Thinkpads Forum

I want to get a mouse for my thinkpad, however Im confussed on the wireless/non-wireless options available.

Found a nice logitech mouse at staples at 20.00 made for laptops it said,
cord winds up around the base for storage, plugs into USB.

Found another think it was called a v300 or so, Wireless, has a little keythingy that plugs into your usb and supposedly you can use it for almost a year before the battery drains.

So my question is since they both work off of usb, and since the wireless has its own battery, does it still use the battery of the laptop for power?
Whereas the the first mouse i listed will?

or will they both drain the battery of the laptop at the same rate?

Nomad-Man wrote:Will they both drain the battery of the laptop at the same rate?

Hard to say whether the the wireless mouse's sender (the USB portion) draws more current than the wirebound mouse. If their manufacturers have a reputation to live up to, they will have the specs published.

With the wireless mouse, tho', there's another battery that, when it runs empty, leaves you external-mouse-less, and you'll be using the TrackPoint/TrackPad again no matter whether you're on external power or on battery.

The TrackPoint/TrackPad devices, incidentally, are powered all the time anyway, and drain the battery as well, so you might as well join the ranks of the TrackP{oint,ad} lovers and use them all the time and get your moneys, err, batteries worth (:

cheers,
-- fish

Hard to say whether the the wireless mouse's sender (the USB portion) draws more current than the wirebound mouse. If their manufacturers have a reputation to live up to, they will have the specs published.

Both are logitech
wired is the "Notebook Optical Mouse Plus+"
wireless was something like a "V300" smaller version of the V500. I havent seen any specs on either

With the wireless mouse, tho', there's another battery that, when it runs empty, leaves you external-mouse-less, and you'll be using the TrackPoint/TrackPad again no matter whether you're on external power or on battery.

The TrackPoint/TrackPad devices, incidentally, are powered all the time anyway, and drain the battery as well, so you might as well join the ranks of the TrackP{oint,ad} lovers and use them all the time and get your moneys, err, batteries worth (:

The TrackPoint/Trackpad was one of the reason why i bought the IBM, however, when im using it on my desk i figured it would be eaiser to use a mouse for daily work. But then thought that if i was using it at my desk, and walked away for a couple hours I wouldnt have to worry as much about battery drain.

A wired USB mouse would use less power than a wireless USB mouse, because the wireless mouse has a radio transceiver that plugs into the USB port that consumes additional power. A roller ball mouse should consume less power than an optical mouse, although I don't believe the trade-off would be worth it. I love my optical mouse! I bought a Belkin and am very happy with it (even though it is a cheapee). Roller balls always act up after a period of time. I also love my trackpoint, but can do without the touch pad. I have the touch pad disabled.

If you have bluetooth built in I recommend the Kensington pilot mouse. Its a bit pricey (60 bucks) but nothing is nicer than having no cord and no usb adapter. Also its a nice mouse and its small, and I doubt it draws more power than the usb wireless.

-kaplanfx