The classic ball mouse

Posted by SorinLion@reddit | vintagecomputing | View on Reddit | 22 comments

Was it really as bad as people remember?

  I recently revived a Compaq 5170 that I purchased from e-waste, and found a matching Compaq monitor, and period accurate keyboard and mouse.

I, like many of you, thought that the mouse was going to be an abysmal experience. I was pleasantly surprised that once I cleaned it up properly, and found a decent mouse pad, that the experience wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I think that once we got a maintenance free experience (laser mouse), we developed such disdain for something that required regular cleaning.

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Der_X_Buddne@reddit

Dope setup

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brandmeist3r@reddit

Damn, this reminds me of the final Zerg mission in classic, I should finish it this weekend. Got destroyed by the Protoss everytime.

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myrsnipe@reddit

You get like two maps done before you need to clean the axis rollers

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SorinLion@reddit (OP)

I made it all the way through the Terran campaign, and was only fouled up once by an errant cat hair.😸

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carcenomy@reddit

I think the futuristic using light instead of a ball thing gave folks the impression that ball mice were dramatically inferior...

Never mind the fact that at the turn of the millennium the highest DPI mouse available retail was... the OG Razer Boomslang, a ball mouse. And it wasn't even close 😂

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Few_Departure_6830@reddit

not just classic, this is IMO the best mouse ever made. I dont undestand why we do not have 1:1 optical version of this one.

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carcenomy@reddit

We did - the IntelliMouse with IntelliEye.

Feels exactly the same but with the first generation of Microsoft's optical system.

I have one and love it but the people wanted more buttons...

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RichardGereHead@reddit

Yes, most people remember the crappy cost optimized mouse that Packard Bell or Leading Edge shipped with their systems. The actual microsoft mouse from that era was a premium product with a premium price tag. Microsoft actually cared about giving you a premium experience back then.

I actually remember getting a Gateway branded true microsoft mouse in the pentium III era, and by then the Microsoft monopoly was sealed and it had already started going downhill. (but right after that the "intellimouse" came out, and that was pretty good honestly, although I always thought it was just a bit too big for my taste)

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ReadyAssociation3129@reddit

StarCraft 🙌

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newsflashjackass@reddit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAGlVXJR7-M

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Souta95@reddit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5e6eG6bXAQ

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00_SilverShot@reddit

Brings me back to playing StarCraft on a Packard Bell using 56k dialup while listening to Linkin Park Hybrid Theory CD on loop. Good times.

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chriscwjd@reddit

I think people only started being impolite about the ball when optical came along. Personally before that I didn't think of ball mice as bad, but they were annoying to clean.

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ripgoodhomer@reddit

If you can't clean it you'll end up needing to hardboil another egg to replace the ball before you know it.

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SorinLion@reddit (OP)

I've been seeing that one going around.😆

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Critical-Advantage11@reddit

I saw the trackball built into the keyboard, and thought this post was about that until I swiped over.

That is a fantastic keyboard

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SorinLion@reddit (OP)

I decided to keep it in my setup once I discovered it has Cherry MX Brown key switches in it. It's a joy to type on.

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RichardGereHead@reddit

I have a Compaq 4660 from just before that era. It's a Pentium II/300. To this day I think it's one of the best looking "deskside" machines of the era. It's similar to yours, but smaller and thinner. Compaq really did try everything in case design in that era and had some real winners and losers.

Gotta give the original owner credit for dedication to the Iomega marketing department. Kept that sticker on for many years!

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maokaby@reddit

" once we got a maintenance free experience (laser mouse)" - meanwhile I have to disassemble the mouse quite often, also wash the pad, because of the dog hair everywhere. Even small obstacle such as one hair near optical sensor can cause total failure.

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