lookup microsoft ball mouse on ebay. I see enough are still around state-side.

Loved mine back in the day.

If you move to USB with PS/2 adapter I'd recommend the microsoft intellimouse optical. No cleaning the rollers FTW.

(Deleted. No longer relevant anyway)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00002MZ8E/ref= … 4294092-1842351

I have a couple of these...one of the best serial ball mice I have ever used because it is nice and big and fits my hand comfortably...I got two new in the box and they came with serial to ps2 adapters. Nice to have the scroll feature too if you are using with win9x or xp too. Just keep in kind the wireless range is not too far...you probably will have to stay within a couple feet of the receiver. I wish this thing was optical...it would be the best mouse ever made IMO if that was the case...it is built very solid too..doesn't feel cheap at all. If you have small hands I would not recommend it though.

Personally I would use a roller ball mouse and not an optical mouse, those things were always twitchy for me. Even on my modern PC it always seemed too sensitive.

King_Corduroy wrote:

Personally I would use a roller ball mouse and not an optical mouse, those things were always twitchy for me. Even on my modern PC it always seemed too sensitive.

I always have found roller mice to be annoyingly insensitive. But now I use a logitech trackman trackball.
But that won't help the OP.

On my 486, I use a serial mouse that just says "Z-NIX INC" on it

If you want to use a serial trackball get a Digital Research Ergo 3 button Trackball.

However like the others already posted before an ordinary 2 button Microsoft Mouse will work fine since it is Serial.

Microsoft mouse 2.0 or a Logitech M-M34 mouse are what I used in the past and even today.

Did anyone used one of those?

Have used both ms and logitech mouse in the past as well.
They are excellent quality and build.
For the trackball's, I have tried logitech as well.

They (logitech trackball) wary in quality and most have died well before any serial mouse.
Seems as if they just have some defect's around the rollers.

Zup wrote:

Did anyone used one of those? […]
Show full quote

Did anyone used one of those?

Yeah.... Microsoft, designed for children.... 94/95 or 96 ?
Low dpi and died pretty fast. Have tried it for 1 hour back then.

I use a couple of logitech pilot serial mice. One still leftover from the 90s.

I really like Genius / Logitech mice from the early days. I also have a generic 9PIN serial mouse that works fine. I really dislike trackballs: they make my hand very tired as it takes too much energy to move them around.

I have always like Logitech MouseMan mice. They came in serial, ps/2, and hybrid flavours. They are trackball-based though. I still use the PS/2 version of the mouse today on my main computer. I think the Compaq and Dell rebranded MouseMan mice were ps/2-only, while the Logitech branded ones came in the various flavours. I have used the same style mouse continually from 1998 to present.

Oh man! What a freak of nature. 🤣 That thing is weird as hell.

CST still manufactures a 3-button serial trackball, it seems: http://www.trackballworld.com/40-122.html

If it's anything like their LaserTrac, it's pretty amazing.

I agree with the trackball suggestions.
I stopped using mice many years ago after getting adjusted to one... and from my memory most serial mice are terrible for the most part.

Meh personally I could never get used to trackballs. I own 2 though because they were only a few bucks each and they were complete in the original packaging. I just keep them around mainly as an oddity to put on a shelf.

If you are fed up with polishing mice's balls, the Q500 serial OPTICAL is the way to go:

The only drawback is the small, proprietary mouse pad (but it can be replicated). Well, maybe the lack of the wheel as well. But only for high-end 486s / 5x86s running W95.

King_Corduroy wrote:

Meh personally I could never get used to trackballs. I own 2 though because they were only a few bucks each and they were complete in the original packaging. I just keep them around mainly as an oddity to put on a shelf.

I can't really get used to a "center panned" track ball. But my logitech trackman uses a thumb wheel.
It is awesome once you get used to it. I wish there were more input devices that used that style