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From: sorrow@oak.circa.ufl.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware
Subject: Re: Buying a Mouse: Serial or Bus?
Message-ID: <0094A2A8.5A473A80@MAPLE.CIRCA.UFL.EDU>
Date: 15 Jun 91 18:47:30 GMT
References: <13487@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>
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|In article <13487@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu>, newsham@wiliki.eng.hawaii.edu (Timothy Newsham) writes:
|>I'm going to buy a mouse for my system, and price is the determining
|>factor in which mouse I buy.
|>
|>Of course, the cheaper mice are the serial mice.
|>
|>Besides the obvious disadvantage of the mouse occupying a serial port,
|>are there any other disadvantages of serial mice versus bus mice?
|>There must be a reason why people are still buying bus mice when
|>they're soooo expensive compared to $30 serial mice.

You're getting two things mixed up: interface and quality.  Yes, serial mice
are the cheaper mice.  But cheap serial mice are NOT the same expensive serial
mice.  There are two distinct types of mice: cheap mice and expensive mice.
Cheap mice are all serial interface and 200 dpi resolution.  Expensive mice
are 320-400dpi and have either serial or bus mice.

now to answer the original question, the bus mouse leaves a com port open,
and that is its primary advantage.  I like it because it's a "cleaner" 
interface to the system and lets me keep a hand scanner and modem attached
at all times.

Brian
/*
Brian Hook -- MS-DOS Programmer for Contract
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Seamus, that's my dog...I saw her today at the reception...sorry, sixTEEN
inches....better save the women and children first...but this one goes to 11!
..anymore of that plutonium nyborg?....there can be only ONE!....like a 
finger pointing to the moon....ease the seat back...one day closer to death
*/