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What is the best mouse to use for AutoCAD

35 REPLIES 35
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Message 1 of 36
wrdk
29920 Views, 35 Replies

What is the best mouse to use for AutoCAD

I'm in the process of looking for a new mouse. I have never purchased a mouse the autocad in mind. So I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions on some good mouse's to use for CAD. I've heard that Logitech MX Revolution is pretty good.

Thanks.
35 REPLIES 35
Message 2 of 36
Anonymous
in reply to: wrdk

I was very happy with my MX I could program the extra buttons for commands.

Erik Deyo
http://ltsideofthings.blogspot.com/

wrote in message news:5770459@discussion.autodesk.com...
I'm in the process of looking for a new mouse. I have never purchased a
mouse the autocad in mind. So I'm wondering if anyone has any opinions on
some good mouse's to use for CAD. I've heard that Logitech MX Revolution is
pretty good.

Thanks.
Message 3 of 36
lrlandusky
in reply to: wrdk

I will 2nd that one. I use the MX Revolution, but we also have a couple of MX 610's in use in my office. Logitech has their own software (SetPoint) that allows you to program keystrokes into any button specific to a program. Some mice will allow a keystroke button for every program, but Logitech seems to be the only one capable of identifying which program is in use and having a list of buttons for that particular program.

Here are the things I would recommend in a mouse:
Laser (optical is not quite as sensitive in pointing precision)
Wireless (the wire just gets in the way)
Stay away from bluetooth (we've had too much interference from them; the 2.4 ghz works great though)
Buttons that are programmable

The nice thing about the MX is that is rechargable. I usually have to dock mine over the weekend. The bad thing is that if the battery does go dead (while on vacation or I just forget to charge it), my mouse is useless for about 30 minutes.

The VX is also great if you are using a laptop and want to take the mouse with you. The receiver fits into the mouse and that turns the mouse on and off for you - very smart.

If you can program a key combo in AutoCAD (Ctrl+F) you can add that function to a mouse. I personally use snaps, the snap toggle, and the ortho toggle for my additional buttons.
Message 4 of 36
jmetz13
in reply to: wrdk

I am going through the same thing, I have a Logitech MX1000. I do not like the tilt wheel! When you want to zoom or pan you have to push directly in the center of the wheel. Doe the new revolutions have the tilt wheel?
Message 5 of 36
lrlandusky
in reply to: wrdk

They do. If you don't like messing with the tilt wheel, disable those two buttons in Logitech SetPoint (or set them to "do nothing"). You don't have to use a button just because it's there. You should be able to disable them for your MX 1000 also.
Message 6 of 36
drew3rdof3
in reply to: wrdk

Howdy,

I also have the MX1000 and like it so much I bought one for the machine I use at work.

Cheers!
Drew
Message 7 of 36
Anonymous
in reply to: wrdk

I have the MS Laser Mouse 6000.
It has the tilt wheel for scrolling left and right, and it is a PITA. It
does not seem to have any setting for killing this feature.

I have a problem with screen flicker in ACAD LT. It's random, so sometimes
it's really irritating, sometimes not so bad.
The reason I bring this up is that I read that this is caused by the MS
mouse driver which has some sort of screen save feature (that I have no
interest in using) that cannot be turned off.

In the past I have had problems with the MS mouse driver forgetting the
button assignments I set for it in ACAD and Quickbooks.

I called MS about it, and after some looking into it, I was told that the MS
mouse driver is not compatible with ACAD.

I think I will try this Logitech MX1000.

Greg Chapp

wrote in message news:5770719@discussion.autodesk.com...
I am going through the same thing, I have a Logitech MX1000. I do not like
the tilt wheel! When you want to zoom or pan you have to push directly in
the center of the wheel. Doe the new revolutions have the tilt wheel?
Message 8 of 36
lrlandusky
in reply to: wrdk

Just a quick note - the MX 1000 is still available from some retailers but has been replaced by the MX Revolution. The revolution has a heavy wheel with quick and accurate response. I've been very pleased.

-Lance
Message 9 of 36
Anonymous
in reply to: wrdk

I got the MX Revolution, it seems to work quite well.

I would prefer not having to press quite so hard on the scroll wheel for the
panning, but I'll likely get used to it.

Also, the MS mouse was not able to assign "escape" to a button, and this
mouse can. I assign enter and escape to the forward and back buttons. And I
assigned undo to the button by the scroll wheel.

I like it so far.

GC

wrote in message news:5774252@discussion.autodesk.com...
Just a quick note - the MX 1000 is still available from some retailers but
has been replaced by the MX Revolution. The revolution has a heavy wheel
with quick and accurate response. I've been very pleased.

