warmouse

[Target]

saw this on slashdot this morning and figured some here may be interested (nudone)

An anonymous reader writes "The much-anticipated, much-mocked 18-button joystick mouse from WarMouse is now shipping. The press release features an impressive set of user quotes from game designer Chris Taylor, new SFWA president John Scalzi, and a doctor who runs a medical software company. Crazy or not, it's obviously more than just a gaming mouse."

full press release here

looking at this thing I couldn't help but wonder if, in the midst of some frantic gaming, a user wouldn't end up with the same result you got on an old manual typewriter when you mashed a bunch of keys at the same time

[Deozaan]

How on earth are you supposed to even use this thing?

[attach=#]

[nudone]

it doesn't look very sexy - but the thought of what it can do means it's going on my shopping list. i might wait to see if there are any negative reviews before buying one.

(thanks for posting it, target.)

[Target]

you're most welcome

personally i'm a bit unsure about it, I mean I like the idea, but I'm not sure how usable it actually is

my first thought was that it wasn't far off doing away with the keyboard   

the other thing here is when combined with the available keyboard application/key/action combinations who's going to be able to remember even half of the hotkeys you can (will?) set up?

[nudone]

i'm a bit unsure about it too. but i've always said to myself that i'd buy the first mouse i saw that had lots of buttons on it. this appears to be it.

i'm using 13 buttons on the MX Revolution mouse. that still isn't quite enough so i've tried to double them up by using button combinations (with autohotkey). this almost works. so, i'm hoping that 18 buttons will just be about right. the layout looks a bit awkward - i just hope it's something that is quickly absorbed.

[nudone]

just tried to buy a warmouse. they aren't accepting payments from my region (UK). so that's the end of that for the moment.

i'll see what comes up on eBay if a few weeks/months. i can imagine a few people buying them and not liking them, so maybe there will be a bargain on ebay.

[steeladept]

Wow, that is strange given that the linked press release is out of Oxford, England and they already have USD, EU, & GBP pricing.  You may want to look into that again.  Perhaps call or email the lead designer.  Contact from the press release:

Theodore Beale
theo@warmouse.com
UK/EU: +44 1865 600 979

[nudone]

i thought it odd. maybe they just aren't accepting Visa credit cards. all very odd though.

another descrepency was that the postage was going to be more than the amount stated elsewhere on the site.

i think i might just hold off for a bit until the get their act sorted out.

[steeladept]

Maybe.  Wouldn't suprise me if they made it creditcard only.  It costs them more but protects them from a lot of other hassles.  It wouldn't hurt to drop them an email though if you are immediately interested.

[Dormouse]

The whole thing looks pretty shambolic to me. References on the warmouse.com site are to sales in a number of regions (including UK), but the price on the site is only in dollars and a US state is a required part of the address.

warmouse.co.uk does exist (with a ukstore directory), but hasn't been updated since 25th June and not showing anything on the net. I haven't checked to see if it is the same business, but I assume it would be.

As a mouse biased person, I would be interested in this (though worried about quality and ergonomics) - but the organisation of everything doesn't give you confidence in them or their product.

[nudone]

i'm going to wait for the reviews to appear around the net. if they are positive then i'll look into buying one - including trying to figure out how to pay them.

(but, let's face it, it could be a rubbish product. it looks borderline to me as to whether it's quality or total junk.)

[f0dder]

i'm using 13 buttons on the MX Revolution mouse.

- that sounds pretty insane! How do you utilize all those buttons?

[nudone]

this is the current layout but it is in flux. the top scroll button press is too hard to bother with, as is the side thumb wheel press (13). so, i suppose it's an exaggeration to say i'm using all 13 buttons.



1. left button
2. right button
3. click or freewheel scroll toggle (never really use this - too hard to press)
4. F16
5. middle button (doesn't appear to be recognised as a middle button by some apps, i.e. firefox)
6. F15
7. F13
8. F14
9. Ctrl + Alt + Tab (hotkey for alt tabbing through programs only on current monitor)
11. Alt + Tab (use scroll wheel to select from list)
13. Winkey + Tab (never really use this - too hard to press)
W. scroll up/down (i think this can be used as two "buttons" if i reassign them using uberoptions)

which i now see is only 11 buttons if you discard the scroll wheel.

i've assigned Function keys to the buttons so that i don't run into conflicts elsewhere and it doesn't look like i can assign the X1, X2, etc. additional common mouse buttons that logitech have forgotten about (or uberoptions has forgotten about).

using autohotkey, the Function keys are combined with other buttons or trigger things from double hits.

middle button + scroll = scroll left or right.

middle button + F13 = turn on accelerated mouse, hit middle button again to turn off.

F13 = Alt + left

F14 = Alt + right

F15 quick double hit = close window

F16 quick double hit = back key (use because alt + left is not the same as the Back key or "up a directory key").

i wanted to combine and create more functions with the F key button combinations but i need to think about it. i've also had to try and assign the buttons in a way that allows them to be "easily" pressed simultaneously with another button.

i've not used keyboard combinations like Ctrl + right mouse button as they are already used throughout all the programs i use.

p.s.
i was also using StrokeIt for a few more mouse functions but i've not got around to installing since moving onto Win 7; just not had the time to set everything up like i had on Vista.