Logitech Signature M650: A mouse that will barely emit a squeak or a clickety-click Peripherals purveyor Logitech's Signature M650 is its latest take on a workplace mouse, and The Register has a raked a talon over one. The Signature range comes in three colours – graphite, rose, and off-white. We were given the white left-handed version (the buttons are on the right-hand side – the image below is of the right …
Happened to my old Canon SLR. It's in a box in the attic with some other no longer used photographic kit; I delved in the box to retrieve something I needed again and my hand brushed against this camera - yuk! Brushed on some talc to try and dry it off but I fear it will probably end up in the bin.
Add me to the list. I've had my MX Ergo trackball a few years now, and completely love it, except for this one 'feature'. I was a bit taken aback to see the author saying that as though the rubbery stuff were preferred over the plain plastic, given my experience, so came in here to say pretty much just that. In my particular case, by the way, not just sticky, but bubbly, but I am cursed with especially noxious hand sweat, so that might be just me.
With the same problem. Had to scrape the worst off so I could actually use the damn thing. My steel series mouse does the same but at least it just blistered rather than went sticky..
I almost wonder if it's intentional using 'soft-touch' stuff that makes things horrible to use but not actually broken?
I think you may have hit the nail on the head with the sweaty hands thing.
I use the MX Ergo (and various other Logitech trackballs since probably the late 90s). In my experience, that 'sticky' surface which develops on the rubber is crud from your hands. It can happen with Sky remote controls and any other rubberised device that is handled (especially held) for lengthy periods. If left too long, it becomes a brown-ish, semi-glossy coat!
I find it worse in summer when you're likely to be sweating more.
I wipe mine down with a tissue and (of all things) Autoglym every couple of weeks. Usually when I take the trackball out to remove any crud on the support bearings
I had a cheap infrared thermometer that's got black rubber over-molding over yellow (looks like a DeWalt tool) - randomly picked it up a week ago and rubber stuck to my hand (consistency of a thick caramel). Didn't slowly deteriorate - was fine for years and now I can pull bits off it with my fingers.
Much older real DeWalt stuff like my drill - still absolutely fine.
No idea what the difference in the chemistry is - but there is one.
Was about to suggest isopropyl alcohol as well. It usually leaves a smooth surface, so you've lost the rubbery coating, but then you'd already lost that anyway.
(Disclaimer; no liability accepted for damage nor pets teleported to alternate dimensions as a result of this advice, and obviously you should take care that the IPA doesn't damage anything else on whatever you're using it on).
In my experience meths do not always work the same as IPA. The difference is subtle and often not noticeable, but when it comes to sticky stuff like this it does matter in my experience. Recently cleaned some old film cameras (90's era) and meths didn't work to get the horrible sticky gunk that remained of the "rubberised" grips off. IPA just dissolved the rubbery goop and remove it from the surface without much trouble.
I find applying Laphroaig on the reception side of the smooth plastic surface instead of the smooth plastic surface itself alleviates not only the primary problem but makes much more bearable, too, the inevitable putting up with whatever is brought about by using appliances coated with said smooth plastic surfaces.
That crap is the worst. I'm determined to avoid products with soft-touch plastic.
I have a corkscrew that is covered in soft-touch plastic. Despite it being left in the box and rarely ever used, it's sticky beyond belief, the colour comes off on one's hands, the thing is a disgusting disaster.
Also happens to mice, wacom styluses, whatever the hell else you can find with that crap on.
I've been using a Microsoft Bluetrack "Wireless Mouse 5000" (bought as part of the "wireless desktop 3000" or now 3050) for somewhere around 12 years now as my all-day every-day mouse for work. It doesn't really work on glass (biggest difference between bluetrack and darkfield), but works on pretty much everything else. I generally get about a year out of a set of batteries (again, using it 8+ hours/day 5 days a week, on average, though ironically my battery light just came on as I write this), it's ambidextrous, and though it has some rubberized surfaces on the sides I've never had them go sticky or weird on me.
I've bought several of them due to having multiple places I wanted to use them (home, work, wife's computer, etc.), but I don't believe I've had one actually go bad.
Oh, and even though it's Microsoft hardware, it works just fine and dandy on Mac and Linux also... just in case anyone was wondering.
Happy 5000 user here too. It's a big mouse which fits my (left) hand much better than the super tiny mice most people produce these days. Has a good weight to it too.
It does pick up some dirt on the side/back rubber part but hasn't gone sticky on me like some other devices. I've had a few of these mice too. The rubber on the wheel is what fails for me: one stretched and I had to cut it and glue it to the plastic wheel. Another the rubber just crumbled after a few years. Latest one about 5 years old and still problem free.
