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Logitech MX1100

Posted by Scott

lgmx1100
Logitech’s new MX1100 mouse has been getting some glowing reviews and I’m pretty excited to get my hands on one. I have been using an MX Revolution for a couple years now and the battery is failing, so this new model with replaceable batteries will be a welcome addition. The ergonomics on the Logitech mice are great, but the hyperscroll wheel is reason enough to switch (so handy when you’re way zoomed in on a PSD and want to move around quickly). I have tried to make the switch to Wacom pads before without much success. How about everyone else? Do you use a mouse or a tablet, or both? Do you find either is more conducive to design or is it just a simple issue of ergonomics? Let us know in the comments

41 Comments Leave A Comment

1

Frederik Krogh says:

August 26, 2008 at 3:06 pm

Tablet gives me the best control and is much faster because of the system with absolute points. I also think that my elbow is very happy for the wacom. The only bad thing is right click, but i live with that.

2

gustaf says:

August 26, 2008 at 3:14 pm

Definitely Wacom for me too. A must for “painting”… and for saving one’s wrist. Depending on which model… you can configure the pen-button to be a right-click… or anything else, for that matter. I also switch up quite frequently between the pen and the wacom mouse (wireless + NO batteries at all!)

3

Mirwen72 says:

August 26, 2008 at 3:46 pm

I actually threw that wacom mouse away and use regular Genius optic mouse.
I switched to tablet two years ago because my wrist hurt. But when I play computer games I use mouse. It’s impossible to play games with tablet. But to tell you the truth my wrist still hurts – less but still. I coud use some device that would read my minds :). I saw some videos with these things that are actually being developed so it’s not that much sci-fi.
I just wonder if Wacom Cintique is better for wrist than regular tablet pad. Has anybody such experience?

4

Dave Krstin says:

August 26, 2008 at 3:50 pm

Logitech G9… Highest resolution, customizable X & Y dpi, removable weights, full USB speed…

corded of course, but if you are a big nerd, it is a must…

5

mike313 says:

August 26, 2008 at 3:51 pm

it took me a solid 60 hours of use to finally break-through using the wacom tablet. I wont lie, Its awful for that first week, but 11-years later i’ll never go back. I’ve felt zero wrist pain since. Its worth the annoyance at first. It gets better.

6

Wayne D. says:

August 26, 2008 at 3:52 pm

I’ve come from the early days of creating fonts on a 4×5 Wacom pen partner in CorelDRAW. Now I’ve since upgraded to a 6×11 Intuos 3 tablet. I can’t say enough of how much it has influenced my design style, not to mention the level of comfortableness. I feel the 6×11 is the perfect size for a graphic designer working on a screen similar to 1680×1050 or 1920×1200(my iMac). It definitely takes getting used to if you are new to it, but it is so rewarding, you forget you ever used a mouse in the first place.

When I have to, I use the Logitech MX1000 laser rechargeable. Can’t beat it.

8

marc says:

August 26, 2008 at 4:04 pm

i love logitech mice. have had a few. my longest one that i still use is the mx500 that i’ve had for over 5 years. still works great. love their buttons and feel.

gotta look into this new one though.

9

Scott says:

August 26, 2008 at 4:06 pm

chico-
yeah, they make a lefty version of the 1000 I think.

dave-
I had a G9 which I used for shows, but I left it on stage at DEMF…..never to be seen again. I had the G8 (or whatever the one before it was) I liked both, but the G9 was too flat, didn’t fit in my palm. I really liked the weights though. I taped together some quarters and stuffed them in my mx518 though and now it feels about the same. I actually prefer corded mice, just for precision and reliability, but all the high end ones with the features are usually wireless since that’s the standard these days.

10

Rob McDougall says:

August 26, 2008 at 4:42 pm

That looks great. Hadn’t heard of it till now. Will have to look into it when my current setup starts to fall apart!

I’m using a combo of the A6 Wacom + MX Revolution on my desktop, and the teeny weeny Logitech cordless for my laptop – which I love. The USB transmitter is so small it’s unreal!

11

Hrvojeb says:

August 26, 2008 at 5:36 pm

I have MX 1000 at home, but at my job I only use Wacom and I’m used to it. The only thing that all ways gets on my nerves with all graphic tablets is the right-mouse-button. Pressing that stupid little button on the pen all ways shakes my pen to much so I loose my aim. With time it will get better. I hope. I’ll by new mouse because the battery in MX 1000 is not working properly any more. I was thinking about G9.

