Living with Technology: Two Mice for One Desktop PC

You might think that I’d  have multiple systems in my lab that I use. You’d be wrong. I do have multiple systems in my basement lab, but when it comes to actually using a system, I use one system most often. I often refer to it as my “production” system, but that’s a misnomer. It’s true I write articles on the system, but I also use it for a multitude of other purposes.
 
One of those purposes is PC gaming. Every couple of years, I think to myself: “Self, you should have a separate system just for gaming.” Since I only have time for games a few hours a week, having a system for gaming and another for working would actually be more efficient. I could use a fairly low power system, so the thinking goes, for writing. The gaming system, which would have the big graphics cards, boatloads of memory and high end CPU, would be turned off when I’m not using it. That would, in theory, save me lots of power. Heck, I could even use a laptop as the main production system.

I try this, and it lasts until I load up a memory card with 500 raw images, and then try to process them – which usually involves a lot of waiting… and waiting. So the beefy gaming system ends up as my main system once again. 
 
That means I’m resigned – if that’s the right word – to having a high end system as my main system. Better to have too much power than too little. As CPUs and graphics cards have become more power efficient, I no longer feel like I’m sucking infinite kilowatts from my wall outlet. Bear in mind that I’ve got a Core i7 965, running at 3.3GHz, 12GB of RAM and two Radeon HD 5870 graphics cards. But my power supply is a Seasonic 750W unit, rated 80+ gold for efficiency. I could probably get by with a 650W if need be.
 
By now, you’re probably thinking: “What does all this have to do with mice?”
 
The problem with mice today is that most mice – even high end ones – suck as gaming mice. On the other hand, gaming mice tend to be too finicky and have too many knobs and levers for everyday use. That’s been my experience at any rate. In addition, I like using cordless mice. Any self-respecting gamer with a high ranking on any online ladder will tell you cordless mice suck for gaming.
 
My solution is to have two mice. Both are actually cordless, but one of them actually doesn’t suck for gaming.
 
My main mouse for daily use is a Logitech Performance MX mouse. This is the latest iteration of their high end cordless mouse. Ostensibly, it can be used for gaming, and even has two switchable DPI settings. In practice, it’s a little too bulky and heavy for extended gaming. I initially noticed this with first person shooters, but RTS games which require a lot of clicking and mouse movements gets tiring, too.

The second mouse is also cordless – but it’s designed for gaming. It’s a Razer Mamba. For a cordless mouse, it’s light, though not as light as some of Razer’s corded rodents, since it does have a battery. But it’s substantially lighter and more airy feeling than the Logitech. The Mamba also looks like a frickin’ work of art, especially when it’s mounted on its charging stand. In fact, the Mamba ships in the most ridiculous, over the top packaging I’ve ever seen for a PC peripheral.

It also has more switchable DPI settings, which makes it flexible for a wide array of games. You can set the five switchable DPI settings to your own preferences.

So why not just use the Mamba for everyday use? First, to make it lighter, Razer uses a custom Lithium Ion battery, which is small. So if you forget to turn it off, the battery lasts about two days, tops. You have to connect a USB cable if you want to use it while charging; otherwise, you have to store it on its ridiculously elaborate charging stand. This charging stand requires too much hand-eye coordination to attach the mouse. It’s all too easy to either just miss the contacts – in which case, the mouse doesn’t charge – or have the mouse slide off entirely.

The two day battery life is actually an improvement over the initial release. Razer released a firmware update that supposedly improved battery life. (As an aside: does anyone else think it’s weird having to update the firmware for a mouse?) The Logitech MX uses a single, rechargeable AA NiMH battery. I keep a bunch of these in chargers for other devices, so when the MX runs out of juice, I just swap in a freshly charged battery.

Secondly, even after fiddling with the DPI settings, I just didn’t like using it for Photoshop and any other productivity app that requires picking out individual pixels or small areas. It’s the shape, more than anything. The Logitech MX feels more natural for normal, office style apps. The Mamba feels better for gaming.

So I have two mice, one for gaming, another for everyday use. Even I’ll admit that’s a baroque solution to a fairly trivial problem. I know excellent gamers who still use the Dell two button mouse packaged with their system.

As you’re reading this, you might wonder if I’m insane enough to use two keyboards, too. Actually, I tried that, using several wired gaming keyboards that were supposedly more responsive and offered less lag than my everyday keyboard, with is a Logitech Cordless Wave Pro. But in the end, I gave up on that. The second keyboard just got in the way, and I didn’t find the extra millisecond or two of lag to really be a problem. In the era when most games are designed around console controller lag anyway, using a cordless keyboard isn’t a big deal – as long as I keep the USB receiver within two or three feet of the keyboard.

Also, no one makes an ergonomic gaming keyboard. The Wave is something of a compromise for me, although typing on it is generally a pleasure. I keep wondering if I want to go back to my Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. But that’s a topic for another day.