Gaming Mice Debacle

krowxxvii

Hiya,

I'm on my second gaming mouse. At first, I thought my Razer Diamondback was borked, because the mouse cursor would "wiggle" around whatever i was trying to point at. It's an optical, laser mouse I believe.

Well, I just got my second decent gaming mouse in the mail, SideWinder x5, and it too suffers from the same "wiggling" issue.

 

I spent a couple hours trying to find some info on this, but nothing conclusive. I hook my cheap standard Microsoft mouse to the same USB port, and no wiggling. Using the same surface for the mouse pad, all of the mice are laser/optical or what have you.

 

Not quite sure why this happens. I'm assuming it's something to do with sensitivity with the higher DPI on the gaming mice. But even if I turn the DPI to lowest possible settings, I still get the wiggling. Just seeing if anyone on here has had similar issues. This is really annoying when playing MMOs, but even more annoying when I'm designing artwork for work. Can't have wiggling in InDesign!

 

Thanks for any input!

Simsu

You said same surface.. Have you tried different surfaces? I've noticed a lot of problems with optical mice on surfaces that have a varied finish (e.g. worn off) and or lots of different colors.

Sanisar

I use a death adder and haven't had any real problems.  I had an issue one time that was probably the result of me slamming the mouse into my desk, but it magically corrected itself.  The issue here was that at times I couldn't click on the open window and I never really discovered the cause.  I do believe it was the mouse though.

I have heard at times that the internal boards for Razer mice are cheap, though I haven't cracked mine open to see.  Your problem however seems to either be some kind of hardware incompatibility or a surface issue.  The likelihood of two separate mice glitching in the same way just seems too unlikely to me.  Have you tried it on a variety of surfaces?  Have you installed the latest drivers? (I know this all seems obvious, just checking)  If so then you might need to research compatibility issues with your specific hardware.  Have you checked the mouse on another machine to isolate the problem to either the mouse or compatibility issues?

Hope some of this helps if I don't check back in.

krowxxvii

I have tried three different surfaces:

(1) A hard-plastic portable gaming mouse-pad that came with my Alienware laptop I bought a few years ago. I usually have this sitting on my bed with my laptop, but tried on the mice connected to my desktop just to verify. Experienced even worse wiggling with this surface.

(2) Cloth armrest of my recliner. As I type this, I am kicked back comfortably in my recliner. My mouse resting on the armrest. I've used this armrest for the past few months without any problems when using the standard cheapo MS mouse. But both Diamondback and x5 have the wiggling issue.

(3) Torn-up t-shirt tapped nicely to my desk. I took one of my old t-shirts and taped it to my desk, works perfectly with the standard MS mouse, but same wiggling problem as with the armrest.

 

So, I guess just dig around try to find different surfaces to test on? Magazines, notebooks, etc.?

 

Thanks for the input guys. And yes, everything checks out except for the surface. What do you guys recommend for a good surface?

BloodDuality

I just have a question as to if the mouse wiggles even if it isn't being touched at all and just sitting stationary? If it does what if the mouse is then sitting not even on a surface at all and just pointing at open air?

One other thing I guess to check would be looking to see if they have any software updates for the mice, and if so see if that helps. Also might want to go to their website and see if they have anything for tech support questions. Might be able to get a more detailed response that way for your specific mice.

Cleffy

I use a Logitech G5 Generation 2 Gaming Mouse and a Steel Series Matte Glass Mouse Surface.  Wiggling will most likely be a Mousepad issue.

Karmakazi

The cause of this problem is dirt on the lens of the laser. If something like dust or even a hair gets on the lens, you'll start noticing your mouse dancing around, then you'll know it's time to clean your lens. Normally, I'll take something like a tooth pick and rub very lightly over the area to clean it of any hairs or fibers that may be in there, then I take a Q-tip and rub gently over the lens to dust it off. See if this helps you.