I've been pestering logitech for ages about getting a 3 button mouse with a scroll wheel on the side.
Why?
The old school three button mouse was useful in *nix cause it was the paste button. Pasting with a wheel, or a rebound thumb button isn't the same.
The ergonomics of a scroll wheel is better with the thumb, and not the middle finger. Look at how the other fingers move when you scroll with the middle finger. A scroll wheel on the side is perfect as the thumb naturally moves in that motion.
The last thing they need to do is make the mouse shorter. Palming a mouse isn't ideal for everyone. I rather use finger tips to lift, move and reposition.
I don't use my middle finger for the wheel - use index for wheel and left button and middle for right button. Ring finger guides the right side of the mouse, pinkie just along for the ride. I also rarely pick up the mouse, I just leave my wrist on the desk and move the mouse with my fingers.
The only thing that precluded me from getting the G5 before was the lack of a second thumb button - I ended up searching high and low for another MX500 (which I prefer to the MX510/518) and settled on a MX400. Now that's been rectified, the G5 really will be the best wired mouse available, and I think I'll be picking one up soon.
It has 10 buttons I can press to do things in games. Technically, the new G5 has 11, but for some dumb reason logitech left out the front-most button that you click with your middle finger (the sensitivity + button). I use this, and all other MX518 buttons, exclusively in games.
I want more buttons.
An MX518 with left/right tilt would be ideal right now. That'd be 12 total programmable buttons to play with.
I've been using an MX1000 for a long, long while now, simply because it's mind-numbingly convenient having all those buttons (page up/down on the jog buttons, home/end on the rocker, and shift/ctrl/alt on the side) - I could handle 2 (alt wouldn't be a big loss), but going down to one would just be frustrating (at least for a little while).
I managed to get this mouse at Best Buy for $50 a while back. I found that the weights on this version of the G5 are easier to remove and the textured surface feels pretty nice. It performs really well when playing FPS but sometimes the stock DPI settings can be a bit too quick but changing them to suit me is really easy.
...and it feels like spidey's love juice...or dead skin, take your pick. It's also not as "cool" to the touch after extended gaming. The 518 always feels cool to touch.
I was in the market some months ago for a new mouse that had tilt wheel (which I love for internet back/forward), but worried because some games use the middle mouse button (Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander etc) and I have had problems with mis-clicking on tilt capable mice.
I found that the middle wheel button is not too bad on this mouse, but since games like the above make heavy use of this function to move the map around I was still getting too many mis-clicks.
One of the big reasons I bought this mouse is because of the extra buttons that I thought could be remapped to the middle mouse button. I also wanted the remapping to be active for specific applications.
Problem is the setpoint software won't let you remap certain buttons. Unless, you install this:
which opens up remapping to most (or all?) buttons. I can say that I successfully remapped the first thumb button in COH and SC to act as the middle button with 100% success. I also mapped the thumb buttons to zoom in/out in Photoshop.
Also, I personally hated the sandpaper-like feel that I assume is to keep the mouse from slipping out of your fingers and flying out the window, so I fixed that easily with 600 grit sandpaper. Feels MUCH more comfortable to me now. Personal preference I guess.
Overall an EXCELLENT mouse but there is ONE BAD THING that I have not found a fix for: I cannot get the acceleration option to disable in games. I typically use a Low setting for the desktop (which is spread over two 1600x1200 screens), but want it off in games. An example is Q3 arena...even though I set the driver to disable acceleration it is still there.
Coincidently, I just happened to pick one of these mice up, yesterday. I'd noticed that Circuit City had a pretty good price listed, online. When I went to a local store, they were still showing the original price, but they matched their online price when I asked them about this.
As an earlier poster suggested, previous reviews, such as those by buyers at NewEgg, had been critical of how the scrollwheel worked as a third button on the original G5. This was an additional reason why the MX518 seemed to enjoy a better reputation (besides the second thumb button). My understanding is that this is improved with the newer version of the G5. Since you have both mice available, it would be interesting to hear your impressions of how much this has changed and presumably improved. Perhaps, comparing it to the MX518 in this regard, as well.
