So I have started traveling more and more for work, and this year I should make Plantium Pro with American Airlines. This means I have to find time to run SolidWorks and CADD it on the go. Some trips are long, and some short. Hotels, Airports, Coffee Shops, Meetings with my Therapist, and 8+ Hour flights in Cattle Class. It became very apparent very fast that I needed to cut the cord. So this post is all about my experience looking for the SolidWorks CADD Mouse.
Since January of 2017, I have lost, broken, or permanently misplaced about $500 of computer mice. This has given me the opportunity to try out a couple of new ones for you.
So this is a review of what I have tried and what I have learned. I promise to keep this review only just a little biased, in the way that Apple users are biased toward Apple. What I mean is that Apple products don’t just work, but they work well. Once Apple has you in their ecosystem, it is hard to break out.
In that same vein, I am kind of married to Logitech. I have used other devices, like cheap knock-off wireless stuff, mice with large USB drive dongles, Bluetooth Dell, and Microsoft mice, but I keep coming back to Logitech.
Do other people make great stuff? Yes, but have they been great enough for me to move away from Logitech?
NO!
Maybe I have not given other companies a fair trial in the last couple of months. but umm, yep, I don’t care.
So the rest of this will be a non-biased, dangerously average review of Logitech mice from my user experience. Please keep in mind, I spend my money with Logitech, again and again… So this is where I put my own money. You should know by now that no one in their right or left mind would trust me with anything for free.
But more about Logitech. As I said it is a little bit like Apple or Android. After you spend enough time in an ecosystem, you start to get comfortable with it. Well, I am pretty comfortable with Logitech now. I am in their ecosystem. Here are the main reasons for that.
- Dongle Adapter – It may only use one USB slot, but the nano form factor has been around forever. It’s simple to use, proven design, and is very discrete, and I never have to remove it from the USB Port
- Paring and Management – You can keep a bunch of devices paired on a single dongle. The best part, they just work. It always connects never any hassle. Once your device is paired they always connect. I love this reliability and flexibility. I keep a Mouse and keyboard at work, a mouse and keyboard at home, and a mouse in my work bag. I just take my computer around, and everything works, and pairs seamlessly.
- Availability – You can find a Logitech Mouse anywhere and everywhere! If you on on the go, and you lose your mouse no problem, sweet sweet comfort and productivity is just an UBER and maybe a Pizza Rev away.
- Battery Usage – AA Batteries are the same form factor all over the world, and they last a very long time in these devices.
So there you have it my big three reasons I keep coming back to Logitech. The Dongle is always there, the devices always connect with no issues, and when you lose one, you can just get another quickly and pretty hassle-free.
Now for the nitty-gritty, let us talk about usage, I CADD, in fact, I use SolidWorks almost daily. Some days for hours, other days for about 30mins. Pretty much most days, I have it open, and you can find me reviewing or creating geometry. So I am a daily driver at some level.
Next, are my personal quirks:
I cut my teeth on AutoCADD. Like R12 or 13 or something that was named after the release, not the year. So, with most of the old Autocad Jockey’s, I have the habit of mapping a bunch of keyboard shortcuts to my “Keyboard” hand (In this case, Left-hand shortcuts) and then using the mouse as my right-handed pointing device. So left-hand keyboard, right-hand mouse.
This setup forces me to be weak at the keyboard 10key. (<– I might just choose to be weak at this) and forces me off the keyboard, but general geometry and initial creation is pretty good.
I prefer this two-handed setup. I once had a 3D Connection Space Pilot, this was back in the early ’00’s and it left a little bittersweet taste in my mouth. Sweet because I was the envy of my co-workers. Bitter because I could never get it to live up to the hype. The layout of the old school 3D controllers was not very ergonomic. So, I could not get to the shortcuts as efficiently as I could on my keyboard. With the Space Pilot, too often typing forced both hands to come to the keyboard, and it never solved my 10key issue either. In the right (or left) hands I am sure these are very productive units, but for me, they never lived up to the hype.
Logitech M315/M310 Wireless Mouse – My First Mouse
The M315 is a tiny thing that I think came with a keyboard kit. It was a nice set of training wheels because the unifying receiver worked with both the Mouse and keyboard. So this was saving me a couple of Wired Connections at my desk. At first, I believed that I liked this mouse. Much like how you convinced yourself you liked Nickleback but don’t want to talk about that anymore. I was confident I liked this mouse because of its small and compact size. Plus it was lightweight and I convinced myself this was great for travel.
Then I matured and moved on from Natty Ice to a real beer.
So the M315 is light and super portable but had issues that I did not even realize they were there. The mouse is almost too small for my hand to sling SolidWorks all day. It is very light. Experience has taught me I like a mouse that feels a little more substantial. The scroll wheel does not have a smooth scrolling function. Sometimes I feel the cursor precision is not as crisp as I would like. It is a typical cheap tiny three-button mouse, that is also symmetrical and could be good if you are L/H or R/H. For a SolidWorks mouse, this is my least favorite.
