Optical and Laser mouses

[heineygoat]

I just watched Linus's tech quickie. He says laser is newer and better but my roccat optical mouse was expensive. More expensive then a lot of laser mouses and its only about a week old.

Is there a huge difference? Should I get a laser mouse?

[Toby]

No, Linus was wrong. I'm about to put up a post about it. I guess I'll put it in peripherals, but I'm not sure this forum gets enough exposure for it to reach him. You are exactly the reason I'm going to call out that video though.

[Austin Powers]

Optical mice operate using an LED, laser mice use invisible lasers. This is one of the most noticeable differences between the two kinds of mice. Another difference is the sensor capacity of each mouse. An optical mouse can track signals at resolutions of up to 800 dots per inch. A laser mouse is much more sensitive, able to track signals at resolutions of up to 2,000 dpi. This can pose problems for people where sensitivity is concerned. The higher tracking resolution of laser mice makes them more accurate in applications where a user requires precision. Such is the case with displays that have very high resolutions. However, with a normal system (1,280-by-1,024 resolution or lower), you might never notice a difference in performance between a laser mouse and an optical mouse.

[Broseephus]

Laser is not necassarily better than optical. It really depends more on the individual sensor used in the mouse rather than what tracking technology.