Logitech G5 vs Logitech MX 518

[Major_A]

I had a cheap laser mouse that decided to stop scrolling correctly. I put the blame on myself, middle mouse click is reload for me. I am back to an old Logitech Click! optical and it's driving me nuts. If you were going to buy one of the other which would it be?

[[XC] leviathan18]

g5 is laser.... thats the only advantage and well the weight change... but that is up to the user...

[Mr. Popo]

MX518 got owned.

[Major_A]

Didn't notice that the MX 518 was optical. Laser is the only way to go.

[adamant415]

Laser is def. the way to go, but for me I prefer a cordless mouse when it comes to gaming. I find the cord can add unwanted input while gaming, but that is just my style since I'm more of a twitch shooter.

[003]

Get the Razer Copperhead. The specs are basicly the same as the G5, they are both laser, 2000dpi, but the copperhead has 1000Hz polling and the G5 has 500Hz polling.

[Shpoon]

I have the 518, and personally it works great...I se no need to invest in a really expensive laser...I mean honestly, do you really notice so much of a difference in real useage?

Maybe that's just me...The jump from optical to laser is a lot less dramatic than that of ball to optical.

[Judaeus Apella]

I love MX 518's because you have more precise control over the sensitivity... but they have a flaw. The buttons they use are cheap and break easily compared to other mice made by the same company.

I'm currently faced with the same problem at the moment. My 3rd MX 518 just quit on me, and I need another mouse. Its the same problem every time. The left button stops working, or both of them. People are complaining in New Egg about this two, and at other on-line stores. They should just make a new model based on the 518, with better parts, and stop scamming people out of their money. One thing is for sure, I'm not getting another one. The other ones died under the store's warranty I got it from, but the last time I had it replaced I didn't pay for another warranty. If it died this time, thats it. No more.

I love changing the sensitivity on the fly. Works great in either BF or Battlezone 2, when I need to go from turning a tank turret quickly back and forth for normal use, and when I need more precision for killing other tanks from far off or getting that little SOB with the rocket launcher hiding far off in some vegetation, or sniping.

[comrad]

G5 all the way, I own 2 of them, The adjustable weight is awesome, and the 2000dpi precision is awesome. I say invest in the mouse a little more so you dont have to upgrade later. Oh and im not sure if the mx518 has a cross braided cord but the G5 does and it owns.

[Judaeus Apella]

With the software, can the G5 have more than 3 sensitivity levels? I use them sometimes.

Its going for $45.99 at New Egg. I think I might order it this weekend... I thought the G5 was a cordless mouse this entire time. LOL Thats why I kept buying the MX510!

:dammit:

[Cyber-Frog]

MX518 for me, the G5 is handicapped missing one of the thumbbuttons :)

[dum]

g-7 here love it http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/11/18/the_ultimate_mouse_hunt_part_two/ her is a review on some mice :p:

[Judaeus Apella]

You know... Im not so sure the G5 is so great anymore. I read information on it, and read the first few reviews on its main page at Newegg... However, click on "read all Reviews", and you're in for an unpleasant surprise! Despite its average score, which is high, MANY people complain of a long list of problems.

First off, some people are having trouble with the laser being unable to work on certain surfaces, epspecially gaming mouse pads.

Second, the middle button is VERY hard to push, and requires a lot of force on it.

Third, its assignable keys do not work in all games. People are having trouble with it in newer and popular games such as BF2 and couterstrike.

Fourth, people are complaining about buttons dying, especially the left button. This seems to be a trend with the entire Logitech line of gaming mice.

Fifth, a few people have complained that its slippery, and hard to grab... like it wants to slip out of you're hand.

Sixth, others complain that its overall, a pourly constructed mouse.

The overall poor quality, and failing buttons is the SAME EXACT problem I've been having with the MX 518! I think I may just go with a different brand. I'm really not impressed at all with the quality of Logitech mice anymore, using cheaper parts and thinner and thinner plastic.

I have a Logitech Mouseman from the 90's and it's built of thick plastic , so they last forever. Its only a shame they didn't make them in optical, the one I have is ball. :( It has a thumb button, and the driver updates work with it and allow me to assign buttons. WHY DOESN'T LOGITECH MAKE MICE LIKE THIS ANYMORE!?!?

[FlimFlam00]

MX518 for me, the G5 is handicapped missing one of the thumbbuttons

I have owned a 510, A Razer Diamondback, and currently use a g5 and 518. I like the 518. the laser makes little difference, and I prefer something less than the hypersensitive g5.

And finally, its lack of buttons is troubling. I use all of them for gaming.

[Judaeus Apella]

I read more information on the G5 and the first customer reviews you see on the G5’s main page at Newegg. However, if you click on the “Read all Reviews” link… you’re in for an unpleasant surprise! Despite its high average score, MANY customers complain about a long list of problems.

