[Owner]

I am in a rental house and I am using a laptop but the touch pad is not the best and i have a mouse but I do not have a mouse pad and I was wondering what i can use as a mouse pad and this is a very long run-on sentence.

[redmonke]

What kind of surface are you on? I use my mouse on my couch without a mouse pad and it's fine. I also sometimes use it on my feux-wood desk and it works fine enough.

Mousepads are cheap, though. Check some out here. Really doesn't matter what you're using. I usually just use free ones my parents get from work.

[finisterra]

You can always try a black (or dark) surface that doesn't create much friction.

If you really want a mousepad you could go to Dollarama, Walmart or Target, and get one for no more than a few dollars.

[Owner]

I'm on a sofa chair that doesn't work well. Any household items that I can use in the place of a pad before I can get one at a store.

[Fencefry]

A slip of paper always works for me. As long as ligt doesn't shine through too much it works.

[redmonke]

Tape down a slice off a black garbage bag. Pretty sure that would work if it's tight.

[finisterra]

A slip of paper always works for me. As long as ligt doesn't shine through too much it works.

And if you're using your laptop on a couch you can always put a book or folder beneath the piece of paper.

As Fence said, don't use shiny paper.

[King Aragorn]

Depends a little on how the mouse works, is it a trackball, optical or laser?
Optical is a visible laser, laser is just a light but doesnt make light.

If its a ball, then you might want something that doesnt get dusty, that happend to my old one, and then it got worse in using.
But Optical and laser are probably better, because you just need a surface that its able to shine on, not glass, but just a surface that is not transparent.
Use those requirements, and find something flat.

[Fencefry]

Depends a little on how the mouse works, is it a trackball, optical or laser?
Optical is a visible laser, laser is just a light but doesnt make light.

If its a ball, then you might want something that doesnt get dusty, that happend to my old one, and then it got worse in using.
But Optical and laser are probably better, because you just need a surface that its able to shine on, not glass, but just a surface that is not transparent.
Use those requirements, and find something flat.

If a trackball mouse gets dusty, all you need to do is unscrew the little rim around the ball, take the ball out, and scrape all the gunk off of the 3 wheels inside.

[adrenalsky]

I've used my opitcal mouse on a glass table before.... taped a piece of cardboard to the underside of the glass LOL

[Bob-sama]

A book is the easiest thing to use. If you have a notepad or some sort of notebook to use, it'll make it even easier.

[LP Forever]

What kind of surface are you on? I use my mouse on my couch without a mouse pad and it's fine. I also sometimes use it on my feux-wood desk and it works fine enough.

Mousepads are cheap, though. Check some out here. Really doesn't matter what you're using. I usually just use free ones my parents get from work.

You get free ones from your parent's work? lucky! anyway i usually use my text books as a mouse pad. or i'll just use whatever surface my MacBook happens to be on at the time.

[Caboose]

Surely you could just cut out a bit of cardboard then staple a cotton sheet over the top, or something like that. Even if you have a piece of foam lying around. Besides, they're dirt cheap anyway and lots of places give them away for free, just keep an eye open.

[Emo_Nemo]

Tape down a slice off a black garbage bag. Pretty sure that would work if it's tight.

Reflective surfaces don't work well for laser mouses.

[Caboose]

Surely it has to be reflective, otherwise it would receive no input as to how far the beam has traveled, at least that's how i understand it.

[Emo_Nemo]

Surely it has to be reflective, otherwise it would receive no input as to how far the beam has traveled, at least that's how i understand it.

Well reflective surfaces can split the beams thus having the mouse not work properly or at all.

For example my desk has a glass top.

This post has been edited by Emo_Nemo: Jun 17 2009, 01:30 PM

[redmonke]

What kind of surface are you on? I use my mouse on my couch without a mouse pad and it's fine. I also sometimes use it on my feux-wood desk and it works fine enough.

Mousepads are cheap, though. Check some out here. Really doesn't matter what you're using. I usually just use free ones my parents get from work.

You get free ones from your parent's work? lucky! anyway i usually use my text books as a mouse pad. or i'll just use whatever surface my MacBook happens to be on at the time.

Lol yea. I've got tons of mousepads in a stack in my office.

Tape down a slice off a black garbage bag. Pretty sure that would work if it's tight.

Reflective surfaces don't work well for laser mouses.

I could have sworn one side of the garbage bag isn't shiny.

[Caboose]

Surely it has to be reflective, otherwise it would receive no input as to how far the beam has traveled, at least that's how i understand it.

Well reflective surfaces can split the beams thus having the mouse not work properly or at all.

For example my desk has a glass top.

Well, wouldn't the beam then just pass straight through the glass?

[redmonke]

Surely it has to be reflective, otherwise it would receive no input as to how far the beam has traveled, at least that's how i understand it.

Well reflective surfaces can split the beams thus having the mouse not work properly or at all.

For example my desk has a glass top.

Well, wouldn't the beam then just pass straight through the glass?

You'd think so, but the structure of glass causes it to refract and split apart.

An article about it here.

[Caboose]

Yeah, if it refracts (which it can only do if entering at an angle) then it is still passing though, so how would the beam get back? Or am i just not understanding the concept of optical mice?