Logitech quality decline past few years?

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SledgeMakeGood

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Sep 18, 2004
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I've been using Logitech mice for ten years, but it seems like, since optical technology came out, Logitech's mice, keyboards, webcams, joysticks, it's all becoming crap. I have an MX500 that I've been using for around two years now, the plastic is wearing away on the buttons, the optical sensor makes my pointer jump around when I'm not even touching the mouse, even after I clean it with a cotton swab and the same stuff I use to clean camera lenses. Tonight my left button stopped working completely unless I pushed on the outside edge of the button. What the heck is up with Logitech? The last mouse I bought from them was a 3-button with a ball and a scroll wheel, and it's a hundred times better as far as quality goes. It has soft rubber on the sides where my thumb and pinky rest so I get a good grip when moving sideways quickly (like when you turn in an FPS), the buttons still feel exactly the same as they did on the day I bought it (just the right amount of travel, crisp action), and even the motion sensors are still precise, even though I had to clean the rollers once in a while.

I've taken this mouse apart once to try to see if there was something stuck under the button that would keep it from working, which voided my warranty, but I couldn't believe that it was the hardware itself, I never thought I'd have to return a Logitech peripheral. The letters are wearing off of my Elite keyboard. My webcam software is screwing with my mouse software. I had to return a joystick the night I bought it because it felt so horrible to use. What's going on at Logitech??? Nobody in my house smokes, I keep my workspace clean and free of food and dust and any other debris that could get caught in a piece of hardware, so all I can come up with is that Logitech has gone from the company that made the kind of mouse you could use as a boat anchor, pull up after fifty years, plug it in and it would work great, to making junk like the two-dollar mice manufacturers make. I think I could get about the same amount of trouble-free use out of a two-dollar mouse. I never wanted to give Microsoft more money than I had to, but unless one of the small companies that make gaming mice have a model as fully-featured as mine (eight buttons + wheel with a comfortable shape, software compatible with everything in the world), it looks like I'm just going to get an Intellimouse or whatever they have these days and be done with Logitech.

On a side note, the only reason I updated to a new mouse was because I tried optical on my friend's PC and it does feel smoother, and it's a lot less maintenance. If they hadn't invented the optical mouse, I'd still be using my Mouseman Plus or whatever it was called, and I'd bet good money it'd be working as well as ever.

I'm really asking if anyone has experienced similar problems with current Logitech stuff, but if anyone knows the old Logitech quality I'm talking about and has a MS or Razor or any of the really good mice out there today and thinks it's comparable to the old Logitech stuff, please tell me. I'm so annoyed I could park my car on this mouse to let off some steam if I wasn't so hardcoded to take care of the things I own.
 
Had an MX500 since it was released.

With the exception of my left mouse key getting a lil more springy its as good as the day i brought it.

Even if it did break id proberly just buy another MX500.
 
In my experience their products are ok, not great but not bad. But my beef with them is that they misrepresent their products.

I bought a Logitech Quickcam Express which is advertised as "640 x 480 pixels" (307200 pixels) and found out this is not the case at all. In reality the camera captures at a maximum of 352 x 288 (101376) pixels which is less than one third of the claimed resolution.

I wrote Logitech and their response was:
"The information on the website states that the Quickcam Express can capture and image of "up to" 640x480 pixels, not that the sensor itself has this as a native resolution. The Quickcam express uses a CIF sensor which can be extrapolated using software to 640x480, obviously you will lose some quality in a larger image."
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which is clearly misleading the customer. Nowhere do they mention the native resolution while they mention the misleading "640x480" in several places of the package and web site.

The camera works OK in NetMeeting but I have a couple of other cameras which give better contrast and resolution. OTOH I paid something like $12 on ebay so I'm not complaining. .
 
MX500 had problems, why do you think they came out with the MX510?
 
ah I think thats called ... things do wear out... what? do you think things will last forever?
 
I've always loved the webcam's Intel makes. Is that weird or good of me?

I too think Logitech's QC isn't as good as it used to be, some products feel flimsy compared to older ones, though they still are good quality.

-randyc
 
LordVampyre said:
ah I think thats called ... things do wear out... what? do you think things will last forever?
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QFT

Stuff wears out, that doesn't make it low quality. If your keyboard lasts for a year, divide the price out over 365 days and ask yourself, was it worth X cents today? If so, you shouldn't have a problem buying a new one every year!
 
I have bought many of their products and still find their mouses and keyboards have great quality in them.
 
I just recently started buying Logitech products in the past 2 years, and they haven't let me down yet. The most recent products I bought were a Logitech Mini optical mouse, the Logitech Z3 2.1 speaker system, and a Logitech wireless Xbox controller, all 3 of which I must say work awesome. No problems at all. :confused: Maybe you've gotten unlucky with defective stuff?
 
