…

I still use my Xbox 360 sometimes, and the only controllers that still work are the ones with AA batteries. The rechargeables have long since died completely.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#286

Post by imp0cat »

jamesgeck0 wrote: post #135
Zak wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Nickel metal rechargeables are a good AA/AAA substitute for devices designed to tolerate their lower voltage. Any device that can't is arguably broken as designed. Much of the energy (the majority, in a higher current application) in an alkaline battery is found under 1.2V. See discharge curves: https://lygte-info.dk/review/batteries2012/Duracell%20Ultra%... NiMH actually stays above 1.2V longer for all but the lig…

Unless the device was designed around the alkaline discharge curve! Smoke alarms rely on the lower voltage to give sufficient warning when the battery is low, and mine refuses to operate at all when powered by a rechargeable battery.

Try lithium-based AA/AAA rechargeables. These worked wonders for my finicky Instax Camera which refuses to use regular NiMH AAs because their voltage is too low.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#287

Post by baq »

kleiba wrote: post #176
ctippett wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That hit home for me too. My DIY cupboard is full of quality buy-it-for-life tools and accessories that I've used only a handful of times (or sometimes not at all).

You know, for years I have been collecting power tools without having an immediate use for them - because they were for sale, or just because, you know, they're power tools. And a lot of them ended up just sitting on my workshop shelf, some of them never made it out of the box they came in. But then we bought a new house and I started renovating it. I think I have probably used every single tool I ever bought by now,…

But what if you bought S&P instead and only liquidated when you needed power tools? Opportunity cost is real!

Disclaimer: had to expand the shed to fit all tools

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#288

Post by sen »

bigcat12345678 wrote: post #282

I never able to find a left handed version of track ball... Who knows if there is such thing?

Kensington make multiple trackballs that are ambidextrous. I use both the wireless and wired (on laptop and desktop respectively) versions of their “Expert Mouse” model for a fair few years now.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#289

Post by baq »

imp0cat wrote: post #286
jamesgeck0 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless the device was designed around the alkaline discharge curve! Smoke alarms rely on the lower voltage to give sufficient warning when the battery is low, and mine refuses to operate at all when powered by a rechargeable battery.

Try lithium-based AA/AAA rechargeables. These worked wonders for my finicky Instax Camera which refuses to use regular NiMH AAs because their voltage is too low.

The issue with these is the low battery warning. Once the voltage starts dropping you don’t have much time to notice. Not a problem for active devices, but things like door sensors may give you just a few days between 80% and dead.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#290

Post by baq »

devilbunny wrote: post #152
rowanG077 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't that a biohazard strictly speaking? I'm not sure you want to get caught stealing used surgical equipment for home use.

It’s quite literally trash; I could hardly be described as stealing it. The batteries are in a separate container that is attached to the bag of saline used for irrigation. It’s not in the surgical field.

> It’s quite literally trash; I could hardly be described as stealing it.

Note that legally trash is still owned, usually by the person or entity which produced it, so it’s technically stealing. (Whether anyone cares is a different thing. If you picked bank letters instead of barely used batteries…)

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