"Classic" Intellimouse re-released

[Gordon Fecyk]

I found that MS re-released their classic Intellimouse in late June. I had one of these way back in the early 2000s and no other mouse could match the scroll wheel behaviour I'd grown so accustomed to. 

Found one of these things on the local Best Buy shelf and snapped it up. You should be able to find one there, or order them from the MS Store itself in a pinch. Very simple thing to use and still perfect for classic Halo on PC.  Scroll wheel is great for fine tuning the stock manouvre node in KSP.

If I find more of these things, I'm snapping them up as spares.

[Vanamonde]

What's so intelli about it? 

[Gordon Fecyk]

Aside from just the funky sounding brand name? 

It was the first gaming mouse I tried. L/R buttons 'feel right,' the hand fit is good, the 4/5 buttons match my thumb. Like someone took a cast of my hand and designed a mouse just for me.

The SteelSeries Sensei mouse comes close, but not quite. Logitech lost me after they dropped their thumb-driven trackball. Maybe that'll get re-released some day too.

[stibbons]

8 hours ago, Vanamonde said:

What's so intelli about it? 

Pretty sure you weren't expecting a serious answer. But you're getting one!

The Intellimouse series introduced a lot of crazy new stuff. The original Intellimouse was almost the first to include a scroll wheel. The Intellimouse Explorer was the first time anybody was able to build an optical mouse that didn't rely on a special pad, and I think it was also the first with auxiliary buttons on the side. I loved my Explorer, back in the day. Huge, chunky, heavy, and oh so smooth. Lasted a long time too. Microsoft really knew how to make hardware, once upon a time.

[steve_v]

I acquired a stash of new-old stock 1.1a intellimice(?) from ebay a while back, after failing miserably to find a worthy replacement for the one I wore down the buttons on.
I've tried at least 5 different "gaming" mice, and frankly, they all suck. Gimmicky, fragile, heavy, and the wrong shape. I particularly hate "handed" mice, as I tend to use whichever hand is nearer at the time.

Might try one of these new ones, if they are indeed the same shape and layout. IMO the original is the best mouse ever made, and the only worthwhile product Microsoft ever made.

The only thing I didn't like about them was the unnecessary rear-facing LED in the base, but those are easily removed.
I see the new one has an even more superfluous and annoying white LED, which I will also have to eviscerate.

Ed. Wait... Gah! The new intellimouse is not symmetrical, it's "right handed". Screw it then, not a replacement for the 1.1/1.1a at all.
Honestly, why can nobody do a simple, reliable, symmetrical mouse any more?

This:

Is how you do it.

Edited July 5, 2018 by steve_v

[Cunjo Carl]

On 7/5/2018 at 1:07 AM, steve_v said:

... Honestly, why can nobody do a simple, reliable, symmetrical mouse any more?

Oh, hey. This is actually really good timing! 

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/ninox-astrum-lightweight-modular-gaming-mouse-computers#/

Intellimouse 1.1a:              127 (L) x 68 (W) x 38 (H) mm
Astrum "Beta Shape" at base:    124 (L) x 68 (W) x 40 (H) mm

There's a kickstarter on for a new mouse that can be configured to be symmetric and intellimousy in shape and size. Most importantly it's got the same more-vertical-than-slanty sides near the front where your fingers grip, which have sadly really fallen out of fashion since the intellimouse. It looks different because it has a very different theme going, but (that I can tell) the beta XX shape is really darn similar. As a bonus, since we're living in the future, it's also got like 10x the precision, a quarter the latency and half the weight. Man, the future's awesome some times! You can even turn off those annoying LEDs by software now.

Anyways, it happens to be pretty much the only game in town for me because I like narrow boxy mice (the alpha shape), and I've totally drunk the koolaid for optical switches. They're reputedly less terrible at quick down/ups, which is nice for games like KSP which needs a full down/up to do anything. It's not cheap, but apparently the parts for all the shapes come in-box, so being picky about shape is part of it. On the whole snazzy mice have been getting pricier, and to be fair, it's about the same price as trying to by an old intellimouse 1.1a on amazon... Still, at a price like that it takes some thinking. I guess some times the future's not so great

The guy running it is pretty legit, already has the project's manufacturing ducks in a row and has always been super responsive / on-point in forums, so I think the chance of it tanking are pretty small. I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out!

Well, hopefully it looks like a worthy substitute for you. If not, best of luck catching that white whale again! I totally get how that can be.

[steve_v]

On 7/22/2018 at 4:08 AM, Cunjo Carl said:

it's got the same more-vertical-than-slanty sides near the front where your fingers grip

Excellent. I pick up my mouse with thumb and finger thusly when dealing with limited space.

 

On 7/22/2018 at 4:08 AM, Cunjo Carl said:

You can even turn off those annoying LEDs by software now.

