Thanks for the tip and your reply!
I've attached a photo from the inside, too.
For you and those people that might be curious.

That's why I do try to save old, seemingly useless stuff, also. 🙂
You never know what surprises it may hold.

Another, more sane person, likely would have had discarded such an old mouse straight away, since apparently it's just a useless serial mouse with a ball.
- And now it turns out to be a rare analogue mouse for vintage systems that disguised as a Microsoft Mouse.

Solo761 wrote on 2022-03-02, 07:42:

New in store or used? 😀

New on ebay.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-02, 08:19:

Think you just gave a comprehensive definition of 98.7 % of all legacy parts out there. Should have realized then that PS2 laser mice won't be around forever on this silly planet.
My thoughts exactly on buying a NOS K6-III+ 400ATZ for € 6,95 in 2011 - now look what mess has become of those. 😁

But this wasn't legacy few years back, it was like someone drew the line and said "these are now not available" 😁. One I mentioned I got from work with new work PC 3-4 years ago 😁.

K6-III+ was legacy even 10 years ago 😁

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-02, 08:19:

What, stores, there are stores for these things?
On line, well, especially serial ones there are plenty new ones around. Ball ones, of course.
Just impulse-clicked a sealed Logitech M-S61 for a whole Euro - possibly the most primitive mechanical mouse ever, the very pinnacle of an evolution, I love it.

Well, he said he can always find ps/2 and serial mice, where I am there aren't any in related stores and even on second hand websited. PS/2 ones you can find used, but people are asking 20+ € for low end ones that were 4-5€ new. Like simple two button + wheel Genius branded ones. I got few of those 7-8 years ago when I noticed them on the shelf 😁.

I would get that Logitech only for collection. Luckily back in the day all my ball mice had hatch to get the ball out and clean the rolers 😁.

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-02, 08:19:

Used ones, well, mice might be one of the the more problematic retro gear to buy used, but most are dirt cheap because, well, dirt. But if you're willing to touch old PCs then you'll be no stranger to some amount of grime and dust? The main superpower with mice is the audacity and skill to disassemble them for cleaning - an activity large parts of western population will consider either mortally dangerous, beneath them, beyond their ability or all three.
Every Logitech mouse I've ever encountered was surprisingly easy to field strip.

I cleaned Amiga 500 in shower with soap and toothbrush to get rid of all the dirt (and nonmechanical mice byproducts 😁) so I'm acquainted with dirt 😁. But when I get these old things clean and working I tend to store them for safekeeping and use something more easily replaceable 😀.

I guess at some point there's going to be small USB to PS/2 adapters based on microcontrollers. Like there are for PS/2 and/or USB to Amiga. Heck, there are even already done libraries to interface with USB devices and others to behave like PS/2 devices so it's basically only needed to figure out data comming in from USB, convert it to PS/2 standard and output them to PS/2. Atmega32u4 on Arduino Pro Micro boards could be good enough for this.

debs3759 wrote on 2022-03-02, 15:52:

New on ebay.

That's fine when you don't need one at that moment 😁.

Solo761 wrote on 2022-03-04, 07:25:

I would get that Logitech only for collection. Luckily back in the day all my ball mice had hatch to get the ball out and clean the rolers 😁.

Precisely - there's no service access for de-gunkifying it with a q-tip, alcohole and some curse words, on a daily basis in summer. Short of a screw driver. What treachery is this?!?

But there really is a label on the cable with the Logitech logo and some "this is a shitty OEM device" text.
I only invested the shipping costs because I had never seen that design pattern before.
And assuming its usability, I've no problems leaving it sealed. If not exactly collectable, at least a curiosity.