First, the laser has a lot of difficulty operating on certain mouse pad surfaces, especially gaming mouse pads! What’s the point of a gaming mouse… if it doesn’t work on a gaming mouse pad? (I’m not talking about glass, just normal plastic gaming pads.)

Second, customers complain that the left mouse button or both the left and the right mouse button, can suddenly die for no apparent reason. This seems to be a trend with the Logitech’s entire line of gaming mice.

Third, there are complaints that the G5’s over all build quality is poor.

Fourth, gamers are complaining that the G5’s software isn’t compatible with many games, including BF2 and Counterstrike. (I don’t know if newer drivers have fixed this problem or not.)

Fifth, several people have complained that it feels slippery in you’re hand and is often difficult to grip, like it wants to slip out of you’re hand. (I’m not sure if they mean, like a bar of soap, or the traction against the mouse pad is too slippery. If it’s the second, than they aren’t an experienced gamer, because you WANT that in a gaming mouse.)

Sixth, many complain that the middle button is very difficult to push down to activate, requiring you to push down ridiculously hard to use it.

Seventh, several have complained that the wheel turns to easily, causing you to accidentally move through you’re inventory sometimes. This sounds like a problem I’ve had with the MX 518, where the incremental clicker that controls movement over the wheel breaks loose, and the wheel easily rotates, sometimes from just the mouse moving around. I’ve had this problem with several different Logitech mice, and its highly annoying.

Can people who own this mouse confirm these issues as being true or faulse?

Also, I’m thinking of just not getting Logitech mice anymore and just switching to another company, as I have not been very impressed at all with Logitech in the past five years. They’re products are made with increasingly thinner plastic every year, which cheaper and cheaper parts inside the mice. They seem to be more interested these days in mass producing average or less quality products for a profit, than making high quality products like they used to.

I have a Logitech Mouse Man from the late 90’s that still works great! The reason is that its made from thick plastic, thick rubber, and good quality parts that don’t wear down after only a few months. It still works great with games, has a thumb button, middle button, wheel, and the newest driver updates work with it and allow me to assign buttons that works with every game I own. Only problem, is that it’s a ball mouse instead of optical. :(

Anyone know where I can find an old optical mouse man? :)

[L'enFer]

Anyone know where I can find an old optical mouse man?
did u try to find it on E-bay?

[EneergE]

I have a g5 laser here. I've had no complications that were listed on newegg.

The mouse feels like it was made out of iron. The sensitivity buttons allow for 3 different dpis without the driver, but with the driver, you can get 5. I've had mine since last October I believe it was. Hasn't shown hardly any sign of wear. Everything still works find. Left mouse button is fine, the center wheel is not hard at all to mash. The only thing weird about the center button is it doesn't make that "click" noise when you press it. It freaked me out not thinking it worked when i first got it, but it works just like any other scroll button works just silent.

The left and right sway on the center scroll works fine, too, with the drivers installed.

As for surfaces, I'm using a func f30r semi rough mouse pad to play on. It's a great combination. That mouse pad does help the mouse glide a lot easier.

Only con I can think of right now, is the feet on the bottom of the mouse wore off while i was not even using a mousepad. I used to just use it on my desk here. The feet at first were ultra slick, but they have since wore a little bit, but since I got this new pad it doesn't really matter.

The only problem I've had with logitech mice in the past occurred when I had one of the Click! optical mouse. It would start jumping around the screen for no apparent reason. It would seem like a ghost just moved the mouse to a random position. So far, I haven't had that trouble with this mouse at all. I don't slam my mouse down when I get mad (i divert to other sources, hehe) at games or anything, so overally it seems like a nice solid mouse from first point of view.

The G7 is the cordless solution of this mouse (except with out the weight control). To me wireless mice seem like they would be a little laggy for game play which is why I opted to buy the G5 instead.

The copperheads are made out of cheap plastic. The few reviews I've read about them were bad.

EDIT: hmm. I haven't had any trouble in cs or bf2. What kind of trouble and I can test it? I use the thumb button for grenades in fear without any trouble. Don't really use it in cs which I play quite a bit. Don't play bf2 hardly at all. The DPI settings works in all games.

[masterofpuppets]

MX518 all the way. Who cares about adjustable weights?! Unless you are weak, or have little deskspace and need to lift the mouse up often, it's heaviness won't really bother you. Plus the sidebuttons are VERY useful for browsing, and for binding things to in games.

[alexio]

The weight added by the batteries in a cordless mouse really is a pain. I have an MX700 and an MX518 and the second is much, much better for gaming.

