good mouse for CAD work?

[matt3o]

I find myself doing a lot of parametric CAD lately and I find "standard" mice to be tiring in the long run. Basically what most mice do is placing the middle button under the wheel and that switch is generally a little stiffer. Totally fine in day to day usage but a little upsetting after 6 hours of middle-clicking. I've tried a few trackballs with little success... pain shifted from thumb/index to ring/pinky fingers.

Do you have any experience and suggestions with cad-friendly mice? Please I'm not looking for uber complicated consoles or dedicated devices like connexion stuff. Thanks!

[Tias]

I use CAD on a daily basis at work, and I totally get your problem regarding the middle mouse button. If you have a mouse with uncomfortable placement of the middle mouse button you can really feel the strain in your hand after a whole day of for example using the middle mouse button to pan in models. I myself use a really basic G500s and before that I had a MX500. The thing I like best about the G500 is that it fits my hand perfectly (its a rather large and bulky mouse), as well as it of course having the middle mouse botton in the wheel itself rather than as a dedicated button below the wheel. I also have a MX Anywhere, which I use whenever I'm on the go, but doing extensive modelling with that mouse is a real PITA because of the akward placement of the middle mouse button.

Dunno if its relevant but I also have a standing desk, and it has really helped me to get rid of my old habit of "leaning" forward and putting more strains on my wrist.

Some of my co-workers use the Evoluent Verticalmouse, and that would imo also be a really good candidate as well. There are certainly many more and better alternatives that maybe some other people could recommend, but these are just the ones I'm familiar with

[Findecanor]

The Contour Unimouse is another vertical mouse with proper three buttons and a scroll wheel, the buttons being programmable. I have the wireless version which I find to be a bit too heavy b/c of its battery, but there should be a wired version also.
It has adjustable lateral inclination, so you don't need to hold it as vertically as the Evoluent, but both are quite long in the hand through, forcing you to hold them straight which many people don't like.

[Lbibass]

I use an MX Ergo, and the button weighting is amazing. I can use that mouse all day. I would stay away from the Elecom Deft for CAD, as the middle click button is about as heavy as a brick. It's absurd and completely unusable.

[matt3o]

thanks for the suggestions guys.

The G500 seems hard to find (possibly it's end-of-life) but there are a few on ebay.

I'm not very comfortable with thumb trackballs honestly @Lbibass

Any impressions on the Cconnexion CadMouse Pro?

[Tias]

The G500 seems hard to find (possibly it's end-of-life) but there are a few on ebay.

Yes, I've had my G500 for quite awhile and it has certainly been replaced by never and improved models.

I also forgot to mention that its really that particular style of mouse that I find perfect for my needs, and I'm sure I could be equally happy using a different brand/model of mouse, but as long as it has got the same style and characteristics. Hope that that makes more sense.

[sypl]

Would a drawing tablet like a Wacom be suitable for CAD work? I've seen designers use them exclusively over a mouse, and it seems like it'd be a very natural way of creating a CAD file. One of the buttons on the stylus set to middle click, that's gotta be pretty comfortable right?

[kps]

Logitech C7

[matt3o]

Logitech C7

that's a Mr. Mouse

[Cattus_D]

I realise that the original post was made a while ago, but if you are still looking for a mouse which makes repeated middle-clicking less frustrating I can recommend IBM's old Scrollpoint Pro mice. A seller on E-Bay still has them in stock, albeit in the ball-mouse variety (new old stock, the rubber on the sides is a bit sticky but that can be resolved with surgical spirit/rubbing alcohol).

The Scrollpoint Pro places the middle mouse button under your thumb, and replaces the mouse wheel with a trackpoint-style pointing stick which allows you to scroll to the left and right in addition to up and down.

[matt3o]

The Scrollpoint Pro places the middle mouse button under your thumb, and replaces the mouse wheel with a trackpoint-style pointing stick which allows you to scroll to the left and right in addition to up and down.

yeah I'm still looking, at the moment I replaced the middle button with one of the many buttons my mouse has (one on the thumb actually). It's definitely better, but still looking for alternatives.

The IBM scrollpoint pro looks like a solid mouse! Thanks

[gipetto]

I have the same issue and get painful aches in my middle click finger so I went for a zowie fk which uses a 3 pin middle click switch. then i replaced it with a D2F-01FL, which is half the force of the original switch. i still get the aches but not as bad, and i swap between two fingers.