-Lance
Message 10 of 36
cptcolo
in reply to: wrdk

RAZER NAGA (~$70) - The Ultimate Mouse for CAD.

PROS:
*Very comfortable, designed for all-day gaming but works great for all day CAD work
*Middle mouse button works well and is within easy reach
*Macros like crazy. Every button can be programmed. For example Scroll-Up on the mouse wheel can now be Zoom-In like on SolidWorks or Pro E (I do not use AutoCAD much)

CONS:
*Expensive, but actually a great value
*A gaming mouse, has light-up LEDs (these can be turned off)

OTHER THOUGHTS:
*I have mine setup with each workbench of CATIA assigned to the different 1 to 12 buttons. Example in the Sketcher WB "1" starts a Profile, "2" starts a 3-pt tangent, etc... Since each WB in CATIA has exclusive buttons, I have the macros programmed as lists that do whatever command I have set for the button in the workbench. It takes a while to sort out the macors but it is very very fast and part generation is instantaneous!

Message 11 of 36
GeorgeBostock
in reply to: wrdk

Hi

My office just purchased the Microsoft Wireless Mouse 5000 because the one I had died. The 5000 is a good looking mouse but is not good to use with AutoCAD. What I am finding frustrating is that i cannot seem to get the middle scroll button to work properly with the Pan command. When you click down on it the mouse does not Pan properly and it is driving me crazy!

 

I called Logitech about the MX Revolution as a few of you said it was good, but they said the buttons cannot be re-configured? So does this mean this mouse does not have the capability to Pan when the scroll button is pressed like the 5000?

 

This function is important so when I am drawing and still in mid command i can press the scroll and Pan across the drawing to carry on with the command.

 

Can anyone help with this please? Maybe another type of mouse would be better?

 

Many thanks!

Message 12 of 36

MS Wireless 5000 here.

No problem with the pan function.

 

MBUTTONPAN set to 1?

Message 13 of 36

hi thanks for the reply. yes the MBUTTONPAN is set to 1. it does pan but not very well. sometimes i have to press it a couple of times to get it working, and then sometimes it zooms really close in or far out which makes the whole process very frustrating. it took me almost 3 hours yesterday to do a drawing that should have taken around 2 hours because everything was jumping around.

 

it also does not work well when in mid command. i use the sketch command a lot and when i pan across the drawing, instead of keeping the cursor on the screen in the same place the cursor also pans back so i end up with zig-zag lines.

 

if you are not having these issues then maybe my mouse has not been set up properly, or its a dud!

 

thanks

Message 14 of 36

Using that lousy mini USB reciever they send with it?

Mine is on a male-female USB cable near where the mouse resides. Will not work 3.27' feet away at the desktop

Message 15 of 36
pendean
in reply to: wrdk

Another idea: win7 NY chance? Stop using the Aero display theme and switch to Windows Classic theme instead.
Message 16 of 36
bcheeseman
in reply to: GeorgeBostock

For years I used Kensington progammable mice with the MouseWorks software. There was a long line of the mice and I could program buttons for 7 different functions. I had an Esc button that saved hitting Escape on the keyboard, and other buttons I programmed to avoid needing to use the keyboard so much. But now  Kensington ended the line and the MouseWorks software is not compatible with Windows 7. These were great comfortable mice.

Message 17 of 36
Lawson2011
in reply to: GeorgeBostock

Hello, hope this is helpful, I use a Logitech M705 mouse with 8 buttons, if I go into the software that come with the mouse I can program buttons 4 - 8 to do what I like specifically to AutoCad....see attached JPEG image

 

 

logitech.JPG

Message 18 of 36
pendean
in reply to: Lawson2011

I've used the same exact wired Logitech 3-button Trackball for a decade, and let Windows run it: never stopped me from being totally productive in AutoCAD either.

 

Point of the thread (for anyone reading, not aimed at anyone here): there is no one mouse (or keyboard or screen etc.) for everyone, you've got to the find the one that works best for you.

 

Happy Cadding.

Message 19 of 36
heinsite
in reply to: Lawson2011

I don't use programmable buttons at all... just a simple little Logitech M505 notebook wireless from Costco.  Every one for all my computers has worked straight out of the box with AutoCAD.  None have as yet ever failed nor behaved anything but perfectly.  I gave up on any mice made by Microsoft years ago.  Had nothing but hassles or early life failures with them.

 

Dave.

------------------------------------------------------
Dave Hein, P.E.
Message 20 of 36
Charles_Shade
in reply to: heinsite

Juxtaposition - Nothing but MS mice for for as I do not like the Logitech mice detentes.

Never tried other brands that are mentioned from time to time but do truly believe that I could not teach my hand when to click seven or eight different buttons nor for that matter potentially distort my addled hand to do so.

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