Clean your balls

[dark_horse]

Here's a helpful hint. Remove the ball from your mouse and clean it periodically, you'll be amazed at the difference it can make. I've been tracing photos so that I can cut them out and was disappointed at how shaky and sloppy my lines were. After cleaning the ball in my mouse it was much easier to draw straight lines and I didn't have to spend nearly as much time cleaning up my cut paths later on. Its always good to have clean balls.

[zoeconner]

Very true. I use this to clean mine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtZKL74L ... ata_player

[BrianMick]

I use an optical or laser and you don't have a problem with dirty balls....
Brian

[SignTorch Vector Art]

Here's a helpful hint, get an optical mouse, game grade is worth the money for drawing, I especially like the Microsoft Sidewinder X8 with 2 good thumb buttons, they track better and the buttons work better (and don't wear out), and laser mice work anywhere, great for laptops, no need for a mouse pad or even a flat surface.

[pony]

I exclusively use the Apple Magic Mouse.
Jumping from the laptop to desktop is transparent as all the gestures on the laptop trackpad are available on the mouse.
http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

[krugshouse]

I use a Logitech trackball mouse and after about 60 hrs of use I find that it needs to be cleaned. Even though its just my thumb moving the ball, under it gets loaded with what looks like matted lint. Once cleaned it works like a new one.

[Groth]

Do you perfer the sidwinder to a drawing/digital pen for drawing and artwork?

[SignTorch Vector Art]

Do you perfer the sidwinder to a drawing/digital pen for drawing and artwork?

no, I start with a pen in photoshop to make an initial drawing, but when it gets converted to vectors, I use the mouse in corel to work with the vectors, which requires lots (and lots) of double clicking and being able to click right on the lines and nodes.

I find the gaming mouse is just way more tactile, the buttons just work better, and with all the clicking I do, the difference is really obvious, after a few months normal mouse buttons get less and less cooperative, whereas the game mouse buttons are rated for millions of clicks.

the sidewinder has a nifty magnetic charging cord, you just move the mouse by it and it attaches itself, and breaks free just as easily

then the logitech performance mouse has a free spinning scroll wheel that makes scrolling so fast and easy, I use it for reading, surfing, browsing and all that

at first I never envisioned spending that much for a mouse, but after burning through dozens of not very cheap normal mice, the game mice have paid for themselves many times over, and makes work easier,

my sidewinder is 3 or 4 years old and still going strong, that's saying a lot, that's a lot of clicks....

and the thumb buttons are perfect, just the right place to click fast without moving, I use those a lot, and that saves that much more time...

while we're on the subjecty of spending money, newegg.com has hanns-g 28" monitors on sale for $250 w/ free shipping, that's another thing that has helped a lot more than it hurt,