MX518 100%

[stangflyer]

Agree with alexio. I have a mx700 on my second machine and a 518 on my main pc. I love the extra thumb button that the g5 does not provide and I do not notice the cord at all.

[comrad]

I read more information on the G5 and the first customer reviews you see on the G5’s main page at Newegg. However, if you click on the “Read all Reviews” link… you’re in for an unpleasant surprise! Despite its high average score, MANY customers complain about a long list of problems.

First, the laser has a lot of difficulty operating on certain mouse pad surfaces, especially gaming mouse pads! What’s the point of a gaming mouse… if it doesn’t work on a gaming mouse pad? (I’m not talking about glass, just normal plastic gaming pads.)

Second, customers complain that the left mouse button or both the left and the right mouse button, can suddenly die for no apparent reason. This seems to be a trend with the Logitech’s entire line of gaming mice.

Third, there are complaints that the G5’s over all build quality is poor.

Fourth, gamers are complaining that the G5’s software isn’t compatible with many games, including BF2 and Counterstrike. (I don’t know if newer drivers have fixed this problem or not.)

Fifth, several people have complained that it feels slippery in you’re hand and is often difficult to grip, like it wants to slip out of you’re hand. (I’m not sure if they mean, like a bar of soap, or the traction against the mouse pad is too slippery. If it’s the second, than they aren’t an experienced gamer, because you WANT that in a gaming mouse.)

Sixth, many complain that the middle button is very difficult to push down to activate, requiring you to push down ridiculously hard to use it.

Seventh, several have complained that the wheel turns to easily, causing you to accidentally move through you’re inventory sometimes. This sounds like a problem I’ve had with the MX 518, where the incremental clicker that controls movement over the wheel breaks loose, and the wheel easily rotates, sometimes from just the mouse moving around. I’ve had this problem with several different Logitech mice, and its highly annoying.

Can people who own this mouse confirm these issues as being true or faulse?

Also, I’m thinking of just not getting Logitech mice anymore and just switching to another company, as I have not been very impressed at all with Logitech in the past five years. They’re products are made with increasingly thinner plastic every year, which cheaper and cheaper parts inside the mice. They seem to be more interested these days in mass producing average or less quality products for a profit, than making high quality products like they used to.

I have a Logitech Mouse Man from the late 90’s that still works great! The reason is that its made from thick plastic, thick rubber, and good quality parts that don’t wear down after only a few months. It still works great with games, has a thumb button, middle button, wheel, and the newest driver updates work with it and allow me to assign buttons that works with every game I own. Only problem, is that it’s a ball mouse instead of optical. :(

Anyone know where I can find an old optical mouse man? :)

1st- I have never had a surface on which my G5 didn't work PERFECTLY on. Wood, Metal, Glass, Plastic, Cloth, you name it, this mouse works flawlessly on every surface.

2nd- What? Your kidding right? ... Never happened to me... EVER!

3rd- Poor Build Quality?! This mouse is built very nice and sturdy with high quality parts, it feels awesome in your hand and you can feel it is a great mouse.

4th- Never tried... Sorry....

5th- if you are going from a small mouse, you will need to adjust to this mouse, as I did when I went from a laptop mouse to this mouse.

6th- Yes, this is true in the beginning. But once you use it (1-2 months) the button is perfect, with perfect amount of pressure needed to press it and you wont press it accidentally when scrolling.

7th- Do they even own this mouse? The wheel is the best I have EVER used, no joke. It stops on every click.

[epion2985]

However, click on "read all Reviews", and you're in for an unpleasant surprise! Despite its average score, which is high, MANY people complain of a long list of problems.


Are you kidding.... Look at any product with alot of reviews on new egg. If the item has 10 reviews and 1 is bad and the other item has 400 reviews and has 40 bad once guess what, thats the same ratio. Thats what happens when an item is popular the bad and the good reviews go up, as long as the ratio is good everything is fine.

Another thing is remember that people that have the product work fine ussualy dont write reviews. I know I never do, why would I waste my time.

Also revies like this is not comformable or this is to hard to press are to be taken with a grain of salt, as it is very personal. I read reviews about my gear all the time that this is bad and this isnt comfortable but I like it. All these reviews have to be taken in with a sertain desposition and not as absolute facts but more like ranting of bored people.

In the end the best way is to go go to frys and buy both and see which you like more, then return the other, or return both and buy the one you want online if you are really cheap/broke.

[[XC] MarioMaster]

1st- I have never had a surface on which my G5 didn't work PERFECTLY on. Wood, Metal, Glass, Plastic, Cloth, you name it, this mouse works flawlessly on every surface.

2nd- What? Your kidding right? ... Never happened to me... EVER!