Re other comments here about sweaty hands causing the stickiness problem on rubberised surfaces: I had a rubberised cdrom drive that went consistently sticky all over, so the stickiness can happen on parts that are never/rarely touched.
Depends if you're a finger or palm mouse user. Finger mouse users are fine with ambi mice, and indeed I find them more comfortable - with either hand.
Although I use a G903 (three of them), as a good mouse is worth investment, so I'm not best placed to comment on more affordable options
Reduce wrist strain all you like, then comes the "tennis elbow" because you're still moving that arm back and forth. Fnah, fnah yes, but I've been there and it hurts. And trackballs just wear out your thumb ligaments eventually. Been there too. Trackpads can help. RollerMouse ftw.
It really bothers me when I see people screaming to have a product banned from production just because they don't like it or have use for it, or who take the very existence of the product as some bizarre personal attack.
There are so many variations on mice even from any one vendor that it boggles the mind. Surely out of all those options you can find something you like.
P.S. In the case of dual-user households, you can easily plug in two USB mice and use either under Windows 10. You can use as many "pointer" devices as you have USB ports...
And in direct response to your title:
Stop with the homogenization of society and hardware! We are NOT all "average" or "normal"...
Not sure I asked for this stuff to be banned... Or whether you think Logitech would see this flippant moan and suddenly remove all their right handed products. You're right though, I'm sorry, I'll conform to societal norms and use my right hand for a mouse from now on. Sincere apologies for being part of the 1 in 10 that is left handed.
"There are so many variations on mice even from any one vendor that it boggles the mind. Surely out of all those options you can find something you like."
For right handed users, yes. So no, the mind boggliness disappears as soon as you apply that one filter.
After a brief dalliance with a Logitech M330 Silent Plus wireless mouse, I've gone back to a wired and cheap £10 B110S, buying a little gamer stand thing that elevates the cable so it doesn't drag on the desktop (and costs more than the mouse itself).
My experience with both Bluetooth and USB receiver mice is that after a few months the receiver starts acting up and the mouse skips. The simpler mice also work without needing you to install awful software on your computer to cause random crashes. As for the rubberized coatings, they are made of incompletely polymerized plastic painted on a hard plastic shell and will invariably disintegrate over time, instead of being made of silicone. Let's face it, these are inexpensive peripherals designed to last a year at best.
Not the cheapest but a much better mouse than the vast majority of what's out there. Also available in a vertical version.
My absolute favorite is the MX1000 that I've been using for going on 20 years now though. Which they could just make new ones of those. Bombproof, smooth mechanics, good responsiveness (even with the ancient wireless tech that it uses) and obviously lasts a LONG time. Only had to replace the battery at some point as the thing just couldn't handle a full days work anymore without blinking an angry red LED at me.
Same here. The Dark Field tech is brilliant.
I splashed out on an MX Master 3 recently and the scroll-wheel automatically switching from precision to free-wheeling seems incredibly gimmicky until you've been using it for a few weeks then move to another computer / mouse that doesn't have it. THEN you appreciate it!
I have an MX Master and it works pretty well. It fits in the hand, it doesn't accumulate much finger crud, it has a nice wheel (that you can flip between a clicky / smooth response), and a bunch of extra buttons if you need them. The thumb rest even has a button under it and a side wheel but I've never had reason to use them.
The main criticism in my model is that the signal range is crap so I have to put the dongle on the end of an extension cable on the edge of my desk because it can't talk when the dongle is under the desk and goes all jerky. Battery life is also kind of poor with time between charges being a few weeks tops so it needs charging quite often which isn't always convenient.
Their M650 L (L for Large) is 118mm long. I have an ancient MxX-518 mouse that is longer than that and that one is too small for my hands. Does anyone know of a mouse sized for Bear paws or hands that take 5XL gloves (21cm wrist to fingertip)? Not that it matters much as I mostly use a vertical mouse due to Carpal issues.
The Posturite Penguin Large is perfectly shaped for me, but it is unreliable, goes to sleep after a few minutes (yes, even the wired version) and the buttons are crap. Just ordered an Evoluent VMD (Large) so we will see how that works out. So far I am very unimpressed with all meeses since my ancient PS2 Microsoft Mouse. They all seem to be built down to a price.
I coped for a few years after the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome/ de Quervain's with a vertical mouse, this was after I jiggered my thumb joint with a trackball. Eventually the wear and tear happened on my elbow joint. I have been doing this s...tuff for quite a while. My employer got me assessed and I was prescribed a RollerMouse. Uses your fingertips, left and right hands held palm down, with whatever wrist rest helps for support. Works for me, has extended my working life and will enable me to keep using computers after I retire!
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