Please note there is an M310 Wireless Mouse too. It’s the larger bigger brother of the M315. Don’t be fooled, and try to stay away from the 310/315 Series if you can.
Logitech M510 Wireless Mouse – My Third Mouse listed Second…
Did you read about the M315 above, then Diddo?! The only changes are the body is a little bit larger. I was hoping this would translate into a mouse that felt more substantial when running SolidWorks. The two side buttons are a nice touch for some additional functionality. I find that I have to move my thumb too far to access the buttons. In the end, the slight size difference does not equate to a much better experience over the M315.
Logitech M705 Marathon Wireless Mouse – #1 All-time Great
This mouse is basically my favorite of all time. We are talking about the M705 Marathon. This is a SolidWorks workhorse of a mouse and was my only option for almost 3yrs. I have given it as baby shower gifts, named work passwords after it, and even thought about getting a tattoo that said “Marathon M705 for life”. But I guess Marathoners are using 26.2 as their number? Go Figure, well that and having a “Marathon M705 for Life” Tattoo would just be awkward to explain to the kids in 10yrs.
But in all honesty, the M705 is almost the perfect Wireless CADD Mouse. It is a 7-button programmable mouse. That means you have 7-buttons you can customize to custom keyboard entries, or switch around the function of any button. If you are reading this and still using a three-button mouse or are holding an M315 you need to upgrade. Here is where the M705 really shines.
A typical 3-button mouse the Middle button (rotate model) is under the scroll wheel. As you 315er’s know, you have to press the scroll wheel down to rotate but is very hard to zoom and rotate at the same time. Specifically, if you are trying to rotate on an edge or point. You have to hold this down and scroll around. It sucks trying to Scroll and Rotate simultaneously. This 2 part function is not done in parallel, but often as two functions.
The M705 has a button right under where your “Typically” worthless thumb is. Look at the picture above. See the Orange Logitech Logo on the Dongle. Go up from there and right where you thumb rests, there is a little grey line. That is a thumb button. This Thumb button is one of the 7-buttons on the mouse. Using the Logitech Mouse and Keyboard Settings I map this thumb button to what is typically the “Middle” Button. Once this is complete, I can then rotate the part by “Grabbing” the model with my thumb. Is fricken brilliant, simple, and intuitive. In just a few short minutes you will be super comfortable with using your thumb, and I don’t care if you run Shift and Ctrl for Zoom and Pan. You need this rotate functionality in your life.
If you are in the Dark ages and using only a 3-button mouse, don’t fear, 7 buttons sound like a lot, and admittedly it is kind of like going from
This:
To This:
Totally scary at first, but it becomes so simple and intuitive that you will wonder how you ever lived with out!
The point is you can map the extra buttons to to things you normally use and don’t want to burn a mouse gesture on. For something I just need that feel of a button press. So for example you can take the extra buttons and map them to SolidWorks functions like
- Exit Sketch
- Delete
- Line
- Rebuild
- Save-As
- Flatten
- Dealers Choice
The only possible drawback or hate I can throw at the M705 is that they only make it in R/H configurations.
Logitech M720 Triathlon Wireless Mouse – Current Daily Driver
Despite my praise for the M705 which was my go-to mouse for years. I am currently driving the M720. It handles much like the M705. It is really the X-Box One controller of Mice. The buttons are well laid out. The scroll wheel supports smoother scrolling, and the Thumb grabber is there. A couple of bonus things to note about the M720.
It tracks awesome! Maybe better than the M705. Accuracy and precision have always been first in class with this mouse. The form factor is a little more modern and angular like a stealth fighter jet. It is not obscene, but differently, the edges are crisper.
Lastly, you will notice that the mouse has the numbers 1-2-3 on the top. This mouse can bridge between two or three machines at once. So by cycling the button numbers, you can select different machines. A real-life application. My computer at the office is mapped the “2” spot, and my PC at home is mapped to the “1” spot.
Where this mouse really shines is when you have two computers at your workspace. Crazy right, Maybe at your home office rendering a promo video in Visualize or crunching a simulation. Next to that sits the laptop you are using for web browsing. This mouse can toggle between both machines at once.
To go with this, the mouse also supports Logitech Flow. This is a Logitech technology that will allow you to copy and paste text, files and folders between the machines. It’s all down via the magic of Logitech.
So I took a chance on the Logitech M720 Triathlon and have been very happy with it.
So there you have my Dangerously Average Recommendations. If you are shopping for a Wireless CADD Mouse, do yourself a favor and go out and get a 7XX series Logitech Mouse.