From: "Bob Montante" <bobmon@sandshark.cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Replacement mice? (novice question)
Organization: dyskaryotic
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 14:12:57 -0500

I said:
| I'm newly arrived at being the lab instructor for a programming course
| that uses Atari 1024 ST machines, and we're "six mice short of a lab" :-}
| 
| I've heard rumors that there are replacement mice which are more durable
| than the one that comes with the machine.  Since we need replacements,
| I thought I'd check for alternative brands.  Any advice would be
| appreciated.

...and here's the promised summary.  Wow --- it's longer than I
expected!  Many thanks to all who responded; time has gotten real short
around here and there were too many of you to reply to individually.
The "Golden Image" was far and away the most popular one mentioned.  The
department ordered a brand called "Alfa Data", that can switch between
Atari and Amiga, based on price and availability.

Further info, since some of you asked --- We have a junior-level course
for C.S.  majors here which teaches assembly language and the basics of
computer hardware (such as:  "what is an interrupt?").  We use a couple
of dozen 1024 STs because they provide the desired 68000 CPU to program,
and they are/were cheap and sufficiently durable.  We used to use an
assembler and debugger that ran under the gulam shell, but this year
we're trying out an IDE-style assembler called "TurboAss" (I think) from
Germany.  It really seems to need a mouse to be fully usable.  The
class has also gotten rather large, so the professor teaching it is
trying to swipe back the machines that got appropriated by other faculty
back when they were first purchased :-)  As one of the lab instructors,
I'm trying to learn how to use this new software package before the
students do....

Again, my sincere thanks for all your advice.
-Bob Montante


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From cinnanum@mentor.cc.purdue.edu Mon Aug 31 14:14:12 1992

faciclities sometime?  In regards to your question about mice, there are several
alternative mice for the Atari ST on the market, but I'm not sure if they are 
any more durable than the originals.  I do know that people seem to prefer the
way they handle versus the Atari mouse.  These brands are the Beetle Mouse and 
the Naksha Mouse.  If you want more info about where to get either of these, I
could help or you could get in touch with the Bloomington Atari group.

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From wet!ekrimen@well.sf.ca.us Mon Aug 31 18:48:36 1992

I think I'm a rare breed in that I really prefer the Atari mouse to the others.
I have a Golden Image Mechanical mouse here, and while the button clicks are
soft and gentle, unlike the robust and powerful clicks of Atari's tank, if you
move the mouse quickly, the mouse pointer on the screen jumps.  I think the
reason for this is that the keyboard (and mouse) processor can't handle the
300dpi mice, such as the Golden Image.  I've also seen the Best Electronics
mice, and they exhibit similar problems.  I really like Atari's mice though.

Another thing you really should look into is a mouse accelerator.  Atari's
MACCEL33 is excellent (Mouse Accelerator 3.3).  You can also use it in conjuction with their Extensible Control Panel.  Finally, if you have Warp 9 from 
Codehead Technologies, you can do away with MACCEL3, because their screen
accelerator has a mouse accelerator built-in.  I think Warp 9 is a must-have
on any system.

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From CSE0507@DESIRE.WRIGHT.EDU Mon Aug 31 23:23:44 1992

Oh dear Lord yes, there are lots of replacement mice.  Call Rising Star at 
(513) 254-3160 (I don't have their 800 number handy) and ask them.  Also
please remember that with ALT-cursor keys and ALT-insert/clr-home, you can
simulate mice.  Not the best, but it'll help.

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From doucet@laas.laas.fr Tue Sep  1 08:54:19 1992

I would suggest you to buy Golden Image optical mice: they seem to be quite
resistant; my son haven't yet broken his own in the same time two Atari ones 
were dead and gone.
They're quite precise and quick, and need no special care except -- from time
to time -- to have a look to the velvet pads.
Problem is they cost nearly twice the original ones...

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From gs32+@andrew.cmu.edu Tue Sep  1 10:29:12 1992

	Personally, I love my Golden Image mouse, and it's a good value too
(although after using the round mice on the DECStations here, it's hard
to get used to using any square mouse).

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From aurs01!aurxc3!whitcomb@concert.net Tue Sep  1 15:32:07 1992

I don't know about more durable, but I've had very good luck with the
Golden Image Opto/Mechanical mouse.  It has higher resolution than the
Atari mouse, more sensitive switches and is smoother and more
comfortable to use.

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From <@mail.uunet.ca:ken@isgtec> Tue Sep  1 19:19:34 1992

A company called Golden Image makes excellent replacement mice, much
better than the standard Atari ones, and much higher resolution.

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From maushb!hh2.maus.de!Christian_Vogler@arbi.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de Fri Sep  4 00:23:09 1992

Kommentar zu A58745@HB in der Gruppe CS.ATARI

I'd recommend the ST-Mouse by Logitech. In Germany it is easily available, but
since the ST is not as popular in the States, I don't know...

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Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,rec.audio,sci.skeptic