Over the last few years I’ve gone through a couple Logitech MX Verticals. My current one does technically work, but just like the last one the cheap rubber coating has started disintegrating and is pretty nasty at this point.
Anyone have good recs for a vertical mouse that won’t start crumbling like a dry cake in my hand? I’m not picky on buttons or anything, just work with a bunch of spreadsheets at work. The vertical mouse is just much better for my wrist.
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Not a vertical mouse:
I have a Ploopy mouse (specifically the thumb). It has different enough way of using it that I haven’t suffered wrist strain since.
Everything is open source and all physical parts are 3D printed. I’ve replaced 1 broken part twice so far.
A trackball mouse does take some time getting used to, and never quite achieves the accuracy of a regular mouse.
Oooooooooh, I do have a knack for 3d printing so this is right up my alley
I set up the lower left button as a dpi/speed modifier when I was using mine to account for the accuracy. Not perfect but let me do a little bit more
I set the rightmost button to make the trackball a scrollwheel. I now have vertical and horizontal scrolling!
I never figured out the sensitivity thing, so I only have lightspeed scrolling.
That’s quite nice! I am not sure what OS you’re running with it, but it goes hard with Linux with the Niri DE
Logitech MX Ergo trackball is great. Had mine for almost five years now.
Not quite the same, but if there’s hard plastic under the coating you could strip it down with solvent and replace it with a different material. Pleather would be comfortable and durable.
A fun DIY idea!
Yeah, that stickyness is called rubber reversion. Every device with that soft touch rubber coating will eventually do it. It comes off easily with alcohol. With a little effort you can clean it off and have a perfectly fine plastic mouse without the rubber texture or stickiness.
I have many old devices still in use that just stripped off the coating when it went bad.
I am using the Contour Unimouse at work. Very customizable to your needs. I only find the choice for default button assignment a bit weird - it has 3 buttons + mouse wheel on top and the middle button has the same action assigned as the mouse wheel “button”. Due to the size of the mouse and buttons I have the middle finger resting on the middle mouse button whereas on other mice the middle finger rests on the right mouse button. So you’ll need to use their (not so great) software to change the button bindings. Other than that a very robust mouse with high customizability.
I used to be on the MX verticals too, but I have found a new love in the Protoarc EM11 NL vertical mouse. It is a higher quality product than it has any right to be for the price, and anyone here who likes vert mice I urge to try it. Still on my first but I bought another one for the office and another for a friend.
This is the Canadian link but I’m using the Keychron M5 … feels solid for now, I hope it stays that way. It’s very light and it’s kinda meant for gaming.
https://keychron.ca/products/keychron-m5-wireless-ergonomic-mouse
I’ve spent a small fortune on trackballs, keyboards and mice …
I originally tried a Kensington Pro Fit Ergo, but it didn’t last very long. When I went looking again, the MX Ergo had come out. You can adjust it between a more flat or vertical configuration, and it has worked great for me for years now (although since there is a trackball, you do have to pop it out and clean it on occasion). I have had issues with the MX Masters before I switched to vertical mice, so it doesn’t surprise me to hear that you were having issues with MX previously. It sounds like you aren’t looking specifically for vertical mice with a thumb trackball, but I would seriously consider making the switch since you’re using them for ergonomic reasons. It doesn’t take long to adjust to it, and it essentially completely removes the wrist movements you would make with a standard vertical mouse. However, last I looked, there were very few options for that configuration. If you opt to go with a vertical trackball, I would also recommend a cushioned mouse pad for additional wrist support (plus a wrist guard for the keyboard, and compression gloves if you’re dealing with any wrist pain).
I wish you luck with your search!
Switching to a trackball should be relatively easy, I imagine it’s just a more analogue version of the Steam Deck track pads
Sorta kinda.
If you’re used to the track pads, using a thumb based track pad is similar enough the habituation curve will be gentle.
Mind you, you’re still adapting to the roundness, as well as the scale.
That being said, having used the old Microsoft trackball, thumb based ones are not for me. I’ve tried that specific one as a loaner and it didn’t match what I wanted. But comparing it to the deck’s pads, there’s a closer kind of muscle memory. I think the biggest difference is the tendency of the ball to make the ends of your movement sloppy compared to the center third or so. But that is where the habituation curve is, imo, not in the general usage.
When I’m using a trackball the end of my movement is actually the most precise, ime. The way I use the trackball is to ‘launch’ it roughly in the direction that I want, and then when the cursor is close enough to the target, you ‘stop’ the trackball and precisely move it to the destination. It’s not a single movement it’s like a flick and then a halt and precise movement.
That seems like a pretty damn efficient method. I’m going to pretend I thought of it :)
I use the same Kensington. Verticalish and having the trackball for the thumb is great. I have had to replace the mouse wheel twice, though the second one going isn’t their fault. It’s not too difficult but it does involve soldering. Otherwise, I really like it. Mapping buttons to copy and paste has been useful enough I’m considering finding a programmable mouse with more buttons. The Kensington needs its own software running on the OS to customize the buttons.
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Honestly, the 3M Wireless Ergonomic Mouse is my favorite ergonomic mouse. It’s also quite durable. I used it at work for years as my main driver when I had wrist pain.
