Wireless Mouse

Thanks, chunter. My husband doesn't like the fact that batteries die fast - he's not much for portable, battery-operated tools of any kind. I'm wondering about rechargeable batteries. Also, this may sound obvious to you, but I'm not much of a hardware person. Does the mouse have to "see" the computer? In other words, does there have to be a direct line of sight between them? My mouse pad area is below the desktop. Is that okay? I assume so, but this isn't a typical computer desk but a converted regular desk with a platform on the top drawer pulled out to accommodate the mouse. (Can you picture that?) Is that okay? The term "optical mouse" sounds to me like there might be a line-of-sight issue. Sorry if I sound like a computer dunce, but if I knew the answer, I wouldn't have to ask! :)

To answer your question, nope, there doesn't need to be direct line of sight between the USB dongle and the mouse. However, my advice to put the dongle in the front panel USB is because of wireless signals...If you plug it to the rear of your PC, the wireless signal may not reach the mouse and vice versa... I can imagine what your desk looks like, but no worry about the line of sight thingy... As for optical mouse, it means the use of optical technology for scanning....Usually you can see a red light (and most times, other colours too) at the bottom of the mouse, which is the scanner...Few years back, we have ball mice which requires friction and traction to move the mouse and move the cursor onscreen...The optical scanner works the same and is more convenient...It works on almost all material except glass... Of course, these days, you may come across laser mouse which is the latest scanning technology than optical...they scan faster and are more accurate....though they are usually more for gamers...not that you can't use it... Hope that helps

Oops...meant to say, depending on the mouse, the optical mouse may emit another colour aside from red...Red is the more common colour

That's good to know. I got a new Logitech keyboard for Christmas. Wish he would have gotten a mouse, too. I do like the keyboard and I will follow your recommendation for the Logitech mouse as well. How's the battery situation with that one? Do you have to replace them often?

Thank you. I guess I could do that on a nightly basis. Now I'm anxious to go shopping for one!

It has a rechargeable battery built into it. It comes with a charging station, so you just plug it in to charge when you aren't using it.

That's a good idea, to go to a store and try them on, so to speak, to see which one feels best. Also, being able to put them out of the reach of children is a good benefit of having a wireless device. Thanks!

Interesting that it interfered with the bluetooth. Of course I don't know much about that, either! Sometimes I guess it's good to stick with what works. I'm pretty resistant to change, in fact. Thanks for the response!

Thanks for the input, Fish16. That does sound like a nice long battery life. Not bad at all! My husband will probably check out reviews somewhere to compare brands, but I would certainly think anything by Microsoft would be a good product. Thanks again!

Thanks for the recommendation! (Funny, I read that as "no" the first time!)

oops Imean no trouble.

Now, that's a glowing recommendation. Thanks so much! I hope to do just that in the very near future.

I suspect I'll be the same way - and sorry that it took me so long to switch to wireless. My husband is actually the hard sell, and he's my "tech" guy. I'll be feeding him all this information that I've gotten today and will let him make the final decision, but I certainly see wireless in my future. Good to know that the batteries last a long time for you. That's a good selling point to help me make my case. Thanks!

You know what, losing it is a very good point. I really hadn't thought about that. My desk area is semi-well organized so I don't think I'd lose it amongst my "stuff," but I have two cats who love to move things around, and my little girl cat in particular moves things on my desk at night in order to wake me up so I'll give her attention. I can totally imagine my cats bumping the mouse off the desk and batting it across the room to somewhere where I'll never find it. Thanks for the heads up on that one!

My computer is in the bedroom, so I appreciate that additional advice about the light. Thanks!