Optical Mouse - USB or PS2?

I use the USB...not much difference although it feels "feer".

Sig of the week.

I find my mouse works much better and smoother in the USB port. My keyboard is the opposite and works better in the PS/2 port.
I am using the Intellimouse Optical which is awesome, espcially considering it comes from Microshaft. I will never buy another logitech mouse.

<i>Speed doesn't kill,</i> <b>lag does.</b> James

I have the same mouse, it's pretty decent. Only have to whipe the rubber feet once a while. It was taking a little to get used to the size after the big gaming mouse, but it's cool. Options in settings are decent too, when driver crash it still run fine except the icon goes away from tray.

<font color=blue>Most computer problems are located between the chair and the keyboard</font color=blue>

The areas that determine the performance of a mouse are:

1. DPI of the encoder technology in the mouse.
2. Speed/MIPS of the controller chip in the mouse.
3. Speed/baud of communication between mouse and computer.
4. Driver features/equations that turn mouse signals into motion.
5. DPR (dots per rotation) of the encoder technology of the scroll wheel.


The encoder DPI (dots per inch) is the most important factor in determining the smoothness and speed of a mouse. This is described by how many discrete signals are sent to the controller chip when the mouse moves one inch. As the number of signals sent to the chip increases, mouse resolution becomes finer and the resulting motion smoother.

The controller speed and MIPS (millions of instructions per second) level are related to how fast the chip can accept the signals that the encoder is sending. If the chip speed is too slow, then some of the signals are not read and the mouse loses resolution. The key is to make the chip speed fast enough to interpret all of the signals that the encoder sends. Most current mice operate at around 1.5 MIPS.

The next critical link to performance is the connection between the mouse and the computer.

Until recently the standard was PS/2 which allowed for varying speed (or baud rate). Obviously the faster the sampling rate, the fewer signals will be lost and the more smooth and precise the mouse will feel. Most PS/2 devices operate at 30-40 polls/sec (Windows 95) and 60 polls/sec for Windows NT.

The new standard for computer peripherals is the USB port, which has a polling rate fixed at 125 polls per second and allows for communication to and from the peripheral.

The driver software converts the signals or pulses that the mouse sends into actual on-screen movement. This conversion is basically an equation that correlates the number of pulses the mouse sends to the number of pixels on the screen. When the user adjusts the speed/sensitivity of their mouse, they are changing the numbers in the equation. For instance from 1 pulse = 1 pixel to 1 pulse = 2 pixels. This would make the mouse twice as fast.

A standard mouse's scroll wheel operates at 18 DPR.

Toejam31


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