13 of the Weirdest Computer Mice We've Ever Seen

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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There’s no accounting for taste and even functionality when considering the myriad of mouse types out there, and there have been some really weird ones over the years. Gizmodo gathered a collection of the 13 strangest mice as collected by some of their readers.

Plenty of folks have tried to improve on perfection with ergonomic-y joystick-like tricks and other strange tweaks. Some of them turn the idea of a hand-controlled pointing device upside down, others just look really, really strange.
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There was this 90's VR as heck "3D" mouse that came around the multi-media certification MkII days over 30 years ago. Wrist-support was part of the unit, then it was a ball in a VR cyber as heck half-pipey shape with texture.

I kinda want to try it out.
 
Can someone just make a mouse that doesn't start double clicking by itself in a couple of months. Thanks.
 
Megalith said:
Can someone just make a mouse that doesn't start double clicking by itself in a couple of months. Thanks.
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Find a mouse from 2005 or earlier and your problems will be solved.
They don't make them like they used to.
 
I have been debating with myself about buying one of those 3D Connexion mouse. I don't do any CAD work however...

has anyone gamed with one of these?
 
Reimu said:
I have been debating with myself about buying one of those 3D Connexion mouse. I don't do any CAD work however...

has anyone gamed with one of these?
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I have one for CAD work and the hardware is great. The software has been a bit touchy for me but the latest release seems rock solid. I dint believe it would be useful for games aside from top down strategy titles. With so many degrees of freedom it's difficult to be accurate quickly so FPS titles are a no go imo. Adding to that it seems most games don't know what to do with it even if they detect it. Look for compatibility before purchasing.
 
They missed one.

1si3XZm.jpg
 
For what it is worth, I actually own the full-on production value of what was once the "Open Office.Org Mouse". They don't have the updated, production version visible - it was colored black/gray instead, and named the "WarMouse Meta". While it looked strange and some of the earlier variants had some hardware quality control issues (which, WarMouse replaced for their users), it was actually a rather neat mouse and was amazingly usable.

The small buttons were surprisingly easy to use and the x360-style thumbstick on the side was awesome, usable both in analog or digital modes. The laser sensor and other hardware components were at or beyond the high-end gaming mice of the time. Unlike so many other MMO-style mice even today, having the thumbstick as a place to "rest" your thumb and help you pickup and move the mouse was great; to this day, only the Corsair M95 seems to have thought about this design feature as well. The software (and firmware I think) were completely open source, there was an official Linux client, and "modes/profiles" were saved in XML format so they were easy to use. Modes/profiles had a ton of customization options meeting or going beyond any current

With a couple of iterative advances regarding the hardware and continued development of the software, it could really provide a great alternative to the major players in the market. Sadly however, it seemed that after a point the manufacturers at WarMouse just sort of dropped off the face of the earth; a sad way to go for what could have been a very promising project. On the good side, the software and source was/is well available, so in theory someone could continue developing again. I would rather like to see the Meta revived in one way or another, updated in design a bit, reforged with 2014+ hardware and modernized through continued software update too.

It came a long way since it was the "OpenOffice.Org Mouse", so if you'd like to see the more, search for "WarMouse Meta" instead. If there's any real interest, I could perhaps take pictures of mine or some such.
 
Xaeos said:
For what it is worth, I actually own the full-on production value of what was once the "Open Office.Org Mouse". They don't have the updated, production version visible - it was colored black/gray instead, and named the "WarMouse Meta". While it looked strange and some of the earlier variants had some hardware quality control issues (which, WarMouse replaced for their users), it was actually a rather neat mouse and was amazingly usable.

The small buttons were surprisingly easy to use and the x360-style thumbstick on the side was awesome, usable both in analog or digital modes. The laser sensor and other hardware components were at or beyond the high-end gaming mice of the time. Unlike so many other MMO-style mice even today, having the thumbstick as a place to "rest" your thumb and help you pickup and move the mouse was great; to this day, only the Corsair M95 seems to have thought about this design feature as well. The software (and firmware I think) were completely open source, there was an official Linux client, and "modes/profiles" were saved in XML format so they were easy to use. Modes/profiles had a ton of customization options meeting or going beyond any current

With a couple of iterative advances regarding the hardware and continued development of the software, it could really provide a great alternative to the major players in the market. Sadly however, it seemed that after a point the manufacturers at WarMouse just sort of dropped off the face of the earth; a sad way to go for what could have been a very promising project. On the good side, the software and source was/is well available, so in theory someone could continue developing again. I would rather like to see the Meta revived in one way or another, updated in design a bit, reforged with 2014+ hardware and modernized through continued software update too.

It came a long way since it was the "OpenOffice.Org Mouse", so if you'd like to see the more, search for "WarMouse Meta" instead. If there's any real interest, I could perhaps take pictures of mine or some such.
Click to expand...

Post pic
 
12. Spaceorb 360

Yes yes this! It worked very well actually. Was great for games like Forsaken, Descent, and Star Wars Pod Racer.
 
Megalith said:
Can someone just make a mouse that doesn't start double clicking by itself in a couple of months. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Logitech G9 here. No problems and have had for about 2-3 years now.

I have never had this issue with any mice FWIW.

I have had one or two that the clickers completely broke though. They were not logitech.

What do you do to your mice that breaks the micro switches? Are you using excessive force when clicking?
 
cyclone3d said:
Logitech G9 here. No problems and have had for about 2-3 years now.

I have never had this issue with any mice FWIW.

I have had one or two that the clickers completely broke though. They were not logitech.

What do you do to your mice that breaks the micro switches? Are you using excessive force when clicking?
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Must be breaking them in 5 months, no way is he going over the designed amount. He must be bending the switch by slamming down on the mouse instead of just clicking it.
 
Semantics said:
Must be breaking them in 5 months, no way is he going over the designed amount. He must be bending the switch by slamming down on the mouse instead of just clicking it.
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Buttons started going south in MX518 within a year of getting it. One of the side buttons started going out first. I keep that one set to middle click, and I tend to middle click everything. (how did I ever live without tabs?) Eventually, left click started to go, too.

It was the optics that I'd managed to finally break in my old MX500, so now my 518 has a lot of 500 parts in it. Long live the Frankenmouse!
 
techrat said:
They missed one.

1si3XZm.jpg
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You mean the carpal-tunnelator?

Seriously, that was the most painful egonomic travesty of the computer world. Frikin torture device that gave you gaming claw in a matter of hours rather than at the tail end of a multi-day lan party.
 
Pretty lame picking on the SpaceOrb 360 and calling it a mouse. I don't know how it worked in navigating 3D space as in their description, but it was the most awesome controller ever for Descent 2. I owned with that little machine and that's no lie. It wasn't until peeps started getting connections faster then 56K that I started having trouble, HAX !
 
lcpiper said:
Pretty lame picking on the SpaceOrb 360 and calling it a mouse. I don't know how it worked in navigating 3D space as in their description, but it was the most awesome controller ever for Descent 2. I owned with that little machine and that's no lie. It wasn't until peeps started getting connections faster then 56K that I started having trouble, HAX !
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Ya my buddy had one of those spaceorbs and he used to kick my butt in games like Descent and Forsaken. But as time went by it stopped working with newer games I think, he stopped using it. Serial port probably didn't help (I think it was db9 not a gameport db15).

I actually saw one of those at a Dr's office 10 years or so ago, they were using it to scroll around X-rays and MRI pics etc
 
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