Laptops For Dummies, 6th Edition
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Computer mice some in a number of varieties. You can find a computer mouse for just about any use. To figure out what kind of mouse would work best with your PC, you need to know your mouse options:

  • Mechanical mouse: Houses a hard rubber ball that rolls as the mouse is moved. Sensors inside the mouse body detect the movement and translate it into information that the computer interprets.

  • Optical mouse: Uses an LED sensor to detect tabletop movement and then sends off that information to the computer for merry munching.

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  • Infrared (IR) or radio frequency cordless mouse: With both these types, the mouse relays a signal to a base station wired to the computer's mouse port. The cordless mouse requires power, which comes in the form of batteries.

  • A mouse with many buttons: The extra buttons can be programmed to do specific things, such as navigate the Web or turn pages when you’re reading a document. The typical button-ified mouse has about five buttons.

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  • Trackball mouse: Like an upside-down mouse. Rather than roll the mouse around, you use your thumb or index finger to roll a ball on top of the mouse. The whole contraption stays stationary, so it doesn’t need a lot of room, and its cord never gets tangled.

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  • Stylus mouse: Another mouse mutation enjoyed by the artistic type is the stylus mouse, which looks like a pen and draws on a special pad.

  • Cordless 3-D mouse: This kind of mouse can be pointed at the computer screen like a TV remote.

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