I've not had a chance to really explore mapping buttons on the mouse to ingame settings, but my quick attempt seemed to indicate the Battlefield 2 didn't pick up on my attempt to assign a specific keystroke to a button. I tried to assign a couple of numbers to the right and left wheel clicks, in order to use these to select a weapon more quickly. If I bring up notepad, I can get 2's and 3's to type out by clicking the wheel from side to side, for example, but the game doesn't seem to see these as commands to bring up weapon 2 or weapon 3. I suspect this has more to do with the game than SetPoint, however.
It's interesting that, when they dropped the second thumb button, I (and several other people) wrote to them asking to bring it back. We all received a reply saying "thanks for the suggestion, but we have no plans to do that". Well, guess what?
Now, if only they would fix the way the cable attaches to the mouse (that's the main point of failure since the MX500). I suppose that's deliberate, so they "die" after 2/3 years and force people to "upgrade"... unless they happen to have a soldering iron.
Great news for mouse enthusiasts, and Logitech is certainly a great company to buy from. I had a MX700 replaced under warranty a few months ago and it was a completely painless process as they shipped me a new Revolution without needing to return the broken mouse. At the time, I also told the CS tech the G7 would be a much better mouse if they added the 2nd mouse button and he said he'd pass it on to the engineers. Looks like I wasn't the only one begging for a 2nd button on the G-series. Hopefully a G7 refresh is in the works, if/when it does come out I'll be happy to plunk down another $80-$100 for Logitech quality and service.
The weight system is a good idea in principle, but the with the current setup the weight difference isn't noticable. They need to have a greater range, say adding upto 100g, rather than the paltry 36g.
This is another major issue with past mice like the G5 that have sideways middle clicks.
Did you guys experience a lot of incorrect button presses when attempting to do a middle click? ie, did you hit middle left or right instead or AS WELL as hitting the middle?
With the MX518 hitting the middle click is easy and always guaranteed...
We did not have any incorrect middle clicks during testing. The main reason is the fact that you have to firmly press down on the middle button which made reaction time slower to some degree until you get use to it. I prefer the MX518 middle click but several others liked the G5.
quote: There are not any real benchmarks for mouse performance nor is there a conclusive way of determining which mouse performs best at a given setting.
We had been working on something similar but decided in the end that the amount of testing required for each mouse (G5 as an example, 3dpi/6 USB polling settings x various weight points plus multiple path movements) still would not really tell us anything conclusive about how the mouse operates without knowing the conditions it would be used in. We are still figuring out how to do something more scientific while trying to cover the major variables.
have seen it, this esreality article is not perfect, but way beyond any other mouse reviews i've seen anywhere.
its written by competitive multiplayer gamers for competitive multiplayer gamers.
haven't read it in a long time but i believe one of the things it covered that really no one else does is negative acceleration. Negative acceleration meaning if you move the mouse x distance at a slow speed, it tracks differently than if you move the mouse the same distance at a fast speed. I would have liked them to test a ball mouse to see if it has any negative acceleration.
I wish I could find one to buy :( I have an MX510 that's still going strong, but I've been needing a decent wireless mouse that isn't the MX Revolution or G7.
I used the G5 for few days and went back to MX518. To me MX518 is the best logitech gaming mouse. But now i use Razor Death adder which is my fav razor mouse.
Reason i mention it is because some get confused over how to use the DPI switching and just assume because only 3 lights on mouse you can only use 3 settings. Hope that clears it up :P
It is actually FIVE DPI settings you can use with the mouse, It will show additional lcd lit up for other settings. For instance the 2nd from lowest DPI setting you pick will light up 2 led lights on mouse, and 4th LCD setting will show the top 2 lit up.