The thing with cordless mice is that they loose their juice exactly the time when you need them the most. When you work 4 days strait.
Will you put mouse on it’s stand? The red light thingy is on. Let it suck up some juice.
No way, man! There’s no time!
hehe

12

Ryan Barlin says:

August 26, 2008 at 5:39 pm

Sweet, sweet Wacom intuos action at work, graphire 2 at home. I get less hand pains this way. :D I don’t think i could ever go back to using a mouse…

13

Jayden says:

August 26, 2008 at 5:51 pm

I’ve never committed serious time to learning with my bluetooth Wacom. Being left handed when drawing, but right-handed with a mouse – it’s a total pain to try and learn Photoshop shortcuts with the other hand when using the Wacom!!

But I’m sure it’s doable.

A 3D (Maya) artist friend of mine made the mouse-to-Wacom switch a few years back and has never moved a mouse since.

Looks like a similar response is being found on this post…

14

Jayden says:

August 26, 2008 at 5:52 pm

P.s. can’t you set your right-click action to one of the buttons on the Wacom tablet instead of using the pen’s button? I too have found this a pain…

15

Andrew says:

August 26, 2008 at 7:28 pm

Jayden, I’m in the same boat. Left handed in everything except mousing, I think I picked it up from a combination of gaming and my family’s computer being set to right handed as I was growing up.

I’d love to have a wacom (a new one that is. I have an old broken one that’s just too big) but I don’t have the room. Living in a small apartment, a year out of school with a tiny laptop desk. I’ve got just enough room for a mouse, and it’s a Logitech Nano. The small size doesn’t bother me, and I’m always going out to coffee shops anyway, so it’s nice to have something small to pack up and carry away.

I think after this mouse I may be a logitech user for a long long time. I love them.

16

NAVIS says:

August 26, 2008 at 8:17 pm

What’s funny is that I was just going to ask you (Scott) if you own a tablet. I just picked up an Intuos 3 6×8 tablet today and so far it’s a trip to get used to. I’m sure in time I’ll learn to love the thing but after using a mouse for my entire life… I’m just so much faster with the mouse. But so far it’s been fun just doodling things with it.

A lot of my designs I want to do are hand drawn so it seemed natural to get a tablet. I’m also in dire need of a decent scanner. Maybe you can do a blog about a slick, inexpensive scanner.

I would like to insert a random note of hate: I hate Illustrator more than anything in the world. It’s the most God damn counter intuitive program ever created.

17

Chris says:

August 26, 2008 at 10:53 pm

After having used an Intous 3 for a couple years, I feel fairly limited every time I go back using a mouse in PS. Especially when drawing. So I guess it’s like everyone’s already said. It takes a while to get used to, but it’s all worth it!

18

kasakka says:

August 26, 2008 at 11:10 pm

Wacom for graphics work, mouse for everything else. The mouse that comes with the Wacom is a terrible design and a crap mouse too, throwing that away is the thing to do. The pen is very nice but I don’t like using it for just basic things like browsing the web.

My choice in mice is fairly limited too. Logitech mice work like crap in OSX (mouse acceleration issue) so I’m using a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 4.0 at the moment. Fairly good, though the non-indented wheel isn’t my favorite.

What I hate is that nearly all the new mice with nice designs are only available as wireless. I don’t like those at all. For one I don’t need to use the mouse away from my ‘puter so the wireless thing is useless. I also don’t want the lag associated with it or having to change/recharge batteries. Because of the batteries they also tend to be heavier.

19

anna says:

August 27, 2008 at 1:18 am

I think the perfect combination is Logitech ergonomic mouse + wacom tablet when you need to do some illustration or work with phtoshop. It takes one or two days to get used to the tablet, but it’s worth it

20

leggoz says:

August 27, 2008 at 2:54 am

I used to work alot in Illustrator..and my wacom intuos3 a5 was really the best option. Also in Photoshop and InDesign I use my wacom..altough occasionaly my logitech mouse in InDesign. The wacom intuos has a really nice pen with great grip and I’m used to work on 17′ screens and since a couple of weeks on my 15′ macbook and the a5 size is very comfortable. Ofcourse when i’m just surfing around the internet for something I put my fingers on the touchpad on my macbook…

21

Sebas van den Brink says:

August 27, 2008 at 3:27 am

Without my tablet i’d be hopeless when making certain illustrations. But I don’t use it for day-to-day navigation. It’s just like a real pen; if you haven’t handwritten anything for a while your hand hurts when writing for a while again. Though my cheap Logitech mouse isn’t 100% ergonomically correct either. And the plastic grip layers are coming off the thing. Maybe I need to invest in a more expensive one such as this.

What about keyboards? My keyboard’s ancient (and bore the brunt when my flatscreen accidentally toppled over – that was a scary moment). But I like both mouse and keyboard wired.

23

MICHAELMANASSEH says:

August 27, 2008 at 6:38 am

I break all the rules…I just use the touch pad on my macbook pro!

