Considering Options in External Laptop Mice

On an old laptop my touchpad mouse became fidgety. I'd click on one thing & another would happen, or I'd think I was clicking on something, yet my screen was showing no activity leaving me to keep on clicking absentmindedly hoping to establish a successful connection: no-go. Eventually the touchpad ceased to work at all.

Enter a need for an external mouse. Initially a cordless one, one that would be battery-operated, seemed most sensible. These had their pros & cons. Though they aren't corded, they still take up one of the laptop's USB ports in order to digitally connect. Also, as they aren't corded, they are battery-operated. Being battery-operated means the battery will need to be replaced from time to time. And on what surface the mouse is used can affect how quickly the batteries will need to be changed.

In an office, using a cordless mouse atop a desk, the battery may last six months or more. In a home environment, along a bed comforter, a lap-pad, or carpet, the batter may only last a week to ten days. This is also cause for having replacement batteries on hand, otherwise it's back to that hopeless touchpad which led to the need for the external mouse in the first place.

Then there is the equally convenient corded mouse. These mice will still be taking up residence hogging a USB port, yet concerns regarding its wearing out are basically nonexistent. A corded mouse uses no batteries. It's plugged in; it works. And the cord is plenty long to be dragged for quite a distance. It seems using it from its further reached, one would hardly be able to clearly see their laptop's screen anyway.

Another perk to an external mouse (battery-operated or corded) is its roller ball. That feature, omitted from many a basic laptop touchpad, is convenient & useful. So often it's necessary to move the mouse over to the far right of the screen only to then realize it's necessary to also figure out, out of the few scroll bars located in that space, which one it is that is connected to the work you're intent upon. By then mental rhythms have dispersed & dissolved. A roller ball allows its user to stay on-task, holding the work right in place, yet efficiently moving along. The user remains content & productive as they continue their progress.