My trusty mouse decided to give up the other day, or more annoyingly, it started losing connection to my computer in 15 minute intervals. So I needed to address the problem. I’ve been thinking about getting a more ergonomic mouse for a while, I don’t really feel anything in my elbow - but it’s probably much better to prevent a problem than to deal with it afterwards.

I’ve liked Logitech for quite some time, the shape of the Ergo S felt appealing and the fact that it can be tilted for a comfortable or alternative grip really interested me. I must admit that it has a pretty hefty price tag but it felt just right and I jumped at the chance and bought one.

First impressions

It’s a solid construction; there’s a weight in the chassis that makes it sit still on the desk. Not having a traditional mouse meant I could finally remove the mouse pad that I mostly found ugly and in the way. The scroll wheel sits nicely against my thumb, the other buttons and the wheel work very well. The only thing I really don’t like is the button for DPI settings that I managed to access all the time; so I quickly chose to turn this button off.

Solaar

Solaar is a Linux manager for many Logitech keyboards, mice, and other devices that connect wirelessly to a Unifying, Bolt, Lightspeed or Nano receiver as well as many Logitech devices that connect via a USB cable or Bluetooth. Solaar is not a device driver and responds only to special messages from devices that are otherwise ignored by the Linux input system.

When I was reading about the Ergo MX S, I stumbled upon Solaar - the software that solves a lot of the problems with the lack of software to control or configure special buttons on mice or keyboards. Easy to install and update in my case through apt. When I connected my new mouse, the software immediately recognized the mouse and it was very easy to configure the mouse and the buttons on it.