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From: boyd@bind.cs.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Advantages of Improved Mice?
Message-ID: <1991May2.133114.26227@mailer.cc.fsu.edu>
Date: 2 May 91 17:31:14 GMT
References: <1991May1.204950.6749@riacs.edu> <1991May1.213059.21272@milton.u.washington.edu>
Reply-To: boyd@nu.cs.fsu.edu (Mickey Boyd)
Organization: Florida State University Computer Science Department
Lines: 47

In article <1991May1.213059.21272@milton.u.washington.edu>, iho@akbar.UUCP (Il Oh) writes:
>glennd@athena.arc.nasa.gov (Glenn Deardorff - GDP) writes:
>>I recently heard from someone who said that using an improved mouse
>>(improved over the standard Atari mouse, that is) significantly improved
>>the performance of his GEM windows - if I understood him right.  That is
>>to say, that windows would raise faster, grab the focus faster, etc. 
>>just by using an improved mouse - so that GEM would like it was
>>significantly speeded up.  He said he used a "Golden Image" mouse.  Do
>>others that have bought better mice notice anything like this?  If so,
>>it would certainly seem like a worthwile investment.  
>
>I seriously doubt that GEM would perform faster because of a better mouse.
>However, you would be able to use it faster.  A better mouse responds more
>quickly to your movements and clicks.  The Golden Image is supposed to be
>very good, a lot like the Microsoft Mouse for DOS machines.  I've tried
>the Beetle mouse, and it's also very nice.  I'm one of the lucky few.
>I've got a really good Atari mouse.

Beware!  Faster mice (ie higher dpi) are not always better.  At some point,
the ST hardware cannot handle the increased input, and you get the 'sticking
pointer' problem.  Try this:  move your Atari mouse very quickly in any 
direction (I mean VERY quickly, like a snap).  You will notice that the 
mouse pointer will kind of "shudder", but will not move in the desired 
direction.  Basically, you are overloading hardware/software  with too much
mouse output.  Now, the higher dpi mice give more output per inch moved.  This 
means that this overload is easier to attain with the higher dpi mice.  I 
have a buddy who cannot use his Golden Image mouse because he would have to 
"pace" himself to get it to work.  A better way to get a "faster" mouse is 
through software acceleration, which should not have this problem (and you 
can choose from direct, proportional, exponential, etc, types of acceleration).
There are several PD accelerators which work well (I use MouseDoubler2).  Thus,
if you are considering purchasing a third-party mouse, make sure that the 
dpi is not too high (unfortunetely the marketeers seem to think that bigger is 
better when it comes to dpi).  Failing that, you should find out if you can 
set the dpi rate with a dip switch or pot or something.  I believe the Atari 
mice are rated at 150dpi.  I have seen mice advertised at up to 400dpi (thus 
meaning that you would have to move the mouse only about 1/3 as fast to get 
it to "shudder").  You will often see ads proclaiming "No mouse accelerator 
needed!" on such mice.  This is true, but the damn things force you to 
slow down (and at least in my case, miss what I am trying to point at)!! 
--
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             Mickey R. Boyd          |  "Kirk to Enterprise.  All clear 
          FSU Computer Science       |      down here.  Beam down    
        Technical Support Group      |      yeoman Rand and a six-pack . ."
      email:  boyd@fsucs.cs.fsu.edu  |               
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