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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Sat Jul 22, 2017 11:45 am

Video Review


This week I finally received my laser mouse upgrade kit from AmigaSTORE.eu, which I had ordered back in January, 2017. In the box was a nice hand-written note apologizing for the long delay.
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The upgrade kit comes in a small anti-static bag, and a nice and very easy to understand installation manual.

Below are pictures I captured during the assembly process. After using the mouse for a short time, I shot a video with my personal observations of the kit - my first video for AmigaLove. I also provide my own hack for making the laser mouse upgrade a much better overall experience. Apologies for the crap audio; I’ve since ordered a clip-on mic to rectify that problem in the future.

Check out the complete post-installation video review, and minor hack I made to make the mouse perfect.

The first thing you need to do is take apart the mouse and set your screws, mouse ball, mouse ball locking plate and tank’s top shell to the side. You’ll not be needing that mouse ball and/or locking plate anymore.
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Next gently remove the wire cluster’s cable connector from the original mouse board, then use some wire cutters to snip the single black ground wire connected to the top of the board. This wire isn’t used in the new kit, so fear not - no soldering is involved in this simple upgrade.
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Next remove the two little black screws that hold the board to the bottom shell and take out the old board.

You then pop the clear plastic laser protector into the bottom board.
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After that, you put the new, gray plastic cap into the bottom of the tank mouse. The bottom of the cap is like a key with 3 notches, and there is only one way for it to go in.
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The fit is very tight. In my case, it was so tight that I couldn’t turn it into its locking position with my fingers, so I used the rubber-coated arms of my pliers, which fit into the square hole just right. This gave me the leverage I needed to get the final few degrees of the twist that I needed to lock it into place.
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I used my wire cutter handles to give me the torque I needed to rotate the cap the final few degrees. This worked perfectly, and the padding was key.

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You then put the new laser board into the bottom shell. In my case, I needed to press it down a bit before I heard a “snap!” thus making sure the bottom board was fully seated and flat - not wobbly.

Then you just put everything back together again. Connect the cable connector, the two black screws (using 2 new gray spacers, which are provided in the kit), and the top shell.

That’s it!

In my video review, I demonstrate how this new mouse - due to it’s lacking the large and heavy mouse ball - is extremely light. Really, it feels too light. Also, the new button micro-switches are extremely loud for multiple reasons. I show the way I dealt with this issue. Some might not sense the lightness and sound to be a problem but I personally did and my solution fixed the issue.

I absolutely love this new mouse now.
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The installed laser upgrade in the tank mouse.

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In my video review, I show one solution for making the mouse heavier again (which really does make it feel better) as well as how to heavily reduce the sound coming from the new mouse button micro-switches. Here's a sneak peak.


User avatar
LambdaCalculus
New Jersey, USA

Posted Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:12 am

This looks like something I should get for my A500's mouse. I don't like the looks of the rollers on it and I think the buttons on the board may be bad.

User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:23 am

You'll have to be patient. It took over 6 months for mine to arrive.

Shops also sell a sort of flimsy looking (at least mine is) but very workable USB converter. It sticks pretty far out of the machine's mouse port, but they are far cheaper and very versatile. I got one as a backup which I keep in my desk for emergencies. You'd probably want to get that from Amigakit, though, if they have them. At least then you'd have something in 2-3 weeks realistically while you wait for the other.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Fri Jul 06, 2018 9:08 am

I bought this mouse a year ago (almost to the day).

After much use, I'm sad to say that I can't recommend this mouse upgrade kit. The bottom line is that after a bit of use the mouse pointer began to drift on-screen. Something about the distance of the mouse from the table surface allows it to lose focus and the pointer will begin to drift.

If you take the mouse and move it around the drift will stop. But only for a short while. Eventually it'll start to crawl across your screen again.

Massive bummer, as I really love the concept. But the product (which I recommended and I'm sure a few others followed) is too buggy and annoying for me to even use anymore. It sits in a drawer in my desk.

It's really too bad. Especially for that price!

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BloodyCactus
Lexington VA

Posted Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:05 pm

I wonder if you can smooth the gray part down, it looks like it protrudes a little bit.

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Fri Jul 06, 2018 8:34 pm

Maybe? I could probably sand it down if that 1 mm (or .5mm) makes a difference. That's part of the original design, though - not my tank.

This all being said, I whined about this tragedy on Twitter today and Amigastore's social support crew responded - suggesting I contact them and potentially get a free replacement as it is still under legal warranty (2 years!). So I may go that route first.

But if it returns? Hell, it won't hurt to experiment at that stage. Right now I'm at the point where I don't want to use it anymore. But if it stopped drifting? I'd love it to death.

User avatar
A10001986
1986

Posted Sun Jul 08, 2018 7:11 am

My two (tank and other type) do that too, so a replacement won't get you anywhere unless they changed the design...
Last edited by A10001986 on Tue Jul 10, 2018 6:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

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BloodyCactus
Lexington VA

Posted Sun Jul 08, 2018 8:06 am

Whats interesting is the opto opening is huuuuuge, that giant cutout square. all my opto mice have a very small opto cutout. I wonder if 3d printing a new design with a more small rectangular slot for the opto to see through than the giant square cutout... or some ware to cover up most of the hole..

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Pres

Posted Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:29 pm

What I'm wondering about: does this upgrade affect the mouse speed? (important for games)

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intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Sep 19, 2018 4:51 pm

@Pres the speed is perfect and exactly as it should be. It's also extremely smooth as you'd expect.

It's just how it eventually starts to drift off into space that sucks. For me I started to notice is several months after use. I have a 2nd board I can pop in there to compare, but to be completely honest I'm not optimistic. But I should do it.





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