Wireless Mouse Battery Life Issues

[TheStatutoryApe]

I bought a fairly cheap wireless mouse a while back. With the batteries it came with it lasted quite some time, at least a few months, before it died. I bought new batteries from the store that were on sale and put one in. About a week later I found that the usb plug had come detached from the mouse while in transport and the battery had been draining for quite some time. Since then all of the batteries I have put in it (still from the package I mentioned previously) have only lasted a matter of a few days before starting to die.

Question: Is this common for wireless mouses? or at least the cheap ones? Or does it seem like it may be these batteries I am using?

The batteries are copper tops by the way, not some off brand, but they were out on sale so I was thinking maybe they are old.

 

[Defennder]

I guess it's pretty common. My mice died pretty fast as well. I thought they were a novel and convenient feature but apparently they last for too short a period to be of any use.

 

[russ_watters]

I'm not clear on what you mean here - what usb cable? Wireless mice don't have usb cables. You didn't throw away rechargeable batteries and put in non-rechargeable ones, and then connect the mouse to a charger, did you...?

I've owned/use a dozen wireless mice and keyboards and never had one last less than a few months. I get irritated if they last less than 6 months.

 

[Defennder]

The batteries in your mice lasted for a few months? That's rather amazing. Mine tend to die off in a few days, at most a week, I remember.

 

[NoTime]

Only one of the batteries in the wireless mouse I have dies quickly.
The other one may still be the original after a year or so.
I just keep replacing the dead one with batteries that were used for other applications.
Too dead to run other things, but they are still good for a week or two in the mouse.
I'd probably get rid of it if I had to by new batteries for it.
A benefit of used batteries is that the flashing low battery light makes it easy to find :)

 

[mgb_phys]

I'm not clear on what you mean here - what usb cable? Wireless mice don't have usb cables.

Often they have USB cables to charge the NiMh battery inside the mouse.
Try some new rechargeable batteries and try charging them in a regular wall charger -the charge circuit in the mouse probably isn't very good.

I had one where the USB wireless dongle plugged into the mouse to disable the radio, so it wasnt wasting power in your laptop bag (and so you don't lose the dongle).

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

I'm not clear on what you mean here - what usb cable? Wireless mice don't have usb cables. You didn't throw away rechargeable batteries and put in non-rechargeable ones, and then connect the mouse to a charger, did you...?

I had one where the USB wireless dongle plugged into the mouse to disable the radio, so it wasnt wasting power in your laptop bag (and so you don't lose the dongle).

This is what I meant Russ. The plug (or dongle?) that goes into the USB port so the mouse can communicate with the computer. Mine also has this feature that Mgb mentions where you snap it on the bottom of the mouse to keep the battery from draining.

I got rid of the original battery but I am pretty sure it wasn't rechargable. Would the type of battery matter? Maybe lithium ion would be longer lasting?
I've not had good experiences with rechargable batteries but I suppose they have likely gotten better over the years since I last used any.

 

[russ_watters]

The batteries in your mice lasted for a few months? That's rather amazing. Mine tend to die off in a few days, at most a week, I remember.

It's not amazing, it's a matter of practicality - if you had to replace the batteries every few days, they'd be so expensive and cumbersome to use, no one would ever use them.

It could be a matter of quality, though. Good mice have power-saving features, such as pulsing the led when the mouse isn't in use to conserve energy (at a variable rate depending on how long it has been since it was used). The ones we got at work with our HP computers don't last nearly as long as the MS and Logitech ones I've used, but it is still several months.

Googling for "wireless mouse battery life", you're not the only person with a mouse going dead after two days, but 6 months is a common number thrown around for many mice. Some people are even claiming a year out of a particular MS mouse.

Here's one though that talks about a guy with a Logitech with short life. I'm wondering if some have bugs that prevent the power saving features from activating? http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/669109.html

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Maybe I'll just have to get a new one then. This one was only about fifteen dollars I think.

 

[Mk]

For wireless mice you should always use rechargeable batteries— it really pays off in the end.

I've had a wireless mouse for a year and have never had a problem with it. Of course it is from Apple and costs $60 if you buy it separately.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

The brand of mouse I had was Logitech. I bought a new logitech last week that seems much nicer. It even has an on/off switch. Its either a newer design or a different model. So far its working just fine and I'll let you know if I wind up having issues with it too.