This isn't a direct reply to you sorry. But I have one question who actually uses a left handed mouse. I am left handed always have been always will be LOL, and I have never used a left handed mouse, I am 27 which while not old means I was around when you could only get right handed mice which was never a problem. I have never understood the point of left handed mice to begin with, it take litterally NO learning curve for a left handed person to use a normal (right handed) mouse unless you have only used left handed mice your entire life. Logitech and others can't honestly seel than many of them.
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39 Comments
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Zoomer - Saturday, August 4, 2007 - link
What really irks me is the repositioning and shrinking of the thumb button. I really like the mouseman optical style.The positioning was a lot like the ifeel version: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/2137/Hardw...">http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Station/2137/Hardw...
bloc - Friday, July 27, 2007 - link
I've been pestering logitech for ages about getting a 3 button mouse with a scroll wheel on the side.Why?
The old school three button mouse was useful in *nix cause it was the paste button. Pasting with a wheel, or a rebound thumb button isn't the same.
The ergonomics of a scroll wheel is better with the thumb, and not the middle finger. Look at how the other fingers move when you scroll with the middle finger. A scroll wheel on the side is perfect as the thumb naturally moves in that motion.
The last thing they need to do is make the mouse shorter. Palming a mouse isn't ideal for everyone. I rather use finger tips to lift, move and reposition.
Time to rethink the mouse logitech/ms...
strikeback03 - Monday, July 30, 2007 - link
I don't use my middle finger for the wheel - use index for wheel and left button and middle for right button. Ring finger guides the right side of the mouse, pinkie just along for the ride. I also rarely pick up the mouse, I just leave my wrist on the desk and move the mouse with my fingers.kachaffeous - Thursday, July 26, 2007 - link
I have the old G5 and the middle mouse click problem is a deal breaker until it gets fixed. Anyone have the old and new to compare the two?GokieKS - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
The only thing that precluded me from getting the G5 before was the lack of a second thumb button - I ended up searching high and low for another MX500 (which I prefer to the MX510/518) and settled on a MX400. Now that's been rectified, the G5 really will be the best wired mouse available, and I think I'll be picking one up soon.skyyspam - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
It has 10 buttons I can press to do things in games. Technically, the new G5 has 11, but for some dumb reason logitech left out the front-most button that you click with your middle finger (the sensitivity + button). I use this, and all other MX518 buttons, exclusively in games.I want more buttons.
An MX518 with left/right tilt would be ideal right now. That'd be 12 total programmable buttons to play with.
Thalyn - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
I've been using an MX1000 for a long, long while now, simply because it's mind-numbingly convenient having all those buttons (page up/down on the jog buttons, home/end on the rocker, and shift/ctrl/alt on the side) - I could handle 2 (alt wouldn't be a big loss), but going down to one would just be frustrating (at least for a little while).Any word if they're updating the G7 to match?
Omega215D - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
I managed to get this mouse at Best Buy for $50 a while back. I found that the weights on this version of the G5 are easier to remove and the textured surface feels pretty nice. It performs really well when playing FPS but sometimes the stock DPI settings can be a bit too quick but changing them to suit me is really easy.I prefer the new G5 to the my MX518.
GlassHouse69 - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
It is fucking uglyfucking
ugly
next.
copper and faded metal look so much nicer.
fucking
ugly.
yes, the word fucking I said.
Jodiuh - Thursday, July 26, 2007 - link
...and it feels like spidey's love juice...or dead skin, take your pick. It's also not as "cool" to the touch after extended gaming. The 518 always feels cool to touch.GlassHouse69 - Monday, July 30, 2007 - link
LOL ! nice!you rock :)
not many on here have real opinions.
VooDooAddict - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Never missed the second thumb button on the original G5.You could easily configure the right or left side tap of the scroll wheel to various functions that I would have normally used for the thumb button.
