PC Hardware in a Nutshell, Second Edition

Choosing a Mouse

Use the following guidelines when choosing a mouse or trackball:

Get the right size and shape

Mice are available in various sizes and shapes, including very small mice intended for children, the formerly standard “Dove bar” size, the mainstream ergonomic mouse, and some very large mice that have many buttons and extra features. Most people find nearly any standard-size mouse comfortable to use for short periods, but if you use a mouse for extended periods small differences in size and shape often make a big difference in comfort. Although oversize mice like the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer provide attractive features and functions, people with very small hands often find such mice too large to use comfortably. Pay particular attention to mouse shape if you are left-handed. Although Microsoft claims that their asymmetric ergonomic mice are equally usable by left- and right-handers, many lefties find them uncomfortable and so resort to right-handed mousing. Other manufacturers, including Logitech, produce symmetric mice for which chirality is not an issue.

Get a wheel mouse

Although few applications support the wheel, those that do are the ones most people are likely to use a great deal—Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and so on. Using the wheel greatly improves mouse functionality by reducing the amount of mouse movement needed to navigate web pages and documents.

Consider a mouse with extra buttons

Standard two-button mice (three, counting the wheel) are ...