Wireless desktop is going back where it came from!

A few days ago I made myself a present, in the form of a Logitech S510
wireless keyboard and mouse. I do not mean to criticize this product in
particular, which I have no doubt fits well with many peoples' needs, and
is competitive with other makes and models available.

For my AutoCad work however, it just didn't cut it. First off, the center
button on the mouse was assigned differently, and would not do the usual
panning function in autoCad. This can be easily reconfigured though, to
work "alomst" normally. Almost - because it also has stupid sideways
panning buttons attached to it, which get in my way and end up making the
normal pan function cumbersome and error prone. Worse yet, the mouse
pointer movement is impossible to control precisely. I tried all sorts of
settings, different speeds, with and without acceleration, different
mousing surfaces - it almost acts as if it doesn't "want" to land on
the exact spot you are trying to pick, and it will either go not quite
far enough, or overshoot - it is extremely frustrating. Just as bad,
the "click" feature (yes, the plain old vanilla mouse click) is
unreliable. Sometimes you click and nothing happens at all. Again,
and again and again. Other times it acts as though you have maintained
the button, and tries to drag as soon as you want to move away. I don't
need to tell anyone here how much I appreciate this type of behavior when
I'm trying to work on a drawing. It is totally nerve-wracking, when
working on a drawing have to be fighting with the mouse just to get it to
click on something.

Finally, the keyboard has its oddities - sometimes stops typing
alltogether, adds double carriage returns when I'm expecting single, has
too many of its own "hot keys" built in,getting in your way etc. But
overall the comfort of the keyboard is OK, and it would be possible to
get used to its strangeness - unlike the mouse, which simply doesn't
work.

Is my experience shared by others here?
I am honestly surprised - I really expected the wireless mouse to work
exactly like a wired one, and was not expecting any wierdness at all.
How many are using wireless systems out there? Does anyone think I'm
doing something wrong? (the soiftware is correctly installed, the
batteries are all fresh, and the emmitter/receptor is only a few inches
from the two devices).

GF

 

My Logitech wireless mouse and keyboard are 1 1/2yrs old and I love them
both. The only "real" problem I have is the "return or enter" key is
not as large as my old keyboard. Old one: 2 keys wide and one key up
("L" shape) New one: just 2 keys wide.

I have not experienced any of the problems you are having. And I like
the tilt wheel pan feature of the mouse. Goes from side to side
effortlessly. But since everyone has his/her own way of working, when
it doesn't work like you want, it really ticks you off and puts you in a
foul mood.

I also liked the old keyboard because it was like an IBM Selectric
typewriter, with "clicking" keys. The "silent" keyboards aren't really
that silent after all.

Just my 2 1/2 cents, inflation, you know.

 

Wow - amazing. Thanks for your input.
I really wanted the freedom of the wireless mouse, and I was not at all
expecting any performance problems. But if I cannot bring the pointer exactly
where I want it (or if I have to "fight" to do so) and then I cannot click on
it reliably, then it's just a waste of time.

Maybe it's because I bought a "lower end" product? It was about $60, and there
were others upwards of $200. Right now I have a $6.00, 1996 PS2 wheel mouse,
and it works to perfection! Could not ask for anything better. Doesn't look
too cool - pretty soon I'll wear through the case of it - but it sure gets
me through my day reliably!

GF

 

I bought a $15 GE wireless mouse for use with my laptop about 2 years ago.
It works flawlessly until the batteries are low. I do know that if the
reciever is close to some other frequency emitter (radio, CRT monitor,
wireless network card, etc.) the response deteriorates to the types of
symptoms you describe. You may want to make sure the reciever is not near
anything like those (just a few inches makes a big difference) and also make
sure your mouse is not sitting on something that may interfere.

I will never go back to corded.....

Jeff

 

Follow-up :
Brought the wireless desktop back, and got a refund without difficulty.
The guy seemed unsurprised that I was dissatisfied with it, so I asked if a lot
of them are coming back for refunds. "Not a lot - but it happens" was his
reply. I asked him if he had a better suggestion, and the only one he could
give me was to use Logitech's high-end ultra design unit, for $250.

I'm not ready to spend $250 on a mouse, hoping against hope it will work as
well as my $4.00 PS2 mechanical mouse. I think I'll probably be with corded
units for a long time to come.

GF

 

Well, I am not using a CRT monitor any more, but the unit is close to a
wireless network. I will not get rid of the wireless network - If I have to
choose between a wireless mouse and a wireless network, because the two
interfere with each other, then I can use a corded mouse for the rest of my
life! I'm also not ready to re-design my office to accommodate the wireless
mouse. If they cannot make it work in a normal office setting, with all kinds
of emmitters, cellphones, wireless printers etc, then they have not done a very
good job. Perhaps a bluetooth version would work better?

GF

 

Greg, I'm not talking about reworking anything. What I was saying is that if
my receiver for the cordless mouse happens to get set right next to, or
within about 4-5 inches of, my laptop's wireless network card (which is
built-in on the right side, near where my mouse usually sits) I experiance
weird actions with the mouse. If I move the receiver just 1 inch away, all
works fine.

I did have an occassion where my mouse was just totally whacked out. It took
me an hour to figure it out, but my nephew came to visit and was showing my
wife some pictures he took while away at college. I was working at home on a
job with a deadline when all of a sudden I had NO control over my mouse. To
make a long story a bit shorter, it turns out that his laptop was on the
table against the same wall that my desk is against and his laptop/mouse was
closer to my laptop than my own mouse and we both had the same model of
mouse. Moving him to another table solved my problem.

On another note, I do know that if I set my cell phone (Kyocera) down within
1 foot of my laptop, I can hear the comp. speakers have some noise
interference approx. 1 second before my phone rings......

Jeff