Optical or Laser Mouse?

[Haswellx86]

Need to buy a mouse that will actually last long. Which is better Optical or Laser? Technically laser is better, but I have a few questions. Should I be worried about over scanning on low movement? And is it optimized to run on a mousepad or is optical better optimized for it? Funnily enough, whatever mouse I have had, all of them run better on a book surface.

[dizmo]

Probably would help if you said what you use your mouse for...giving absolutely no information is going to net you the same back.

If you want a mouse that will last a long time, don't buy a cheap one.

[Haswellx86]

@dizmo Not a professional gamer, but just a normal guy, so I do game. I just don't want a bad mouse with bad tracking and also that won't last long. For example, one Fujitsu laser mouse I had, it's right click stopped working, the wire at the USB connector got in very bad condition and I occasionally had to wiggle it to work, and then it only worked on a book surface.

 

My latest wireless mouse I have, had visibly bad and jittery tracking. Many times, it's tracking would get extremely ridiculous, and I had to remove the battery and put it again because there was no power button. And just now, it's scroll wheel stopped working correctly, really bad tracking, and stops working sometimes.

 

I am fed up with this and wants a new and good mouse. According to my budget, I could do with an optical one, but then again, I don't want the problems where it's not working correctly because like there is dust on the sensor and all the crap if this even occurs. Like this was a problem on my current mouse, but I guess it's just crap mouse that's why. My competitiveness is playing on 60 Hz monitor in Valorant, so you might be able to get an idea.

 

First of all, is it even worth it buying a laser one? What about its drawbacks I have mentioned earlier? Or would a good optical mouse be a better value for me?

 

And I am talking about wired mouses all along. Although, as far as I hate wireless devices, wireless in mouse is actually not that bad. If we don't account the price, I don't mind replacing battery cells after months, but what about latency and functionality? But I guess the price is going to hold me back.

[dizmo]

2 minutes ago, Hensen Juang said:

@dizmo Not a professional gamer, but just a normal guy, so I do game. I just don't want a bad mouse with bad tracking and also that won't last long. For example, one Fujitsu laser mouse I had, it's right click stopped working, the wire at the USB connector got in very bad condition and I occasionally had to wiggle it to work, and then it only worked on a book surface.

 

My latest wireless mouse I have, had visibly bad and jittery tracking. Many times, it's tracking would get extremely ridiculous, and I had to remove the battery and put it again because there was no power button. And just now, it's scroll wheel stopped working correctly, really bad tracking, and stops working sometimes.

 

I am fed up with this and wants a new and good mouse. According to my budget, I could do with an optical one, but then again, I don't want the problems where it's not working correctly because like there is dust on the sensor and all the crap if this even occurs. Like this was a problem on my current mouse, but I guess it's just crap mouse that's why. My competitiveness is playing on 60 Hz monitor in Valorant, so you might be able to get an idea.

 

First of all, is it even worth it buying a laser one? What about its drawbacks I have mentioned earlier? Or would a good optical mouse be a better value for me?

 

And I am talking about wired mouses all along. Although, as far as I hate wireless devices, wireless in mouse is actually not that bad. If we don't account the price, I don't mind replacing battery cells after months, but what about latency and functionality? But I guess the price is going to hold me back.

Honestly it's kind of useless to talk about budget without giving one.

Worth is subjective, so only you can answer that for yourself.

[Haswellx86]

@dizmo Bruh, you should work and recommend with whatever information you have. It's not entirely your fault though, but it's not entirely mine either because budget sometimes doesn't make sense. If I have X budget, then some just X+2 might be way better value and performant, so it's all the way to If I can afford or not. And I also don't have much information on mouse prices so idk.

 

All I wanted to know is if a laser mouse is worth it than optical one for a normal person and would last long, or do I get a laser one. Also, what about laser's cons, such as over scanning on low movement, and if it is optimized for mouse pad.

 

I was just asking which is better, optical or laser, and not asking for actual mouse recommendations. For the budget, I'll see, just don't recommend a gaming level extreme dpi shortcut buttons RGB mouse.

 

EDIT- Would also like recommendation on if a good wireless mouse is ok, or a wired mouse will give better performance. Dang it, this post's reach is so low, I need more people.

[porina]

Since you gave a vague question, I'll give a vague answer with what I've used/am using now:

 

My current mouse is a corded Razer Deathadder v2. I chose it because it has optical switches which shouldn't wear out, which is where I had problems with my Logitech mice before. It has been my daily driver for 3 years.

 

Before that I used the Logitech G703/G403. They're essentially the same thing but the higher one is wireless, the lower one is corded. They both had the same problem in that just after warranty runs out, they start to double click when you single click. It was a common problem back then. I heard they have issued a software fix for it now. I still use the G703 with my laptop when travelling. The problem has gone away. edit: based on a quick search I can't find any reference to a software fix, but there still seems to be posts asking how to fix it this year. So it might not be gone?

 

I have not had any problems with tracking on any of these - proving you keep the mouse base and surface you use it on clean of course. I usually use matte black mouse mats. I don't know if performance may differ on other surfaces.

[Geneleco]

Generally i would stay away from laser mice for gaming, pretty much all high end gaming mice are optical anyway so i would say that answers your question abit.
 

13 hours ago, Hensen Juang said:

EDIT- Would also like recommendation on if a good wireless mouse is ok, or a wired mouse will give better performance. Dang it, this post's reach is so low, I need more people.

Yes wireless mice are just as good as wired mice for perfomance now.
I would reccomend deathadder v2 x hyperspeed, razer basilisk v2, Logitech Gpx, logitech g502.

[Haswellx86]

@Geneleco Why stay away from lasers? I thought they were superior...

[Geneleco]

On 8/28/2023 at 6:17 AM, Hensen Juang said:

@Geneleco Why stay away from lasers? I thought they were superior...

Not really, they often have issues with acceleration, and optical mice are now able to track on even glass surfaces. So optical is the standard, and all top end gaming mice use optical sensors

[Middcore]

I didn't know laser mice still existed.