So long as it doesn't require a Windoze-only utility to do so... Guarantee it will, and they'll probably be pointless blindingly-bright RGB gimmicks.
I'll take zero LEDs thanks, besides those required for the optics. If I can get at the PCB I will gladly cut them off, but I still faintly resent paying for the things in the first place.

 

On 7/22/2018 at 4:08 AM, Cunjo Carl said:

I've totally drunk the koolaid for optical switches.

Optical switches sound like a nice idea, and should be relatively inexpensive to build. Traditional microswitches are the first thing to fail IME, and the first evidence of this, contact bouncing, is incredibly annoying.
The bit touting optical scroll-wheel sensors as some kind of revolution is a bit odd though, a great many el-cheapo mice already have an optical gate as a scroll sensor.
I sure hope the thing is well sealed, cleaning lint and dust (and probably ash, cough cough) out of optical switches isn't going to be any more entertaining than the same for their mechanical counterparts.

 

On 7/22/2018 at 4:08 AM, Cunjo Carl said:

It's not cheap, but apparently the parts for all the shapes come in-box, so being picky about shape is part of it.

If the overall quality is good (i.e all those finicky, clippy plastic bits stay put), I might give it a go... despite it's still falling into the "gimmicky" problem that seems to plague gaming mice.
I don't want a lego mouse, but if that's what it takes to get away from this hip "ergonomic" right-handed thing, so be it. Sure as hell not backing it pre-production though, at least not at that price.

 

On 7/22/2018 at 4:08 AM, Cunjo Carl said:

Well, hopefully it looks like a worthy substitute for you. If not, best of luck catching that white whale again!

It might, and I'll probably try it out if the price of the final product is reasonable.
As for "white whales", I have enough (black as it happens) cetaceans to last me a few years. Worst-case scenario, I'll have to replace some microswitches and skates to keep them alive.

[Cunjo Carl]

On 8/16/2018 at 12:49 AM, steve_v said:

So long as it doesn't require a Windoze-only utility to do so... Guarantee it will, and they'll probably be pointless blindingly-bright RGB gimmicks.

Accordingly the software will be Linux/Windows/Mac, but you can also turn off the LED directly using a secret handshake of button presses as well (it apparently involves holding the DPI button so it won't happen by accident).

On 8/16/2018 at 12:49 AM, steve_v said:

I'll take zero LEDs thanks, besides those required for the optics. If I can get at the PCB I will gladly cut them off, but I still faintly resent paying for the things in the first place.

A peripheral reviewer I like to watch (I can't afford all the shinnies, but I like to see what's new) recently showed off a couple modern keyboards set in display mode. It was like a disco! Definitely got a good chuckle- nothing wrong with pretty lights but it was definitely not my thing.

RJN reviews an aggressively colorful keyboard. See 0:15

 

On 8/16/2018 at 12:49 AM, steve_v said:

If the overall quality is good (i.e all those finicky, clippy plastic bits stay put), I might give it a go... despite it's still falling into the "gimmicky" problem that seems to plague gaming mice.

That's really the big question, isn't it? The designer says he tried a few different methods to keep it solidly assembled (including the more typical rare earth magnets), but ultimately he found the plastic clips worked the best. I don't find it too surprising, plastics clips are pretty common for this purpose, like in cell phones, but the ability to disassemble/reassemble easily with only clips is a big surprise. No real way to know but to wait and see. To boot, durability is an issue for me, because I tend to just toss my charger/peripherals in a bag when I drag my laptop back and forth to work.

On 8/16/2018 at 12:49 AM, steve_v said:

I don't want a lego mouse, but if that's what it takes to get away from this hip "ergonomic" right-handed thing, so be it. Sure as hell not backing it pre-production though, at least not at that price.

I think most of its backers are in the same boat (myself included) of not really wanting a lego mouse, but it seems there's enough people that want a specific one of its shapes that it's funded nicely! The other option is to buy on Amazon after it releases sometime December. By then, the kickstarter people will have had theirs for a week or two, so there should be plenty of reviews out in computer forums like overclocked.net. The only trouble is, it's hard to tell how popular it will be, and a second production run may or may not happen, so it'd probably be smart to check up on it then.

On 8/16/2018 at 12:49 AM, steve_v said:

I sure hope the thing is well sealed, cleaning lint and dust (and probably ash, cough cough) out of optical switches isn't going to be any more entertaining than the same for their mechanical counterparts.

I sure hope the little suckers are sealed up tight! I live out in California, and our whole state is a giant 'smoking section' each summer thanks to the incessant wild fires. I'm also out by the farms so the pollen and agricultural dust can get pretty extreme, too... Some years the ash dust and pollen blankets the ground like little drifts of fine snow. I'd hate to think of what that would do to unsealed contact switches or micro lenses!

Glad you've got enough of the good stuff to last you!