Enhance Pointer Precision

[Buffalobiian]

In XP, under Control Panel-> Mouse -> Pointer Options theres an option to enable/disable Enhance Pointer Precision.

I never really paid attention to that setting, only mouse movement speed. I had my p/s2 ball mouse acting funny last week and decided to get a new optic mouse. Ended up with a Logitech LX3 Plus laser.

After swapping it over, the movement of the mouse felt strange, too sensitive I think was the best way to describe it. Tended to overdo my movements. I then mucked around with the sensitivity in the control panel and in games and such. After about a night of tweaking and getting used to it, it's finally feeling slightly familiar. However, then I cam across the option: Enhance Pointer Precision.

Googled a bit and found it was the same as mouse acceleration. Question: the option was on when I had the old p/s2. Now with the new mouse, is there any reason to turn it off? Mixed results from my search regarding gaming and such. What do you guys think? Any input appreciated.

edit: also another thing that I'm confused about atm. Enhance Pointer Precision=mouse acceleration=mouse smoothing?

[Board of Command]

I'm not sure about mouse smoothing. I make sure to disable all forms of mouse acceleration on every computer I use.

[Buffalobiian]

Thanks for that BoC.

I'm trying them both out right now, seeing which I'm used to more. Thing is, it looks like I'm equally used to/not used to either, and my hand/eyes are trying to get used to whichever one I happen to be using at the time...oh well.

Oh, for those interested, found out mouse smoothing is an option for making mouse movements look nicer when the mouse's refresh rate is much lower than that of the screen, resulting in jumpy movements. (traditional ps2 trackballs had a refresh rate of 45hz).

[David75]

Mouse acceleration is for "wide" movements. It enables you for to go through the entire screen without large mouse movements (a kind of warp mode)
Mouse sensitivity is the exact opposite. For your very small movements, you'll have smaller movements on screen, to the point of moving the point pixel by pixel.

It's base on mouse speed and acceleration. At very low speed/acceleration, you'll have mouse precision.
At high acceleration/speed you'll have the "warp" effect.
In beetween: normal movements.

Both things allow for compromise beetween extreme precision, and the ability to move around the screen without making large movements with the mouse.

So you tune that once, to levels that aren't to annoying, then get used to it.

[Kraco]

I don't have the Logitech utility even installed because I hate what it does to the mouse movement. I just can't get used to it. So, I only installed the Logitech driver but none of the control software. Thus I'm using my Logitech with mix of the generic XP controls and the genuine driver. Works just like I want. But I guess that's not an option for the more fancy modern mice with their zillion buttons and other things. I only have one extra button for the thumb.

[Buffalobiian]

Yeah, I've been using it with Mouse Acceleration off, and I just always seem to need to give it that extra push after my initial movement to get it to where I want. I think I'll try to get used to having mouse acceleration on for the time being, and see if I get pwned at all those FPS. I found an article that goes through the registry entries that you can change to modify the threshold and how fast it accelerates etc, but I think I'll just try to get used to the default XP profile for now. If all fails (ie, bottom of the ladder in game summeries), I'll try to tweak them a little, then finally turn it off.

I haven't actually installed anything for my mouse. The box says plug and play is fine, so I did just that. Can't be bothered having other software to deal with. I've actually got a little button behind the scroll wheel that lets me search a highlighted text using a preselected search engine(after installing Logitech Setpoint v.x.x.x) but for now, it seems to function as a "back" button.

Again, thnx for the input.

[David75]

I don't have the Logitech utility even installed because I hate what it does to the mouse movement. I just can't get used to it. So, I only installed the Logitech driver but none of the control software. Thus I'm using my Logitech with mix of the generic XP controls and the genuine driver. Works just like I want. But I guess that's not an option for the more fancy modern mice with their zillion buttons and other things. I only have one extra button for the thumb.

It's true that I wonder why I should accept having a piece software constantly loaded in RAM only for my mouse. It also seems it's poorly written and freezes sometimes and/or has awful interactions with other piece of software

Yeah, I've been using it with Mouse Acceleration off, and I just always seem to need to give it that extra push after my initial movement to get it to where I want. I think I'll try to get used to having mouse acceleration on for the time being, and see if I get pwned at all those FPS. I found an article that goes through the registry entries that you can change to modify the threshold and how fast it accelerates etc, but I think I'll just try to get used to the default XP profile for now. If all fails (ie, bottom of the ladder in game summeries), I'll try to tweak them a little, then finally turn it off.

I haven't actually installed anything for my mouse. The box says plug and play is fine, so I did just that. Can't be bothered having other software to deal with. I've actually got a little button behind the scroll wheel that lets me search a highlighted text using a preselected search engine(after installing Logitech Setpoint v.x.x.x) but for now, it seems to function as a "back" button.

Again, thnx for the input.

Following the Kraco's idea, we would need a very basic form in the control panel with a first part for quick and easy tuning, and the choice of having mildly to very hard settings.
All of that on a very light piece of code and not always loaded...

I admitt that fiddling with the registry for your mouse can be somewhat fun too, no software needed at least.

[Buffalobiian]

NECRO!

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To update on how things have been going: I've been using mouse acceleration on my desktop when I'm browsing, but I've been turning it off whenever I go to play FPS for at least a few years now.

Is there anyone out there who does the same thing? I'm entertaining the idea of using mouse accel OFF even during desktop use to see if that trains my consistency more. It may just be wishful thinking though, since games have their own sensitivity anyway - so knowing how my mouse moves in Windows may not have much impact on how my aim is in-game.

edit: not to mention that I use different mousepads for desktop and games.

[shinta|hikari]

Why not use the gaming stuff always? Aren't they better anyway?

[Buffalobiian]

Why not use the gaming stuff always? Aren't they better anyway?

Some games allow you to use "raw input", so that the game reads the mouse input directly and applies its own acceleration and sensitivity to it (to your liking). You'll still have the option of changing it.

My question isn't so much about using the gaming settings (stuff?), but about whether anyone's found that using mouse-acceleration off in windows (while web-browsing etc) builds consistency in-game.

[Ryllharu]

I have my mouse cranked all the way up on every PC I use. Nothing drives me more insane than a mouse that can't be moved across the entire screen with minimal wrist movement.

The only exception is the computer attached to my gaming mouse (Razer Mamba). The DPI is high enough (and be cranked even higher) that I don't need to change anything in windows. I just toggle the mouse itself up and down on the fly.

[David75]

I'm not a gamer, so I can't help you.
Also, I can't turn the acceleration off since I have a 1920x1080 screen on my laptop and that would be painfully uncomfortable without it.

[Animeniax]

Some games allow you to use "raw input", so that the game reads the mouse input directly and applies its own acceleration and sensitivity to it (to your liking). You'll still have the option of changing it.

My question isn't so much about using the gaming settings (stuff?), but about whether anyone's found that using mouse-acceleration off in windows (while web-browsing etc) builds consistency in-game.

I can't see that there'd be enough mouse movement in regular PC usage (browsing, typing, pretty much anything besides gaming) that it would help translate to consistency with mouse control in-game. Can't hurt, but doubt it helps much.