3rd- Poor Build Quality?! This mouse is built very nice and sturdy with high quality parts, it feels awesome in your hand and you can feel it is a great mouse.

4th- Never tried... Sorry....

5th- if you are going from a small mouse, you will need to adjust to this mouse, as I did when I went from a laptop mouse to this mouse.

6th- Yes, this is true in the beginning. But once you use it (1-2 months) the button is perfect, with perfect amount of pressure needed to press it and you wont press it accidentally when scrolling.

7th- Do they even own this mouse? The wheel is the best I have EVER used, no joke. It stops on every click.


i agree with comrad in this case, my g5 has never had any of the problems listed, never had an issue with buttons not working, the weight pack actually does affect how the mouse tracks, and the braided cord is better than that of any previous mice i've used

i posted the exact same question a little while ago http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=98011

and those asking about the resolutions, they are totally customizable and you can have up to 5 different settings

[.sentinel]

I voted G5 because the form fits hands better and the weight. I have tried the MX518 and I have felt its almost to light and that the G5 slid better. I also like the fact that the G5 has a better DPI rating and it has on the fly sensitivity settings. The removable weights are a gimmick. You don't change them. I have just left them out because I like a lighter mouse. The weights are not for fast switching because it takes a while to get used to a heavier mouse instead just configure the mouse with 5 sensitivity ratings and use a lower one instead of the weights. People have also complained about the texture. Well the texture is like sandpaper but it feels like it grips your hand. I have found though is that I sweat more with the G5 than with another mouse.

[Adam217]

I own both mice, I was really against giving the G5 a chance but couldn't pass it up when it got it for $20 through Amazon with rebates. I really do miss my extra side button, the only way I was able to get over that was to use Uberoptions and autohotkey, two third party apps that work along with Logitech's SetPoint software to give me back my fourth and fifth button and allow me to create automatic profiles for each application or game. I use all 10 buttons for most of my games, and the app specific profiles make this easy.

The extra DPI over the 518 didn't do much, I always use my mouse at the maximum DPI settings, using anything less defeats the whole purpose of having a very accurate mouse. On the fly DPI changing is a useless gimmick, but I'm glad they left me the buttons. Sensitivity adjustments should be made with the pointer speed slider in setpoint and in-game sensitivity settings. When you set it up like that you have the best of both worlds, you can make tighter more accurate movements with your pointer or crosshair but still slow it down to any speed you desire without affecting accuracy.

The weight system is personal preference, but nobody ever thought about it until the heavy wireless mice showed up. If you think that the weight or lack of makes that much difference in your gaming then your spending to much time not thinking about the important thing, the game. Take the weight cartridge out of the mouse and give it a try for a week, I bet your wrist thanks you and you brain forgets all about it.

The center texture of the G5 is far better than the glossy texture of the 518 and it is in no way rough. I would say the it is more of a flat paint job to the glossy of the 518. The sides have more of a texture, kind of like a racquetball with slightly larger grain to it but smoothed over and a little bit harder. The cloth wrapped cord is nice, seems to lie down a little better, less flopping around, but not that big of a deal.

I would have to say the best feature is one that gets over look quite often, the feet. They are very large, covering the whole front and rear of the mouse with just a sliver underneath the thumb side. I use a 14"x17" cloth mouse pad and the 518, with it's tiny feet, has a tendency to drag if any extra down pressure is applied during an intense moment, not so with the G5.

All in all both mice are great, if you own a 518 I don't think you'd notice much difference, the slightly more aggressive texture and the lack of a second side button are the most prominent. If you have neither and are in the market for a new mouse I would buy the G5 over the 518 any day. I have owned a lot of mice over the years and must say the G5 is the best, 518 is a close second and the MS Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 are the three best I've ever owned. Logitech's warranty is top notch also, for 3yrs, only a few questions to make sure it's a misbehaving mouse and a new one is on its way without having to send the old one in.

I didn't intend for this to be a book, but I take my mice seriously. The more thought you put into your peripherals now the less your thinking about them when it counts, during the game.

[RAGING DRAGON]

I was tied up between the two as well a few months ago. I opted to go for the G5. The mouse I was using before that was the standard Microsoft ball mouse. I have no experience of the MX518 but I can tell you from my experience with the G5 I am quite happy with it.
I don't game all the time and because I've always used Microsoft standard mice I've never been one to use or need extra buttons on a mouse.
If you are an avid gamer, I suggest you go for the one with more buttons.

[brinox]

i had the G5 and a 518 at the same time, and i used the G5 for a good 3 weeks before i took it back, could not get used to the lack of a 5 button and the scroll wheel was REALLY hard and annoying to push down. went back to my 518 and all was well.

mx518 all the way, i have 2 now, one for the desktop and one for on the road with the laptop (m1210 FTW!)