Of course pointing device preference is highly subjective but ... I use the
Microsoft Intellipoint Pro at home and the regular Microsoft Intellipoint
at work.  I really like them both.  They both have great "wheel/3rd button"
functionality and super smooth mouse action (as long as you keep them
clean) but I prefer the Pro due to its nice ergonomic shape.  However I
find that both versions have an easy to use, comfortable, shape.  It's
really up to you if the cost differential is worth it,  (neither mouse is
cheap). I recommend actually purchasing one from a store so that you can
test drive the floor models.

Another mouse I have too much experience with was the Kensington Mouse in a
Box, Scroll version.  On Kensington's behalf they seemed to go to great
lengths making their software highly flexible and added lots of features
that allow you to customize each button based on the individual
application.  I particularly liked the "chord" function that allowed you to
press both buttons at the same time.  The "default" result of this function
is to bring up a list of your open applications so that you don't need to
move down to the task bar to switch between apps.  Despite all this, I
really disliked this mouse.  The actual driver software was buggy and
seemed to "break" on occasion requiring a computer reboot to restore full
functionality.  The software performed inconsistently between applications
(aside from custom settings) particularly between "office / Microsoft" apps
and "other apps".  They offer a place to use Kensington or Office
functionality but I never found this to work quite right.  Most of all I
found this mouse's shape to be very poor.  I use my thumb to provide fine
control with a mouse.  The very wide egg shaped design placed my hand and
thumb in a position that actually made it difficult to control the mouse
with any degree of confidence (better be very careful about reading those
"are you sure you want to do this messages" because with this mouse you may
have hit the wrong button).

I hear good things about Logitec's wheel mouse but have never used it.

Good luck,

Bill Nussbaumer


At 08:09 AM 9/27/1999 -0600, you wrote:
>I was wondering if someone might know a good brand of mouse to get that is
>of good quality.
>
>I'm looking at getting a Wheel Mouse. any thoughts on this or suggestions
>is appreciated.. thanks
>
>Lynn Batson

                         PCBUILD's List Owner's:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                       Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>