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Mouse. Less battery drain Blu-tooth or Wireless

iDatus

Member
Now I am not debating which is better here I am in looking for a mouse to go with the sp3 and to make my mind up I want some info. I use wireless as 1) I hate wires, 2) hate plugging in and out.
Currently using Logitech 602 for gaming and for the sp3 im looking at Logitech m545, small cheap and fits in hand/pocket/bag nicely.

Normally blu-tooth is a terrible drain on battery or it used to be but the wireless dongle must use some power.

So question, anyone got stats or feel for this.
Obviously the priority is use the least amount of battery where plausible to do so.

I be off to get my sp3 in a bit but will keep tabs on reply's to this.
 

gdir

Member
I've bought the MS Arc Touch Surface Edition. It connects through BT 4.0 low energy and requires no dongle in the USB port. As my SP3 hasn't arrived yet, I have used it only with my laptop so far. But I guess it will work with the SP3 as well.

Pro:
- Easy to switch on and off just by pressing it flat
- Easy to transport because it's flat
- The two AAA batteries are mounted very firm in the mouse and have no slackness

Con:
- The blue LED has slight difficulties on my wooden home desk (maybe too reflective)
- Expensive
 
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iDatus

iDatus

Member
what i forgot to think about is the pen is BT so BT is always on.
Good suggestion for mouse as i like folding flat.
 

Bandito

Active Member
In answer to your original question, a Bluetooth mouse that uses the LE (Low Energy) option should be more energy-efficient than a standard wireless mouse. That, and you don't lose your one and only USB port to the dongle.

With regards to the pen, you do have to keep Bluetooth on in order for the pen's rear button to activate OneNote or to take a screenshot and push it to OneNote, so you might as well just add a Bluetooth mouse and be done with it.

If you do want to go with a standard wireless mouse and shut off Bluetooth on your SP3, the pen will still work with the screen for writing and such, but the rear button functions would be disabled.

Finally, the pen for the SP3 only activates its Bluetooth radio when you push the rear button, after which it powers down. It connects and sends its signals to the SP3 so quickly that you wouldn't otherwise know this.
 
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iDatus

iDatus

Member
yeah i didnt know there was a Bluetooth LE so yeah i got for that.
ps im cat lover and i love your picture.
pink nose is cute.
 

HarnessTech

Active Member
Upon first receiving my SP3, I already had a Logitech bluetooth "tablet mouse" which paired nicely. While out and about and using the tablet mouse, BatteryBar Pro was showing a hair over 6 hours per day. I can confirm that as accurate and BatteryBar Pro has been active on the system for about 2 weeks.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058SRNZ4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Then I got an Arc Touch Mouse Surface Edition and used it for one day. The SP3 was on for exactly 8:09 before shutting itself down. I realize that's probably not a fair comparison in terms of time. However, it shows promise.
 

kozak79

Active Member
I have the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Mouse. Works over bluetooth. I haven't changed the batteries since I got the mouse 7 months ago. It also feels like a real mouse, real button feel and middle mouse button, which I need for 3D work.
 

HarnessTech

Active Member
I should also point out that I used my wireless Logitech mouse (with dongle) for the first couple of weeks on the SP3 and BatteryBar was reporting about 5:15 of battery time.
 

fonzman78

Active Member
I have the Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Mouse. Works over bluetooth. I haven't changed the batteries since I got the mouse 7 months ago. It also feels like a real mouse, real button feel and middle mouse button, which I need for 3D work.

If you do any gaming at all, this mouse will work better than the Arc mouse. You can right/left click at the same time with the Sculpt mouse. This is crucial in games like Skyrim. The Arc mouse doesn't let you do this but it does fold flat for portability.
 

be77solo

Active Member
You sure about this? I've been very happy with my MS Arch Touch Surface Edition Bluetooth mouse on a couple of machines now and have never had this issue. I can for example hold right button to zoom and tap left to fire.

The MS Arc Touch Surface Edition has both a right and left button.....

Very nice mouse and I couldn't recommend enough for Surface users.
 

Bandito

Active Member
yeah i didnt know there was a Bluetooth LE so yeah i got for that.
ps im cat lover and i love your picture.
pink nose is cute.

Thanks iDatus! That's a picture of my sweet little girl, Felicity. She was a most wonderful little companion! Her nose was originally brown like her fur, but at one point rapidly changed to pink. I don't know why, but it just made her even more unique and special.
 
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