Introduction
You might have heard several terms like using good sensors, polling rate, extra buttons, programmable software, ergonomics, but how does this all relate to using a gaming mouse for work?
I used to be a computer science student and I’ve also taken this mouse on numerous business trips. There’s actually some really good benefits to using a gaming mouse for work with all talk about in this article. I’ve done a lot of personal research so you don’t have to, and I’m going to try to help you make the best decision possible.
So is it giving us good for work? The gaming mouse is good for work particularly for the following reasons:
- More ergonomic
- Superior sensors that make every activity more convenient
- Extra buttons and features for work shortcuts
- Bringing more style to the workspace
- Making you 50% more accurate and gaming and clicking
- Don’t to last for decades
- Portable and compatible with all software and any workstation
- Customizable way for smooth panning any quick movements during gaming
One of the things I was surprised to discover in my research of this article was how many things you can actually do with a gaming mouse that a normal Mouse one give you.
By the end of this article I’m going to help you understand that the following things: the activities gaming mice are great for, recommended products, and some other additional questions answered that you might have.
My goal is to leave one person better off by reading this article and to keep information as simple to understand as possible. If you have additional questions or comments, you can reach me at the email I provide at the end of all my articles.
What Work Activities is a Gaming Mouse Good For?
“As an editor, I use my gaming mouse for editing multiple film clips and a single stroke. I also use the customization features that my mouse comes with and I used the third-party application that lets me customize each button click.”
I’m part of the gaming community on Facebook, so people leave some really helpful comments and reviews of products that they recommend. Specifically for today, I found some really good testimonies from people who use their gaming mice for work, and why they love it.
” I use mice with extra buttons for various things like play / pause, Ctrl, F5, number entry, and some things in specific games.” –Mike valued responder at PC Gaming Enthusiasts
The most defining feature of a gaming mouse as its customizable buttons and customizable polling rate. Most people use the customizable buttons for hot key shortcuts, which I will provide more examples in depth later in this article. I had the chance to interview some people from The Gaming Community on Facebook. I’ve been part of this group for just under a year now and here’s what they had to say:
” Gaming Mice seriously make my job a lot easier being able to fly through editing without ever taking my hand off the mouse.” — Magnet Gray, Reddit User
I use my gaming mouse for Photoshop editing and precision clicking. It’s actually surprisingly difficult to use a standard office mouse with a low polling rate for in-depth drawing projects that my company uses. I take my mouse to work and turn off the RGB lighting so it doesn’t look too flashing and draw attention to the workspace.
Ninja Tip: to easily program your gaming mouse, download the program called “X-Mouse Button Control.”
Other activities gaming mice are good for:
- Precision clicking: A lot of projects require a lot of drag-and-drop, especially if you’re an avid coder or data entry clerk. A gaming mouse will help you ensure smooth panning across the screen 100% of the time.
- Video editing: Editors can drag-and-drop specific clips from raw footage using programmed hotkey actions on to the side of the mouse. This means they won’t even need to touch their keyboard for most editing actions.
- Photoshop
- Interior virtual design
- Coding: You can program shortcuts into the buttons to swap between coating Windows. Computer programmers will especially appreciate this.
As a data entry clerk, I have a gaming mouse not only for playing fortnite and beating my friends at Rainbow Six Siege, but also for using Google Docs and Microsoft Excel. You can easily program your mouse to have a quick paste feature that makes hours of work extremely easy and satisfying.
Recommended Products
Best Button Customization |
Most Responsive |
Most Comfortable and Precise |
Logitech g600 |
Logitech g502 |
Razer deathadder |
Of all the personal research I was able to do, I was left with the top three gaming mice that I would recommend to any of my friends who want to use their products for normal work. I am not sponsored by any of these companies like Logitech and razor, but their products definitely score above the rest.
G600 series: best for customization
“I use it a lot for scrolling through tabs on Google Chrome. It’s surprisingly convenient to be able to use my mouse hotkey for quickly scrolling between tabs. My hand and never has to leave the mouse and I never need to use my keyboard. It’s even better when I’m using my computer from a distance like in my bedroom and not having to use a keyboard for it.” — Nikhil Singh, Computer Science Major and Blogger
Unlike the other products, this one comes with side panel buttons it can be individually customized for a multitude of tasks. The only drawback with this is that it features a wired connection, which means it might clutter the the look of your workspace if you already have a lot of cords.
