Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!aplcen!samsung!usc!apple!oliveb!amdahl!pacbell!sorinc!magik
From: magik@sorinc.PacBell.COM (Darrin A. Hyrup)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Boing mouse
Summary: My opinion.
Keywords: Boing Optical Mouse Amiga Great
Message-ID: <8911250855.AA07838@sorinc.PacBell.COM>
Date: 25 Nov 89 09:55:53 GMT
References: <4028@ur-cc.UUCP> <8911152226.AA07846@sorinc.PacBell.COM> <640@xyzzy.UUCP>
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga
Organization: Yes, I'd like that.
Lines: 63

In article <640@xyzzy.UUCP> poirier@dg-rtp.dg.com (Charles Poirier) writes:
>In article <8911152226.AA07846@sorinc.PacBell.COM> magik@sorinc.PacBell.COM (Darrin A. Hyrup) writes:
>>In article <4028@ur-cc.UUCP> gest_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Gavin Stark) writes:
>>>Does anyone have any opinions on the Boing optical mouse?  I am looking
>>>to replace my mouse and this seems like the best one available.
>>
>>Yes, I've had my Boing! optical mouse now for 7 months or so, and I love it!
>
>I can't speak to the Boing! mouse in particular.  The Mouse Systems optical
>mouse I use at work has one minor misfeature: when you have to lift it to
>reposition yourself on the pad, the cursor moves a bit before losing
>optical contact with the pad.	Thus, while doing a prolonged one-direction
>roll, you are fighting the mouse's tendency to backslide on every mouse lift.
>I personally prefer the crisp separation-from-pad of a roller mouse.
>
>Perhaps someone with a Boing! mouse could comment on whether it too exhibits
>this effect?

Actually, the Boing! mouse is made by Mouse systems, and yes it does
exhibit the same misfeature. But it has been my experience that the roller
style mice also move a bit when picked up and placed on the mat. Although
not to the same degree.

>>It is indeed a bit pricy however, but if you look at how often you have to
>>clean the bloody mouse, and how often it fails/breaks down vs. the Boing!
>>mouse's 25 year MTBF (mean time between failures) it's worth it in the long
>>run.
>
>I'm not sure I buy that 25 year figure.  Seems to me you'd have to test a
>*whole lot* of mice in the (roughly) one year Boing!s have been available,
>to be able to extrapolate a valid MTBF of 25.	Besides, of all the mouse
>failures I've personally heard of, the only ones not fixed by cleaning the
>rollers have been (a) the switches wearing out, and (b) the cable wearing
>out.  Are these components THAT much better in the Boing! mouse?  Perhaps
>the 25 years applies only to the pickup and encoding electronics.  The roller
>units' shaft encoders seem to be very reliable.

I am not certain how these tests were made, or how the 25 year figure was
arrived, but the documentation does give these numbers, as does the press
releases and advertisements, so I must assume they are correct.

As for mouse related failures, I have had the rollers themselves fail, as
well as the switches. I've never personally seen a mouse cable wear out,
but I am sure it happens. When I used to work in an Apple dealership a few
years back, we'd see the roller mice come in in real bad shape. They are
easy to wear out with continual use, especially if people abuse them. I
have friends who've owned optical mice for many years without any problems,
and of course I also have friends who have used roller mice for years
without many problems, aside from occasional cleaning, etc. But to me, I
would rather use the optical mouse since it incurs less overhead in
maintainance and I've yet to see one break down.

>	 Cheers,
>	 Charles Poirier

Of course, these statements are mostly pure opinion. And like Charles'
summary line said, if you are not sure, please try it out before you make
your decision.
--
Darrin A. Hyrup 	     // AMIGA Enthusiast	 rencon!esfenn!dah
magik@sorinc.PacBell.COM   \X/ & Software Developer   pacbell!sorinc!magik
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"Speak little and well, if you wish to be considered as possessing merit."