What kind of mouse pad and mouse feet do you currently use and why?

[Termy]

I have a hard time walking on mouse feet, so I stick with my own human feet.

But seriously, I have no idea whether my mousepad would be classed as soft or hard; maybe somewhere in the middle? It's a really nice one I got from the interwebs ages ago; it's rubbery and floppy, but firm. Yes, I know how that sounds. Anyway, it's a great pad. I didn't know people were modding their mouse FEET, of all things, but that's a neat idea for crappy mice and pads! My mouse just has wee smooth feet, so nothing special. I don't use the mouse that much, as I'm more of a terminal guy, so I'm not too bothered with fancy mice, feet, or pads.

This thread taught me that there are threads for anything.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...This thread taught me that there are threads for anything.

LOL!

[BenTrabetere]

This thread taught me that there are threads for anything.

You must be too young to remember Usenet. Especially the weirdness (and hostility) during/after the Eternal September of 1993, when AOLers gained access. I still cringing at "Me, too!" posts.

[Moem]

My mice sometimes have tails, sometimes not (USB radio connection). They wander over what ever surface is handy.

But surely you're using the feet (if any) that they came with? In the poll, that is listed as 'stock feet'.

[rossdv8]

Thanks, but the surface showed its age. Edges were frayed and there were pulls in the fabric. Replacing the backing sounded like too many of my Arts and Crafts projects involving glue and contact cement. I took the easy way out an bought a new rat mat.

I will have to get accustomed to the new mouse pad - the backing is 1/4 the thickness of the old one, and it just does not "feel" right. Feels as foreign as when I replaced my mouse with a Logi MX Master 3.

When you said 'the foam side' what is that? Many mouse mats, probably most of them, were about 1/8 to 1/4 inch wet suit neoprene, which is a foam rubber, , with the stretchy coloured material side printed for the mouse to slide.

If it was that, it will be coming apart around the edges anyway by now. the thinner ones were available in white for us to print using Dye Sub. The thick ones were often promotional, and were more comfortable to use.
I have one here that is getting tatty and that I should refurbish, but it was one of the first promotional pads I ever made, so I'm loathe to fix it because I don;t want to pull it apart.

Anyway, If it is a neoprene type and if it is the picture side that is damaged, check if you can gently peel the printed side off the neoprene. If it is not neoprene, you might still be able to do this without tearing the top surface of the substrate.
Obviously I have lots of old polyester T-shirts left over from jobs or failed jobs. Most Dye Sublimation Shirts are printed into Polyester shirts. Only a few of us around the world have cracked the Dye Sub into cotton.

So I've found that the polyester shirt material makes a nice surface for the mouse to glide on and a softish surface to rest a wrist on.
The links below show more or less what I mean. The shirt in the picture is one I still wear, so I apologise for not cutting the picture out and demonstrating the method.

If you can peel the printed surface off the neoprene or foam mat, you could cut a piece of polyester with a suitable print or colour, a little larger than the mat surface.
First, of course, make sure the polyester material you select lets the mouse move smoothly/
Spray some contact adhesive on the mat surface AND on the back of the polyester material.
Starting at the centre and working out, lay the polyester material on the mat and smooth the material down over the contact adhesive.
Once it is all smooth as possible and ONLY if the mat is neoprene, iron the surface of the polyester that you will be using to run the mouse over - using a medium heat. (Neoprene shouldn't won't melt at highish temperatures up to 160deg C as long as there's something between it and the rubber - but other types of plastic foam probably WILL).

Last of all, spray some contact on the edges and around the back of the mouse mat, and on the outside of the back of the polyester material.
Fold the material over the edge cutting some pieces out where the corners fit, and pres into place.

I usually get some tiny thin bulldog clips for the corners just to keep the material in place.
The contact adhesive lets you peel the material off the pad later if you decide it is getting grubby - and replace it (or wash it).

The pics below are just to give a rough idea how i start the job. It isn't as complicated as it sounds, nor does it take as long as it sounds.



Shirts AND the MousePad were Dye Sublimated in 2012 using Linux Mint and Brother Inkjet printer with Dye Sublimation Inks.
Custom software written by RossDevitt.

[Termy]

[...]

Not quite. I just didn't get Internet at home until I was in my 20s. I missed out on a lot of drama, then? Good.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yesterday afternoon, I went nutz and removed the feet from the rodents for all my laptops and the future desktop computer (all have two rodents each) and replaced them with ceramic feet. First, I peeled off the old feet and filed down the ridge that went around the old feet. That was actually faster and much safer than using a chisel and left a flatter surface.

Even though the new feet come with adhesive dot that one sticks onto each foot before sticking the feet onto the mouse, I opted to use some .006" thicvk 3M VHB tsape instead. It's tricky to use but holds much better than the adhesive dots. I spent the entire afternoon doing that. I still have the meeces for my notebooks and the four spares to do but I'm in no hurry to do it.

[ivar]

on my main work computer, I have a Logitech Trackball and a Logitech MX master mouse. I'm right handed but I'm using the trackball with my left hand 80%+ of the time. Learned to use both hands after getting carpal tunnel pains some 20 years ago.

