sedrosken
Florida Man
Say what you want about Microsoft, about it's less than savory business practices and not listening to consumers and whatnot, but they make some damn good mice.
I bought this mouse (http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wir...qid=1388774243&sr=8-4&keywords=wireless+mouse), and I couldn't be happier. Bluetrack or whatever it is makes it even easier to use my mouse on, say, my bed. Also, while some of you might like a smooth scroll wheel better, I prefer exactly the opposite. And this one couldn't be much click-ier if it tried. The switch on the bottom is much easier to flip on and off for me (I used to leave mine on all the time just because switching it off hurt my nails (or what little bit I had left of them). And, last but certainly not least, it is very comfortable. A steal at just $14. If I had more money, I'd buy a couple more. You know, for when the first one finally dies some 20 years later.
Also, back when I was working on my P3-866 in middle school, I had an old Microsoft serial mouse. No scroll, but it went through serial. Yellowed with age (that tends to happen with beige plastic - - look at the SNES!) Still worked perfectly after what must have been over 20 years in service, in a middle school full of kids that are abusive to electronics. Also, the old MS USB mice. My birth mother had an optical one and still uses it perfectly to this day. It's yellowed with age, and the silver paint on the side buttons is long gone, but it works like a charm. After about 10-15 years. That mouse is easily as old as I am, one of the first USB (or optical) mice ever (I heard my birth mom paid an arm and a leg for it when new.)
MS keyboards I have not been so fortunate with. Two MS keyboards I bought didn't work right the minute I brought them home, brand new. On one the keys in the P row wouldn't work from the P key all the way to the right (to the left worked perfectly). I was pissed, needless to say, I had dropped $50 on this multimedia keyboard (one of the first wireless ones), shredded the package trying to get it open, and now the damn thing didn't work.
Another one I had, the C key would not work at times. I had to obsessively clean that key because the minute I got a little careless, all of a sudden it didn't work. By the time I discovered it, I had long since thrown away the package because I thought it worked fine.
So yeah, keyboards and operating systems may not be their strong suit these days, but gaming consoles and mice? Definitely.
Speaking of mice, I figured out how to disable my touchpad when a USB mouse is plugged in through Linux. A program called Touchpad indicator (http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=37690, I know it says Mint, but supposedly this works for Debian and Ubuntu as well, scroll a little bit past mid-way down) has options to allow you to run it at start up, disable it at start up, disable it while a USB mouse is plugged in, disable it while typing, etc etc.
I bought this mouse (http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Wir...qid=1388774243&sr=8-4&keywords=wireless+mouse), and I couldn't be happier. Bluetrack or whatever it is makes it even easier to use my mouse on, say, my bed. Also, while some of you might like a smooth scroll wheel better, I prefer exactly the opposite. And this one couldn't be much click-ier if it tried. The switch on the bottom is much easier to flip on and off for me (I used to leave mine on all the time just because switching it off hurt my nails (or what little bit I had left of them). And, last but certainly not least, it is very comfortable. A steal at just $14. If I had more money, I'd buy a couple more. You know, for when the first one finally dies some 20 years later.
Also, back when I was working on my P3-866 in middle school, I had an old Microsoft serial mouse. No scroll, but it went through serial. Yellowed with age (that tends to happen with beige plastic - - look at the SNES!) Still worked perfectly after what must have been over 20 years in service, in a middle school full of kids that are abusive to electronics. Also, the old MS USB mice. My birth mother had an optical one and still uses it perfectly to this day. It's yellowed with age, and the silver paint on the side buttons is long gone, but it works like a charm. After about 10-15 years. That mouse is easily as old as I am, one of the first USB (or optical) mice ever (I heard my birth mom paid an arm and a leg for it when new.)
MS keyboards I have not been so fortunate with. Two MS keyboards I bought didn't work right the minute I brought them home, brand new. On one the keys in the P row wouldn't work from the P key all the way to the right (to the left worked perfectly). I was pissed, needless to say, I had dropped $50 on this multimedia keyboard (one of the first wireless ones), shredded the package trying to get it open, and now the damn thing didn't work.
Another one I had, the C key would not work at times. I had to obsessively clean that key because the minute I got a little careless, all of a sudden it didn't work. By the time I discovered it, I had long since thrown away the package because I thought it worked fine.
So yeah, keyboards and operating systems may not be their strong suit these days, but gaming consoles and mice? Definitely.
Speaking of mice, I figured out how to disable my touchpad when a USB mouse is plugged in through Linux. A program called Touchpad indicator (http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=90&t=37690, I know it says Mint, but supposedly this works for Debian and Ubuntu as well, scroll a little bit past mid-way down) has options to allow you to run it at start up, disable it at start up, disable it while a USB mouse is plugged in, disable it while typing, etc etc.