I've always bought Logitech mice, never had one let me down. Replaced one I had for 3 years recently, the mouse looked/worked like the day I got it.
 
I used to buy logitech mice all the time. Then I bought a couple MS mice for systems I did for other people. For my hands it was a no brainer switch.......so it wasn't a quality but a design thing that made me leave. Too bad MS can't make software like they make keyboards/mice.
 
Vertigo Acid said:
Stuff wears out, that doesn't make it low quality. If your keyboard lasts for a year, divide the price out over 365 days and ask yourself, was it worth X cents today? If so, you shouldn't have a problem buying a new one every year!
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Everything is relative. If your keyboard lasts for a year and other keyboards last six months then you got a good keyboard. But if the average keyboard lasts 5 years then you got a crappy keyboard. I have changed systems several times in the last decade but I have kept my keyboard which is something like 8 years old now and still works fine and all the characters are readable on the key caps. It is a generic made-in-China keyboard. I would say that any keyboard which lasts less than a few years with normal use is crap.
 
I have an old Logitech ball mouse that looks like the great-great grandfather of the MX mice that still works perfectly. I also couldn't be happier with my MX1000 and my x530 speakers.
 
For seriously... My logi speakers were cheap for the quality and power, keyboard has never failed me and they combine lots of buttons in a good layout.. Mouse doesnt feel as good as MS, but every MS mouse i've had (3) has broken the same way, maybe Im just rough with them. Anyway, logitech has never failed me and I will always take their products in consideration..
 
I change my earlier opinion. I just had a speaker fall off my desk and had the plastic clips that keep the mesh on break.
 
Original poster - 2 years of use from something you use possibly every day breaks down? Not a valid complaint.

shadowbreaker513 said:
I change my earlier opinion. I just had a speaker fall off my desk and had the plastic clips that keep the mesh on break.
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Most things don't respond well to gravity. Not a valid complaint.

The guy who complaigned about being mislead (just another word for "lying") about the specs - that was a valid complaint.

All in all, I think Logitech makes quality products and are still fairly innovative, despite being on top of their game. Have their products faltered? Maybe a little bit. I may not like some of the newer designs, but it's obvious they are still spending alot of R&D designing ergonomic products and novel designs. For example the $10 keyboard I just bought from them could have been hard & clackety like the rest of the cheapskates. Almost perfect softness, minimilist design and even included a detachable wristwrest!

Just got off the Creative forums, complaining about some of their false technical specs, terrible support and no drivers. They still may have the best (from a gaming perspective) sound cards available, but like Logitech, they may be a victim of their own success. Although with Creative, it's more like a guaranteed casualty...
 
shadowbreaker513 said:
I change my earlier opinion. I just had a speaker fall off my desk and had the plastic clips that keep the mesh on break.
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fickle, aren't we?

;)

i have a logitech mouseman optical (the blue one) that is starting to have some problems... hard to drag+drop with it now, sometimes double clicks unexpectedly, little jumpy with the sensor. of course, when we bought it new, it was $50. and that was... um... '97? i think? so it lasted pretty well IMO. the mousebuttons have wear such that you can see a pit where your fingers go, and the blue rubber on the sides is turning green, and the left mousebutton is worn a little (leading to wierd behavior... took it apart today, and turns out that the little plastic piece inbetween the button surface and the button itself is worn a bit... but it is still cool)

the only problem i have with my MX Duo is that i got it for $100 at best buy (cheaper online, yada yada) and it is lagging in games now too (see thread) it did it a bit when i first got it, then i rearranged my desk, now it is back in a different form. not sure why...

but i'd buy more logitech if i needed it. i have 4 logitech keyboards and 3 logitech mice (one microsoft one... it doesn't feel right. too light) they last pretty well (for me anyways)

i just with that their mice were longer. the mx1000 is even shorter than the mx700, which is shorter than the mouseman wheel optical i have... disturbing trend. i don't want a puck mouse. :)p)

anywho... summary: i think that logitech still makes some quality stuff.

btw: OP - i agree with your name (as long as you are referring to a sledgehammer)
 
LordVampyre said:
ah I think thats called ... things do wear out... what? do you think things will last forever?
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sleepeeg3 said:
Original poster - 2 years of use from something you use possibly every day breaks down? Not a valid complaint.
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My last three Logitech mice still work fine. From two buttons, to three buttons, to three buttons with a wheel, the only mouse that's deteriorating is the optical. The first is ten years old. My quantifiable usage of mice has, in fact, declined in the past ten years, as other parts of life have become more demanding... but some of you know about that all too well. ;)

Of course, if a mouse only ever lasted me two years, the MX500 would be just fine, but I've used these mice for years, even after I've upgraded to new models, I just moved them to the other PCs in the house.

