Mouse Suggestions for an Odd Grip

[Squared_Root]

Let me first just say that I've really come to enjoy your youtube channel and reviews.  I find myself coming to your page for info more often than I do newegg these days.  Now, on to the problem.

 

At the moment I'm currently using a rather generic Lenovo mouse.  It works well for me, but I'm interested in a slightly better feature set with a couple of other accessible buttons.  I play FPS games like Hawken most competatively, but I can also be found playing games like League of Legends, Space Engineers, and RTS's.

 

 

I've been interested in upgrading to a gaming mouse for a while now, but I have some pretty specific constraints.  I use a modified fingertip grip with my pointer finger on left click, my middle finger on the scroll wheel, and my ring finger on the right mouse button.  This leaves lateral grip and control entirely to the thumb and pinky finger.  The grip is also fairly far back on the mouse so that my fingertip can rest relaxed and comfortably on the scroll wheel.  While this grants excellent control it quickly makes a lot of mice a poor fit.  Despite the fingertip grip I tend to use moderate to low sensitivity in games and lift the mouse on rare occasion.  When you couple this with the fact that the mouse is being controlled almost entirely by the thumb and pinky weight becomes a major consideration.  I have small hands so compact and light is a good combination.  The other thing this odd grip does is make it difficult to use peripheral buttons.  Thumb buttons and other side mounted buttons are all but inaccessable on most mice because they're too far out in front of my grip.  I'll give you an example on a few of the mice I was considering.

 

Below you'll find the Razer Taipan.  It's a reasonably small mouse with an ambidexstrious desgin that goes well with my fingertip grip, but I honestly I'm not sure if I'd be able to comfortably trigger any of the thumb buttons. I might be able to trigger the one in the back on the left side, but that's about it.  This is a fairly common problem, and without the other buttons I almost feel like I'm better off with my stock mouse.

 

 

 

 

Here is the Logitech G502.  Of the visible buttons I'm sure I could comfortably hit the rear thumb button and the lower DPI button to the left of left click.  The front DPI and Thumb buttons may or may not be a bit of a  stretch, but I imagine I could get to them.  That being said there is no way in hell I could get all the way up to the DPI Shift button without changing to a palm grip.  Tilt wheels like the one featured on this mouse are a plus.  It puts two additional buttons right under my fingertip, litterally, and I like the concept of the DPI shift even though I'd have to map it to another button.  On the other side of the coin it's not a true ambidextrious mouse so the mild pitch to the right and thumb rest concern me just a teeny bit.  It also seems a hair longer than I might like, but I think I'd do alright with it.

Another mouse I was considering is the Razer Ourobos.  Super fancy, super expensive.  It's wireless, and while I can see this occasionally being a plus with my setup it's hardly required.  Unlike the G502 it is in fact a true abmidextrious mouse and if for some reason I find it to be a bit long I can shorten it up by simply removing the back of the mouse.  As a fingertip user I never come in contact with it anyway.  That being said I'd be ignoring perhaps one of the biggest features of the mouse, and at a fairly high price point.  As far as the additional buttons are concerned I'm certain I can reach the furthest back thumb button on the right side, if not both.  I might even be able to hit one of the two on the opposite side.  The biggest thing for me is that the clutches on either side are actually buttons as well.  That puts a button right where my grip is and does it in a way that won't result in misclicks.  These clutch buttons can serve as a DPI shift, a fuction I like on the G502, and quite honestly they're in a better place for my grip.  As a side note, I'd probably use the shfit to increase rather than decrease the DPI.  All told there are  fewer usable buttons than the Logitch G502, but at least a couple of them are a lot easier to get to.

 

 

At the end of the day I find myself looking at two fairly premium gaming mice, and if they're the best fit for my grip and play style that's fine with me, but I can't help but feel like I was lead in this direction by a lack of options.  The vast majority of mice are tailored towards palmers and claw users, so if you fingertip users out there have any better or cheaper suggestions I'm all ears, and hey Linus feel free to chime in too

[Suffokation]

This post is glorious.