G502 series: most responsive
It’s always reassuring when a product is labeled as and Amazon’s choice. This is the most responsive of the three because it has adpi setting of 8600 (not too much not too little). This is perfect for fast-paced shooters and for hours of clicking away on Excel at the office or dragging and dropping files. You can do these tasks with very little hand movement using this mouse. This one is also a wired connection.
You might be wondering if the price of a gaming mouse is worth it. From my experience it is, but if you want to know more about why, check out my article on Why Gaming Mice are Worth Every Penny. It also has additional product recommendations in it if you’re interested.
Razer Death Adder: Most comfortable and precise
It doesn’t have as many customizable buttons as the g600 series. However, it’s still comes with programmable buttons and has a DPI of 20000. I recommend adjusting the Windows 10 mouse sensitivity settings to be lower than 30%, but with this setting combined with the polling sensors, you’ll get outstanding responsiveness that feels extra precise.
There’s a ton of really easy to follow YouTube tutorials on setting up this application, but it should be self-explanatory for most users. Check out the link for more information. This was the exact same application I use when I was in my computer science major.
One thing people also underlook when creating their ultimate gaming and office setup are keyboards. Gaming keyboards are also great for normal work. Check out my article on 20 of the best gaming keyboards in the world. These things are absolute beasts when it comes to responsive typing and add enjoyment to the process.
Related Questions
Can you use a gaming monitor for normal work?
As a general rule, a gaming monitor is great for certain types of normal work, especially when it comes to graphic design, video editing, and demanding media playback. Even for non-gamers surfing the web, a gaming monitor will exhibit better resolution and refresh rate, which leads to a better overall user experience but at a higher price.
This is my article on the 6 Gamers I interviewed who also use their gaming monitor for normal work and how well it suffices for them.
Is 1,000 dpi good for gaming?
As a general rule, this is good for the average player because it requires little input movement from the user to make quick turns and pivots when playing fast-paced games. It is also excellent for using in the office for the reasons mentioned in this article.
Can you use a gaming mouse as a regular mouse?
A gaming mouse is perfectly good for normal use as a regular Mouse because it can click, scroll, drag and highlight just like a standard mouse you don’t have to use it for gaming at all. Most gaming mice will even let you turn off the RGB color lights so they can look more conservative in nature.
Do gaming mice work with every computer?
A gaming mouse will be compatible with every computer system including Windows 10, Linux, Mac book series. No matter what type of connection they are whether it be wired or Wireless, you’ll never run into compatibility issues. Players often install third-party software to customize their button clicks but even these applications are universally compatible across all three systems.
Are Gaming Mice Really Better?
Linus Tech did an awesome video comparing regular mice and gaming mice to each other. From this video, he was able to confirm the results from his test: gaming mice are more responsive than regular mice, even in day to day activities like browsing the web. He went to some extraordinary lengths to measure how responsive these mice were and why. If you want an in-depth look, check out his video here.
If you don’t watch the video, here’s a recap of what he goes over:
- The Logitech series utilize a Hero Sensor (a technology they developed themselves at an affordable price) which makes their mice exceptionally more responsive than average. This is because they utilize built-in drivers that support the mouse’s organic hardware and reduce lag.
- The ergonomic design of gaming mice are traditionally more favorable for the user. They fit into your hand more comfortably than a small Targus model, making movements feel more fluid and favor the control of your hand and your wrist (not just your fingers).
Final Thoughts
If you’re reading this article my guess is that you’re either looking to get a gaming mouse or you have one and want to take it to your workstation. There’s a lot of information on the web about this topic and this is the one that I’m going to cover that.
Thanks for reading! If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to reach out at entertainmentden.ns@gmail.com and I’ll do my best to respond. I appreciate the feedback you guys have sent over already and remember I am taking article suggestions as well. Stay tuned for the next article!