Silent Mouse EX reduces mouse-related noise pollution by 22.5db, no one cares
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted June 25th 2009 9:46AM
posted June 25th 2009 9:46AM
Oh, Thanko, fine purveyor of hidden cameras and ill-advised input devices, whenever it gives us a peripheral that looks like, well, a peripheral, it feels like a big step in the right direction. And what do we have here? The Silent Mouse EX is a bit of a misnomer. After all, it isn't totally silent -- rather, the manufacturer claims that it generates 35.5db of noise when in operation. Compared to 58db of sound the "average" mouse makes (or so we've heard), that is... well, it's less. Actually, we have a hard time believing anyone cares about this sort of thing, but if you'd like to prove us wrong, you can hit that read link and put ¥3,180 (approx. $33) where your mouth is. Or better still, just use a trackpad.
[Via Akihabara]
[Via Akihabara]
Actually, I have been waiting for a silent click mouse for awhile now. I am a late-night gamer and when I'm in bed playing on my laptop, my fiance goes crazy over the constant clicking.
It has come to the point where I keep my mouse under the covers and the eye doesn't work well on bed sheets.
This should help her sleep better!
Thank goodness for technology...Changing bad habits for the well being of loved ones is so 90's!!
You know, I never really noticed the clicking, but now thanks to this article its bother me. Thanks.
people seem to be sticking up for this mouse...
troll post is a failure
congradulation slient mouse...A winrar is you!
:0
I used to work in a loud room with a bunch of servers, then moved to an extremely quiet little office - for the first couple days I couldn't figure out what that "clicking" noise was that I kept hearing :-)
will someone please start demanding that mouse manufacturers make models for left-handed people? or ones that don't favor one hand over the other? it's ridiculous how many mouse products I can't use since I'm left-handed. it's been proven that many creative types are lefties, and yet the most advanced mouse products are usually for right handed people only.
Engadget doesn't seem too impressed with the noise reduction in this mouse, however, they forget the physics of sound:
A -10dB change in sound can be interpreted by the ear as "half as loud" due to the logarithmic decibel scale.
Therefore, 58dB - 35.5dB = 22.5 dB. If we round that down to 20 dB, that is two decades of 10dB = 2(1/2) of the original noise, so the mouse will be a little quieter than 1/4 as loud as the "average" mouse that they are quoting. That's decent noise reduction, if you think about how loud the average mouse actually is. Not silent, but an improvement.
there must be something wrong in this article, I dont think a mouse can be 58 db loud, no way.
I actually want this
sweet.. my laser mouse is SO LOUD! it drives me nuts... ??? :-P
I care. My mouse is annoying. It actually squeaks (scroll wheel).
Well, fix it.
a lot of us use trackpads as little as possible, far preferring mice, and when you're working in a library or archive or other quiet places, the mouse clicks can be a real problem, so yes, there's a place for a quieter mouse
I hope someone comes out with a trackball version.
Sounds like there are a lot of office out there in desperate need of sound masking systems. If your office is so quiet that mouse noise is driving you crazy, then your office is TOO quiet. If people's mice are too loud, then I feel sorry for them also having to listen to keyboard tapping, finger drumming, and conversations from across the office. Usually soundmasking can come from the mechanical systems but when the engineer designs the system to be too quiet, or the system kicks off, you have this very problem. There's no reason for an open office to be quieter than 40-45 dB(A).
At my home office, the clicking can be annoying and I always have the television on as well as other noises around the house. I'm not sure you realize how loud mouse clicks can be. Plus, it's not just about office applications. There are several settings where older/cheaper keyboards and mice are annoyingly loud. Remember those keyboards that were common ~10+ years ago? Compare those to what you use today. Even laptops have gone a long way in improving noise output with softer inputs. I really like the mice I have now for their scroll wheels that are quiet.
*holds ear to mouse* Nope, it's not squeaking.
Isn't it the clicks that make the noise with mice, and don't tracpads have buttons too, so that's no solution then.
Although, the scrollwheel is also a noise source, but you can stuff some foam in the casing to fix that maybe, depending if the chips get warm or not in the mouse casing.
when you use an ibm model m (aka clicky keyboards), nothing could make a mouse seem "loud"
Laugh all you want, Engadget, but I hate the infernal clicking of mice and keyboards. I want to feel it click, not hear it. It can get really annoying in a shared work space to have everyone clicking away. Every time I go to Best Buy or similar stores, I always click all the mice available to see if there are any quiet ones, and there never are.
To me, the clicking of mice is in the same category as the fake shutter sounds on digital point and shoots: annoying nods to outmoded conventions.
I like the clicks for the feedback; I like knowing the click happened. However, my PC is in my room and if the GF is reading, she hates it. I would love a completely silent mouse (buttons as those 'contact' buttons, no movement) and a smooth scrolling scrollwheel then pipe an audible click through the speakers of the PC. I wear headphones when I don't want to bother the housemates with my music, so "I" would still hear the click, nobody else would. This would rock for a keyboard too.
I'm a trial technology consultant. In the courtroom, where it is really quiet, the mouse clicking is very noticable. I need the precision of the traditional mouse, but I move over to the trackpad to "click."
I presume this is for offices where you can hear a "click" each time the boss approaches? ("click" = close NSFW site, Facebook, private email, whatever.)
I, for one, genuinely hate the click sound mouse produces. I mean what's the point?
Finally, I can hear the "start navigation" sound in Internet Explorer without cranking up the speakers!
Wow. What a great invention!!! However, I never heard any sound from my mouse. Am I normal?
This reminds me of the lady with the eye patch from Twin Peaks who devoted her life to making super silent rollers for window blinds.