World's greatest first post.

[Sam Z Man]

I feel like you work as a editor for a news paper, great post but I can't really help you because I use a 7 year old microsoft optical mouse.

[Squared_Root]

I certainly appreciate the praise, but I assure you I'm no editor.  I'm just a guy with a weird mouse grip that seriously considers his purchases before making them.  Here's to hoping there are a few members out there that can offer advise.

[Equlix]

You probably don't want the 502 for your grip type. The 502 is heavy and the scroll wheel only really works for web browsing. If I were you I would look at the G402/302 or zowie FK or ZA 12/13.

[Squared_Root]

You probably don't want the 502 for your grip type. The 502 is heavy and the scroll wheel only really works for web browsing. If I were you I would look at the G402/302 or zowie FK or ZA 12/13.

 

I couldn't find any specs so far as weight, but I knew that it had removable weights.  It's good to know the G502 is on the heavy side.  I'm curious as to why you feel the tilt wheel is only suitable for browsing though.  Is that comment specific to this model or is it a comment on tilt wheels in general?  As far as your suggestions are concerned I actually don't mind the look of the 402.  It has a fairly similar layout.  I don't think I'd be a big fan of the Zowie's though.  They're simple, which is fine, but once again I find myself thinking I could only reach one extra button easily.  I'm not sure the one button and potentially better tracking would be worth the monetary investment.

[woll3]

Have you taken a look at the EVGA X5 Optical? It is rather short so it might fit you well, also a solid perfomer, not the best 3988 out there, but solid.

[Equlix]

I couldn't find any specs so far as weight, but I knew that it had removable weights.  It's good to know the G502 is on the heavy side.  I'm curious as to why you feel the tilt wheel is only suitable for browsing though.  Is that comment specific to this model or is it a comment on tilt wheels in general?  As far as your suggestions are concerned I actually don't mind the look of the 402.  It has a fairly similar layout.  I don't think I'd be a big fan of the Zowie's though.  They're simple, which is fine, but once again I find myself thinking I could only reach one extra button easily.  I'm not sure the one button and potentially better tracking would be worth the monetary investment.

The infinite scroll is nice but when set to regular mode its very bumpy and disruptive. For example in csgo if I use the scroll wheel to bhop it vibrates the whole mouse because the wheel itself is metal and heavy with a good bit of resistance to it. It's also just naturally very loose in both modes so depending on how you bind it in game it could be a problem. I make it work but logitech tried to combine luxury class and performance class and the mouse just ended up on the awkward middle ground. As for not liking zowie the only other mouse I might recommend without knowing you hand size is mionix avior 7000

[Squared_Root]

Have you taken a look at the EVGA X5 Optical? It is rather short so it might fit you well, also a solid perfomer, not the best 3988 out there, but solid.

 

I have, and it was actually on my list to consider at one point.  I might have to take another look at it.

 

The infinite scroll is nice but when set to regular mode its very bumpy and disruptive. For example in csgo if I use the scroll wheel to bhop it vibrates the whole mouse because the wheel itself is metal and heavy with a good bit of resistance to it. It's also just naturally very loose in both modes so depending on how you bind it in game it could be a problem. I make it work but logitech tried to combine luxury class and performance class and the mouse just ended up on the awkward middle ground. As for not liking zowie the only other mouse I might recommend without knowing you hand size is mionix avior 7000

 

Ah yeah I think I know what you mean.  I had a roommate at one point that had a logitech with an infinite scroll wheel.  It's a pitty there are so few gaming mice with tilt wheels available, and the few that do either aren't implemented well or are found on palm grip MOBA styled mice.  I'm almost tempted to try something like the Lenovo laser mouse below.  It's fairly cheap, has a tilt wheel, and supports up to 2000 DPI.  That being said it'd be a gain of two buttons (better than some of the other scenarios) and who knows how well it tracks.

 

Thanks again Equlix for the suggestions and advise.  I'll be sure to take a look at the Avior.