rogue_jedi said:
i have a logitech mouseman optical (the blue one) that is starting to have some problems... hard to drag+drop with it now, sometimes double clicks unexpectedly, little jumpy with the sensor. of course, when we bought it new, it was $50. and that was... um... '97? i think? so it lasted pretty well IMO. the mousebuttons have wear such that you can see a pit where your fingers go, and the blue rubber on the sides is turning green, and the left mousebutton is worn a little (leading to wierd behavior... took it apart today, and turns out that the little plastic piece inbetween the button surface and the button itself is worn a bit... but it is still cool)
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That's exactly the kind of experience I'm having. It seems that I'm in the minority of people who can actually wear through peripherals, but the difference in quality between the older Logitech mice and their new stuff still stands. One thing I noticed when I lined my mice up is that Logitech is using a softer plastic so that the button can be part of the shell, it's one piece, so the plastic has to be able to bend, whereas the older buttons were their own rigid panels. That's probably why the areas where you put a lot of pressure are wearing when the older mice never did. It's still an improvement because there's no joint to get crud into and it looks cleaner from a design perspective. That's kind of thing I can forgive, maybe sufficiently cheap and robust plastics aren't available yet. It's the damn button sensors, if my first mouse's left button is still crisp and smooth, shouldn't the electronics have only gotten better and cheaper? Why cut corners there now? My finger isn't any stronger than it was when I competed in FPS's.

I'll even forgive the glitches with my optical sensor fidgeting while the mouse is utterly still, I hope it's because optical mice are still a relatively young technology (though it's incredibly annoying in FPS games, and any kind of work that requires relative precision, which the vast majority of mouse movement counts as, anyway). That the button sensors are going to crap after two years when my ten-year-old mouse from the same manufacturer is functionally identical to when it was new, that's annoying.

I came up with one theory, I'll put it in a new thread, but I'll mention it here first. I'd like to know what everyone is using as a surface, because maybe that's why my optical sensor senses darting, miniscule movement when there is none. I've tried everything from the original foam-and-cloth pad to the smooth plastic with grainy background to a polished wood surface to heavy drawing paper with no luck. That's why I figured it was the sensor itself. Does anybody who really knows optical sensors know what the best surface, color- and texture-wise, as well as whether a uniform or vastly differing pattern is best? Anybody who's had this problem and solved it by changing the surface, please, please speak up.

Jedi: Of course it's about a sledgehammer. Like the old saying about doing things the right way, the wrong way, and the dumb way, which is the wrong way, but faster.
 
I don't know what the surface of my mousepad is, but it's a hard-ish, textured, plasticy material that is meant for optical mice or ball mice. My Logitech optical mouse works on that or straight on the desk surface, but the microsoft mouse I bought only works on the mousepad, and goes all crazy if I try to use it on the desk. I wonder why???
 
lesman said:
I don't know what the surface of my mousepad is, but it's a hard-ish, textured, plasticy material that is meant for optical mice or ball mice. My Logitech optical mouse works on that or straight on the desk surface, but the microsoft mouse I bought only works on the mousepad, and goes all crazy if I try to use it on the desk. I wonder why???
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My MS mouse works fine on real wood(Oak) desks. Never tried it on any other though.
 
SledgeMakeGood said:
My last three Logitech mice still work fine. From two buttons, to three buttons, to three buttons with a wheel, the only mouse that's deteriorating is the optical. The first is ten years old. My quantifiable usage of mice has, in fact, declined in the past ten years, as other parts of life have become more demanding... but some of you know about that all too well. ;)
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the only reason that the mouse buttons are wearing out is the softer plastic (i guess) that is used on the buttons is also used on the piece that contacts the button itself. that wears down (my mouseman has a little ridge in that piece right where the button goes) and then the button acts wierd. i wish they'd attach some nice hard plastic to the button surface instead, so it would last longer, but... oh well. 8 years is pretty good to get out of an optical mouse. the mouseman has seperate buttons on it, so i don't think that the 'soft plastic' idea is new.

SledgeMakeGood said:
I came up with one theory, I'll put it in a new thread, but I'll mention it here first. I'd like to know what everyone is using as a surface, because maybe that's why my optical sensor senses darting, miniscule movement when there is none. I've tried everything from the original foam-and-cloth pad to the smooth plastic with grainy background to a polished wood surface to heavy drawing paper with no luck. That's why I figured it was the sensor itself. Does anybody who really knows optical sensors know what the best surface, color- and texture-wise, as well as whether a uniform or vastly differing pattern is best? Anybody who's had this problem and solved it by changing the surface, please, please speak up.
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i'm using a standard mousepad (freebie from something or other) it happens some on that, but a lot more on a kinda glossy wood surface. my mx700 works fine on the mousepad and not-quite-so-fine on the wood surface (my desk, btw)

SledgeMakeGood said:
Jedi: Of course it's about a sledgehammer. Like the old saying about doing things the right way, the wrong way, and the dumb way, which is the wrong way, but faster.
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very good:p
 
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