As for mats, I prefer the neoprene mats, but many of the cheap ones in my experience seems to start to disintegrate after around 1 year of use

[antikythera]

Learned to use both hands after getting carpal tunnel pains some 20 years ago

The hand position on traditional mice doesn't help really with carpal tunnel. I have Vertical mice for my desktop PCs and a TrackBall for my laptop, all of which allow me greater control because of essential tremor but they would also ease the risk of future carpal tunnel.

It took a couple of days to get used to the vertical mouse layout but it is really comfortable. I have wireless ones that take AAA batteries so run them on EBL rechargeable ones I got off Amazon (pack of 8 in two plastic carry cases). They last about 3 months between charges but I just rotate the batteries so that I always have some ready to go.

[rossdv8]

I have wireless ones that take AAA batteries so run them on EBL rechargeable ones I got off Amazon (pack of 8 in two plastic carry cases). They last about 3 months between charges but I just rotate the batteries so that I always have some ready to go.

I bought one of these many years ago because I was using a lot of NiMh batteries, and some things like wireless mooses took 2xAAA while the keyboards usually took 2xAA.

When I discovered that a lot of the supposedly dead laptop batteries contained 88650 cells, and discovered the Nitecore charger could not only charge mixed capacity NiMh, but also happily pump juice into a mix of different sized LiIon and NiMh at the same time, I was hooked.

So I started stripping dead 88650s out of any laptop or LiIon drill pack I could find, and charging them.
It also has a neat trick where it can run off a 12V car ciggy lighter socket, so I added one to my yacht so I could power all sorts of extra stuff off the solar panels.

I was surprised that they are still on the market, and highly recommend them to anyone using AAA and AA NiMh in their mooses. Or who like me, has a stack of 88650 cells they regularly use to run stuff.

(Price is AUD$)

[antikythera]

I have an Energizer branded charger with an LED display which shows how long is left until full charge and if the batteries are okay.

It has battery safety check and won't charge if it detects a problem with a battery, it also knows when they are full and stops charging.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've been using AA and AAA Eneloops since from when they were made by Sanyo, long before they were bought out by Panasonic, and I have yet to have one die. I have a couple of four bay La Crosse chargers I use to recharge the herd as needed (I have dozens of them). I just ordered four more a couple of hours ago to replace the four that went into the two mice I got for my third laptop.

[antikythera]

Ah now that explains why Panasonic Alkaline batteries are so damn good as well, I didn't know the history of them to that extent. They are much better than Duraleak which cost nearly twice as much.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Ah now that explains why Panasonic Alkaline batteries are so damn good as well, I didn't know the history of them to that extent. They are much better than Duraleak which cost nearly twice as much.

I'm confused. Eneloops are NiMH.

[antikythera]

Yeah, I know but Panasonic also sell alkaline which are better too. If they bought out Sanyo then no doubt they also produced the alkaline batteries alongside the NiMH

[antikythera]

I did something stupid just now installing a USB KVM under the new monitor I bought recently while I was re-routing cables. The KB USB lead swung into the monitor and nicked the coating so there's now a miniscule spot of damage but you have to know it's there. It doesn't shine through brightly, it looks like a spec of dust instead fortunately so I can live with it. In future I will remember to put a towel or something over...

The KVM is decent for £15, it has 4 USB inputs to two computers via USB cable only, so I have installed a USB soundcard along with the KB and mouse. Both linux and windows pick up the USB audio fine without any intervention.

KVM - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MXXQKGM/ ... 81_TE_item
Audio - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000R5NJD8/ ... 81_TE_item

I've also added a PWM hub into the ryzen system - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MZ47NJX/ ... 81_TE_item
It does come with a lead to connect to the motherboard even though it is not pictured or in the description. I had 3 of 4 fans connected to molex as a temporary measure up until that PWM hub arrived. It's stuck on the motherboard tray rear with adhesive next to the SSD brackets. There's also an RGB controller on there already which came with the case. That RGB controller is fairly agricultural in design, it is controlled by a button on top of the case rather than being programmable.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yeah, I know but Panasonic also sell alkaline which are better too. If they bought out Sanyo then no doubt they also produced the alkaline batteries alongside the NiMH

OK, I get it now. Thanks!

[ellymae]

My mouse pad is pretty much like a normal one - thin layer of foam on the bottom and finely woven cloth on the top, printed with a blue, black and white "spacey" image. The difference is that it covers the entire area between the monitor and the front edge of the desk, and wide enough to give plenty of room for my mouse on the right and my phone on the left. I like it a lot except that it's difficult to clean when I drip barbecue sauce on it. I suppose some day I'll put it in the washer and see what happens.

[The Muffin Man]

None for my laptop and Microsoft Trackball Explorer for my desktop.

I've used this guy for 20 years. It's one of the most natural and comfortable pointing device I've ever used.

[antikythera]

I agree, trackballs are really comfortable. That's what I use with my laptop and never the touchpad apart from hardware testing it with new distribution releases, the only reason I don't for the desktops is because I do a lot of work in photoshop and gimp and a trackball controlled by my thumb is not accurate enough when I am brushing or erasing pixels. That's why I went vertical mouse because I can't control a flat mouse properly either due to essential tremor these days.