BIOSMonkey - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
I was in the market some months ago for a new mouse that had tilt wheel (which I love for internet back/forward), but worried because some games use the middle mouse button (Company of Heroes, Supreme Commander etc) and I have had problems with mis-clicking on tilt capable mice.I found that the middle wheel button is not too bad on this mouse, but since games like the above make heavy use of this function to move the map around I was still getting too many mis-clicks.
One of the big reasons I bought this mouse is because of the extra buttons that I thought could be remapped to the middle mouse button. I also wanted the remapping to be active for specific applications.
Problem is the setpoint software won't let you remap certain buttons. Unless, you install this:
http://www.mstarmetro.net/~rlowens/uberOptions/">http://www.mstarmetro.net/~rlowens/uberOptions/
which opens up remapping to most (or all?) buttons. I can say that I successfully remapped the first thumb button in COH and SC to act as the middle button with 100% success. I also mapped the thumb buttons to zoom in/out in Photoshop.
Also, I personally hated the sandpaper-like feel that I assume is to keep the mouse from slipping out of your fingers and flying out the window, so I fixed that easily with 600 grit sandpaper. Feels MUCH more comfortable to me now. Personal preference I guess.
Overall an EXCELLENT mouse but there is ONE BAD THING that I have not found a fix for: I cannot get the acceleration option to disable in games. I typically use a Low setting for the desktop (which is spread over two 1600x1200 screens), but want it off in games. An example is Q3 arena...even though I set the driver to disable acceleration it is still there.
Spacecomber - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Coincidently, I just happened to pick one of these mice up, yesterday. I'd noticed that Circuit City had a pretty good price listed, online. When I went to a local store, they were still showing the original price, but they matched their online price when I asked them about this.As an earlier poster suggested, previous reviews, such as those by buyers at NewEgg, had been critical of how the scrollwheel worked as a third button on the original G5. This was an additional reason why the MX518 seemed to enjoy a better reputation (besides the second thumb button). My understanding is that this is improved with the newer version of the G5. Since you have both mice available, it would be interesting to hear your impressions of how much this has changed and presumably improved. Perhaps, comparing it to the MX518 in this regard, as well.
I've not had a chance to really explore mapping buttons on the mouse to ingame settings, but my quick attempt seemed to indicate the Battlefield 2 didn't pick up on my attempt to assign a specific keystroke to a button. I tried to assign a couple of numbers to the right and left wheel clicks, in order to use these to select a weapon more quickly. If I bring up notepad, I can get 2's and 3's to type out by clicking the wheel from side to side, for example, but the game doesn't seem to see these as commands to bring up weapon 2 or weapon 3. I suspect this has more to do with the game than SetPoint, however.
Justin Case - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
It's interesting that, when they dropped the second thumb button, I (and several other people) wrote to them asking to bring it back. We all received a reply saying "thanks for the suggestion, but we have no plans to do that". Well, guess what?Now, if only they would fix the way the cable attaches to the mouse (that's the main point of failure since the MX500). I suppose that's deliberate, so they "die" after 2/3 years and force people to "upgrade"... unless they happen to have a soldering iron.
Etern205 - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Forget the G5, the future is here!lol
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/logitech-g9...">http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/peripherals/...tech-g9-...
Zak - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
It reminds me of something more organic, like some kind of alien web or network of neurons, etc.Zak
chizow - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Great news for mouse enthusiasts, and Logitech is certainly a great company to buy from. I had a MX700 replaced under warranty a few months ago and it was a completely painless process as they shipped me a new Revolution without needing to return the broken mouse. At the time, I also told the CS tech the G7 would be a much better mouse if they added the 2nd mouse button and he said he'd pass it on to the engineers. Looks like I wasn't the only one begging for a 2nd button on the G-series. Hopefully a G7 refresh is in the works, if/when it does come out I'll be happy to plunk down another $80-$100 for Logitech quality and service.Kalessian - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
There are no "RAZOR" mice. The company is spelled "razer"http://www.razerzone.com/">http://www.razerzone.com/
Kalessian - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
oops, sorry, that's on the conclusion page, 2nd to last sentence.cjb110 - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
The weight system is a good idea in principle, but the with the current setup the weight difference isn't noticable. They need to have a greater range, say adding upto 100g, rather than the paltry 36g.yacoub - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Eagerly awaits an article about modding the G5 by cutting your own lead weights for uber weight advantage / wrist building scheme. ^^Deusfaux - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
This is another major issue with past mice like the G5 that have sideways middle clicks.Did you guys experience a lot of incorrect button presses when attempting to do a middle click? ie, did you hit middle left or right instead or AS WELL as hitting the middle?