I have thought about using a tablet but don’t know if its worth the money to try something that there is 50/50 chance I won’t like.

24

clint says:

August 27, 2008 at 8:10 am

I use a tablet about 90% of the time. I forced myself to use nothing but for the first week I bought the wacom and after that I never went back to a mouse. It doesn’t really seem necessary for a lot of the work I do but for photoshop painting and freehand drawing it’s the best. It seems to make my wrist more comfortable too and I think I’m faster with it.

25

MK says:

August 27, 2008 at 9:30 am

Recently switched to wacom, and I really love it. For design it makes total sense, we all started with pencils anyway. I keep it in front of my keyboard and leave the mouse off to the side for easy access. Sometimes I’ll even use it working with html but usually keyboard and mouse are just easier when I don’t need as much control.

26

Eric W says:

August 27, 2008 at 12:29 pm

I am really fast with my keyboard and apple mouse, i can’t imagine getting to that speed with a tablet pen. I have tried, but i always go back to mouse. I can see a tablet as a tool if doing heavy illustration work, but for tracing in illustrator and setting type, i can’t see it being faster than a mouse.

27

Killer Haircut says:

August 27, 2008 at 3:17 pm

I’ve been using a wacom tablet for almost 10 years and love it. I know it’s tough looking up at the monitor while drawing on the tablet, but trust me it’s so dope once you get the handle. I’ve got the ghetto version 99 bucks and it still has 2000 points of pressure. I do have a high tech mouse, but it’s no match when it comes to the power of the tablet when drawing.

The Old High Tech Red Neck. :)

29

Justin S. Meyers says:

August 28, 2008 at 6:06 am

I had a very hard time using a tablet at first, but got the hang of it. I can’t do any crisp masking without the pen. I don’t require anything crazy in terms of specs for a tablet, so I just recently bought a Bamboo at roughly $200 (I think) and it’s really pulling it’s weight for pressure settings. At the end of the day it’s not the best out, but it’s all I need.

When I am not masking or painting, I use a Kensington Expert Mouse.

Scott- What do you mean by “move around?” For instance, does the MX1100 allow you to scroll side to side at 1600% without a ton of processing? Maybe I misunderstood your comment.

30

Gareth says:

August 28, 2008 at 7:23 am

I currently use a Razer Lachesis. At 4000 dpi, it takes some getting used to. However, I believe over time it’s allowed me to use higher resolution ( / multiple) monitors with ease.

32

Max Weir says:

August 28, 2008 at 4:27 pm

It looks beautiful! Logitech have a habit of putting out lovely well sculpted machines. This new one looks to be something great, I love all the extra buttons and especially the nice curves which look like it will be a comfy fit

34

harald b says:

August 29, 2008 at 10:12 am

Wacom Intuous 3 mapped to the screen (not free like a mouse is) works best for me. It takes a week of getting used to. I also took off that terrible rubber grip that the pen comes with. Its more ergonomic, and more like a pen that you would draw with.

Once you know you can put your pen over a certain part of the tablet, and your cursor snaps to that point, its far superior in my opinion. I do use the pen for every application though. Music, imaging, motion.

+harald

35

Nicole says:

August 30, 2008 at 5:12 pm

Most of the time I use my tablet pen for art and my mouse for things where I need to switch between mouse & keyboard quickly. (Like IMing.)

I say “art” because I don’t really “draw” per se much on the computer, since it doesn’t really have the same “feel” as drawing on paper. The “not seeing your hand as you draw” thing doesn’t bother me as much as how sometimes if I have a lot of layers visible, the pen sometimes breaks up my lines or doesn’t draw curves correctly. Sad but true. So I use it more for the pen tool or to move or resize things in Photoshop.

36

frederico silva says:

August 31, 2008 at 8:42 pm

Hi!
Im lefthanded so i use a Intuos A5wide for my left hand and a mighty mouse for my right hand all the time i switch between them in different situations without having to move a thing in my desk just picking up the right tool, i also use shortcuts with both hands depending which hand is busy…
The wacom is the most important tool in almost every software i need, photoshop painting and masking, illustrator pen tool…. cinema 3d…
the mouse is good for browsing and other repetitive tasks with no precision or flow needed.

39

Mr. Nil says:

October 20, 2008 at 9:53 am

Wacom tablet all the way. Never a problem with repetitive stress syndrome, more natural feel, and much faster to work with. Most people don’t give it enough time and switch back to a mouse before they really get how much faster it can be. Mice are an archaic solution to input devices. There is better technology out there! The only thing I still use them for is audio editing but everything else goes to the tablet. Even internet browsing. Give them a real chance and you will never go back.