Thinking of returning to an old favorite

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reaper12

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Oct 21, 2006
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Well, I am thinking of buying a microsoft intellimouse 3.0. Had one years ago and loved it, maybe I'm looking to the past through rose tinted glasses, but I think it was the best mouse I have ever owned.

I have used a lot of mice since my IE 3.0 broke down years ago. Here are some of the highlights, in no particular order :)

Razor DeathAdder,
Logitech MX 518, G5, G9 and MX1000(very comfortable)
OCZ Behemoth.

I have tried many more in that search for the best mouse for me. For the last while I was switching between the logitech G9 and OCZ Behemoth. But, neither just feel quite right. My wrist starts to ache after long sessions with the behemoth, but, my fingers really hurt when I use the G9. So in an effort to try and solve my mouse problem I went up to the attic and found the old mx518, just to see what that was like, and I have to say things have been much better. So much better that I started thinking about the IE 3.0.

I never had pains when using it. My aim and general gameplay in FPS games like counterstrike was much better.

So maybe I am mad, but, I am returning to an old school mouse in the hope that it solves some of my mouse problems.
 
i used to have one before i started gaming, the first gaming mouse i bought was mx518 and i found it much better than ie3.

ive used mx518 g5 g7 copperhead deathadder and both the ikaris and i out of those i prefered the g5 and deathadder.
 
It's still a decent mouse.... but it has the same problems the original did. Namely, weak ass side buttons. Also, the scroll wheel is looser on the new ones than the originals. Anyway, it's still a good mouse with a classic shape.

Maybe you don't even have to buy a new one! :)

I busted out my ancient IME 3.0a a few months back and decided to see if I could mod it to fix it. I originally stopped using it due to the "internal wire break in the cord causes constant disconnects" problem that plagued them. I also wanted to see if I could correct the bad side buttons, and the nearly stuck scroll wheel which began rubbing up against the housing for no apparent reason. (Another common problem)

I was actually able to open the thing up and fix it on all accounts, and now except for some wear spots on the paint it's pretty much as good as new. Do you still have your old one?

My fixes went as follows:

1.) Disconnection problem: (Broken cable)
This is typically caused by an internal wire inside the cable breaking at a point of stress, usually near where it goes into the mouse. You can find it by plugging it in and carefully wiggling the cable around inch by inch until you find the break. You have a few options: Get your soldering iron, cut out the suspected bad section, and then re-connect the two good parts......or you can do it the lazy way if the break is close enough to the front of the mouse and just draw the cable up into the mouse, fold it away and close the mouse up with the cable in a "connected" position; it won't get agitated anymore with the cable inside.

2.) Stiff/Stuck scroll wheel:
Get out your Exacto knife and carefully shave down the side of the wheel well that is chafing on the wheel. Simple, but effective. You can't even tell that it's been done just by looking at it from the outside.

3.) Loose side buttons:
I've never seen an IME that didn't have this problem. You can fix it with some glue and a VERY thin piece of sturdy plastic. Inside the mouse, you'll find a little press-tab on a 90 degree hinge that turns your sideways presses on the side buttons into vertical pressure onto the switch on the PCB in the mouse. Since i'm not looking inside the thing right now I can't visualize it perfectly, but what you need to do is thicken the contact point VERY slightly so when the button is in non-pressed position, it's held further off the switch which in turn holds the button further out of the body of the mouse. Imagine an "L" shape, where the side button of the mouse is at the top left of the L and the switch is under the bottom right, with the hinge at the corner. Imagine what happens if you thicken the underside of the bottom right part of the "L". Again, I can't remember it exactly but if you keep this in mind the spot you need to modify should be pretty obvious when you look at it. All you need to do is glue the thin plastic shim onto that spot to raise the button. When I say "thin" I mean thin too, when I was doing this I started off with a tiny fleck of plastic I cut off of the packaging for some ram sticks with an exacto knife. I ended up having to sand it down to about half thickness to get it to the point where it was thin enough to raise the buttons but not force the switch to be stuck in a pressed position. Theres probably something else thin you could use that would require less work, but I couldn't think of anything. Make sure to let the glue dry, or you'll have to go in and re-seat the "shim" back into place.

Hopefully you still have your old one and these fixes can help it. :D
 
If the IME 3 had 800 dpi I'd be all over it...

MS needs to make an updated version of the IME 3.
 
Cool Kett, I might try and see have I still got it. I never throw out anything. I never use the side buttons in any mouse, lol, so that is one thing that's not going to be an issue!!

yeah the mx518 is a great mouse. Still, in my own mind, I thought the IE 3.0 was better. Just might go back to one for a few days to see was it just my imagination :)
 
450 said:
If the IME 3 had 800 dpi I'd be all over it...

MS needs to make an updated version of the IME 3.
Click to expand...

Isn't there an intellimouse explorer 4? with grooves in the top leading back from the buttons? Anyone seen one or tested one?
 
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