With the MX518 hitting the middle click is easy and always guaranteed...
Gary Key - Friday, July 27, 2007 - link
We did not have any incorrect middle clicks during testing. The main reason is the fact that you have to firmly press down on the middle button which made reaction time slower to some degree until you get use to it. I prefer the MX518 middle click but several others liked the G5.Capt Caveman - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
I find that using the right/left tilt buttons on the middle wheel to be faster and more useful than the second thumb button and middle wheel button.MX518 - second thumb button/more responsive middle wheel button = right/left tilt buttons on middle wheel of G5/G7
Nullvoid - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
That you received some new 'Razer' units not RAZOR.flyboy84 - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
...you are correctandepro - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Did any1 come across this article?:
http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1265679">http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1265679
Gary Key - Friday, July 27, 2007 - link
We had been working on something similar but decided in the end that the amount of testing required for each mouse (G5 as an example, 3dpi/6 USB polling settings x various weight points plus multiple path movements) still would not really tell us anything conclusive about how the mouse operates without knowing the conditions it would be used in. We are still figuring out how to do something more scientific while trying to cover the major variables.
strafejumper - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
have seen it, this esreality article is not perfect, but way beyond any other mouse reviews i've seen anywhere.its written by competitive multiplayer gamers for competitive multiplayer gamers.
haven't read it in a long time but i believe one of the things it covered that really no one else does is negative acceleration. Negative acceleration meaning if you move the mouse x distance at a slow speed, it tracks differently than if you move the mouse the same distance at a fast speed. I would have liked them to test a ball mouse to see if it has any negative acceleration.
leexgx - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
mx1000 for me has 7-8 buttons on it so all my 1-7 buttons are maped to it for gameingDuraz0rz - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
I wish I could find one to buy :( I have an MX510 that's still going strong, but I've been needing a decent wireless mouse that isn't the MX Revolution or G7.Sunrise089 - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Yay for the MX518 love. I have one, and see no reason anyone would ever need any other wired mouse.tuteja1986 - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
I used the G5 for few days and went back to MX518. To me MX518 is the best logitech gaming mouse. But now i use Razor Death adder which is my fav razor mouse.Jodiuh - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
Ditto.Gary Key - Friday, July 27, 2007 - link
The DeathAdder is quickly becoming one of my favorites also. :)imaheadcase - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
I pressed enter to soon..Reason i mention it is because some get confused over how to use the DPI switching and just assume because only 3 lights on mouse you can only use 3 settings. Hope that clears it up :P
imaheadcase - Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - link
It is actually FIVE DPI settings you can use with the mouse, It will show additional lcd lit up for other settings. For instance the 2nd from lowest DPI setting you pick will light up 2 led lights on mouse, and 4th LCD setting will show the top 2 lit up.biohazard420420 - Wednesday, August 1, 2007 - link
This isn't a direct reply to you sorry. But I have one question who actually uses a left handed mouse. I am left handed always have been always will be LOL, and I have never used a left handed mouse, I am 27 which while not old means I was around when you could only get right handed mice which was never a problem. I have never understood the point of left handed mice to begin with, it take litterally NO learning curve for a left handed person to use a normal (right handed) mouse unless you have only used left handed mice your entire life. Logitech and others can't honestly seel than many of them.