this post was submitted on 08 Jul 2024
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What do you think are the best mice for use with linux?

What factors do you think are most important in selecting a mouse? (eg precision, build quality, comfort, other)

Price is optional

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Are there mice which are not supported in Linux? Everything I have used from a junky unbranded wireless mouse to a high end Logitech gaming mouse have all been plug and play for me. Even the RGB settings can be configured in openRGB.

Comfort should always be an important factor in a mouse for any OS, I would think. In terms of build quality, I have had the rubber on some mice start to degrade over time, but that is about it. Even the cheapest mice that are hard plastic can last for decades with no problem.

I would say that switchable DPI would be a must-have feature for me with modern displays. As someone with a 4k monitor, some junky office mice do not have enough sensitivity for me on high resolution monitors even with the setting cranked to max in the settings menu.

For wireless mice, I prefer AA battery mice over USB rechargeable mice, but that is a matter of personal preference. If my mouse battery dies in a AA mouse, I can swap the rechargeable NiMH battery in a minute and continue using it. However, if a USB rechargeable mouse is dead, I either have to use it on a tether for a while or remember to constantly keep recharging it. Also, having an integrated li-ion battery will give any mouse a limited lifespan unless you are willing to open up and solder in a new battery when it wears out, whereas I have some AA-powered mice which are going strong probably a decade later, so long I have had to open them up and re-solder them with new microswitches instead of new batteries.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

Another reason to use Logitech mice: ease of repair. Apart from skates covering the screws on the underside, Logitech does not use glue to keep it's mice together. And due to their popularity, replacement parts (including the battery btw) are widely available even for older models.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Logitch mice work on Linux but additional mouse buttons are not supported for some reason

[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago

yes . that is my experience also

[–] bitfucker 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I have CoolerMaster MM712. If I use the USB dongle the mouse goes to sleep after a while even when I am using it. So yeah, there are some quirky ones

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Interesting. Do you use Powertop or TLP, by any chance? Some power utilities will turn on USB power saving if there is no activity on a USB port for a while, which can cause issues with USB mice. Generally I turn off that specific setting, or I believe there might be some way to whitelist certain USB devices to not have this sleep behavior.

[–] bitfucker 2 points 4 months ago (1 children)

No. I have a bog standard ASUS UX325UA_UM325UA laptop running arch+kde. I have not tweaked with power saving at all (only adding hibernate)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I am not sure, then. If you are on a laptop, you might try one or the other of those utilities regardless simply because they can improve battery life, but that is a separate issue.

[–] bitfucker 2 points 4 months ago

Yeah, I am not having issues with battery life so I do not tweak my power settings. The mouse works in wired or bluetooth too, just the dongle is a bit problematic

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

My Steelseries Prime Wireless only has basic functionality working. I could run the software via Wine or VM (don’t remember) but it didn’t remember the settings after a power cycle of the mouse or the PC (also don’t remember).