Program mouse button 4and5
Accepted solution
I use a utechsmart venus mouse. It has many more than 5 buttons, but you don't need to use them all. I have them all programmed, but I use 7 or 8 constantly only. I think it was around $50. It has a program that lets you set up macros to make any command in autocad you want. Very simple to understand. It's good for an office where you can't install extra software on your workstation. You can install the macro program on your home computer and save the buttons to the mouse there. The macros are stored on the mouse so you can then just take it to work and plug it in and your set up will work. It also has the thumb rest which I thought was just a gimmick, but now that I've had the mouse a while it seems dumb that all mice don't have it. It has weights in it too which I thought was another gimmick. With all the weights in it the mouse it heavy to pick up but it makes it slide like it's on rails. So much smoother movements IMO.
Almost any 5 button mouse will have buttons that can be changed, but you will need macros to do most useful commands. So an average mouse you can make a button do "K" or "Z", but with macros you can make it do "cntrl +K" or "ESC, then M then Enter" to clear selections, bring up move command then enter to be ready to pick an object. You basically just hit record and then type your macro. So it will record the slight pause in between key presses if they aren't meant to be pressed at the same time as in my last example.
My favorite thing about the mouse is there a small button next to the left click. I have it set to "ESC" which I use constantly. Super handy. You could set it to any command you use the most like start a polyline or undo.
Nick DiPietro
Cad Manager/Monkey
There are 12 buttons on the side basically in 2 sets of 6. You'll see. Depending on where your thumb falls, 6 are easy to reach and the other 6 are a stretch. The 6 that are hard to reach are the ones I really don't use. The other 6 are my go to and are easy to press. I suggest you start with your comfortable 6. I also suggest make a cheat sheet on a small piece of paper that's a chart showing what buttons do what after you set the macros up for them. I had to look at my chart all the time as I learned where the buttons were. After a week or 2 of using it I got the muscle memory and it's second nature now. I press commands without thinking where buttons are.
My 6 buttons do the commmands: move, copy, trim, offset, polyline, and shift. Having shift is nice because I use it to right click for the snaps menu, to deselect stuff and to extend in the trim command. If I'm not doing text input I can lean way back in my chair and just use the numpad with my left hand. I hope you like it. I like it so much I bought a second one on sale in case they stop making them and mine breaks. haha
Nick DiPietro
Cad Manager/Monkey