I have a love-hate relationship with wireless too. I keep falling for the idea of free movement only to find myself in a world of connection problems and dying batteries before the month is out.

When the computer doesnt move I stick with wired, because I never have a problem with wires getting in the way on the desktop.

When the computer moves, as a laptop, I have gone back to wireless. Cables get always messed up in a bag. And, now that the usb receiver plugs are so small that you can leave them on the port when packing the machine, wireless is less fiddly than wired (it used to be more fiddly as you would lose the receiver in the depths of the case on a periodic basis).
Of course even there the features of the mouse are more important. I need my 5 buttons and I have this wireless mouse because it was the only mini mouse I found that had 5 buttons, not because it is wireless...

I just recently fell in the trap of wireless for a PC which had gotten moved to the living room as we might want to use it from a distance at times. So it has 2 sets, wired on the desk and a wireless keyboard and a wireless trackball in case we ever want to pick music or watch a DVD or something.

Already I am reminded as to why I fell out of love with the wireless stuff, as it seems to lose its connection when the computer goes asleep :S (strangely enough dont have that problem with the wireless mouse on the laptop, i wonder why)

So on average I will be a cable bore except when it really might make sense to not have a cable...

There are some advanced wireless mouses out there. Like this Genius (longest URL ever) that lets you plug the USB cable to recharge the batteries, much like the iPod (Apple developed something really nice there).

I'm very happy with my Logitech LX7, and I would not give up on wireless not even for all money in the world . Of course, this one uses AA batteries, so I don't have mouser's problems

... and who would want a mouse with a dern receiver?


"That thar dern receiver dun lost mah connection!"

Yeah Logitech mouses are weird. I love my wireless mouse though..being able to use it on my bed in the dorm is nice (no problems charging it since I remember to put it back into its slot when I'm going out). Though I do prefer my laptop's battery operated Logitech VX Revolution. The battery life that thing gets is insane..

Maybe I should also mention that the battery life on my MX Laser 1000 is quite long -- when I'm not using it. It can hold still, powered on for many weeks! The big drain on the battery seems to be games or things that require holding down the buttons (as opposed to clicks now and then). Normal, non-game usage and the lith-ion battery lasts quite a while.

Not that this joint is much of a hotbed of Apple fanatics, but a stern warning to refuse at all costs (even if donated at no cost, or offered with further favors!) Apple's Mighty mouse (wired or unwired).

Good: 360deg scrollball
Bad: Everything else, but really everything else.

They've got some fancy touch sensitive doodad so even though it has no left/right buttons it senses which side you are clicking -- except when it doesn't which is about 40%of the time. The only way to get reliable clicking is to back your hand way off, so then the side buttons are completely out of reach. Not having seperate mouse buttons though breaks the greatest mouse innovation in years - rocker gestures. Click left+riht or right+left is a lightening way to do stuff. It works in Opera, Firefox, and my global gestures system XGestures (but not in strokeIT).

Well, it does come with a cape and externally worn underpants... 

They've got some fancy touch sensitive doodad so even though it has no left/right buttons it senses which side you are clicking -- except when it doesn't which is about 40%of the time.

So true!
I have mine put back in the box from... too much months! I always forget to try to put it on eBay!

Bye!

Oh man, I bought a Microsoft wireless mouse and keyboard about three years ago and quickly regretted it. I COULDN'T AFFORD TO KEEP THEM! I was replacing the batteries on both every 9-11 days. Ditched it for good ol' cable. I hated typing something and noticing that m w rds wer s ipping let ers.

I quite like my wireless mini mouse () and my wireless trackman. I bought neither because they were wireless, I bought them mostly because they were 5-button and had 2 buttons under the thumb (I depend on those buttons being there in WoW so any device without it is just doomed). It was almost a case of "in spite" of being wireless... Now i need to get my hands on some more rechargeable batteries just to be ready.

Trust makes quite a lot of very competitively priced light mice, almost all with 5 buttons so I own a big one (wired) and a little one (wireless). And I plan to buy one of the "fancy" (£12.99) gamer ones too.
One of the neat thing they do on almost every device is that next to the serial number they print the URL of the product support page. I find that really really neat in its simplicity. For example my mouse is http://www.trust.com/15315

As for the trackball they are very handy when you dont want to move your hand too much - either getting a bit of RSA (I used to have the "marble mouse" at work just for that) or because you're on a sofa or in a hotel room and theres just not much space. When I saw they had a 5 button trackball I could not resist.

Yup, I have one handy if I'm the middle of something important, and the "current" goes off. Like, you know, playing games

Saw Renegade's Photo of his wires and thought it was of the back of my desk.

On-board boats the various instruments - speed, water temperature, wind direction... are connected by a single bus, which both powers them and permits the exchange of data.

Would it not be possible to have a single bus like this for computers? It might have to be a bit chunky, and with the AC well screened...

Then you'd have one wire going from the wall to the tower, and then a sort of ring main. To add a peripheral just break the ring, anywhere would do.

Alas, I can't hold a pen any more due to my advanced Rheumatoid Arthritis!

Used to be a good drawer - now I use Photoshop...

At home, I'm using the computer at all hours of the day and night, so there's no consistent time to put the mouse in the cradle.  I can see that becoming a problem.

bingo.