Nij.UK Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 Its a bit of a silly one really, im sure other schools face the same problem. The kids just seem to love trashin mouse mats and picking them to bits.... has anyone got a solution to this or is there anywhere to get them free or very cheap Thanks
webman Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 We had the same problem ages ago. We gave up replacing them about 2 years ago and did what Geoff said
Joedetic Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 You could glue them to the desk if you must have them...but even that wont stop them i suppose. How about peeling the spongey back from the plastic upper part and using some sort of glue (maybe epoxy resin like araldite or a contact adhesive) to stick the plastic to the desk? Voilla...permanent mouse mat We got a load free with out PCs but we dont use them because of the lovely optical mice so they just live in a cupboard
john Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 Last place was obsessed with mouse mats as Stone give them away with PCs but they never lasted. Optical mice for the win.
Joedetic Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 Yeah...stone are who i'm on about LOL. For some reason the librarian insists on having mouse mats :S
john Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 Yeah, mine mentioned that the other day, why don't I use mats, my responce was we use optical mice = no mats, and if students want a mat, they can bring there own in and use it, i aint gonna loose sleep over it or worry.
webman Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 The benefits of optical mice are many... * No need for mouse mat * No ball to be stolen and used as a possible projectile * No ball = less cleaning * Cool red laser underneath 8)
Joedetic Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 Never mind about the ball...steal the whole mouse and use the cord to twirl it above their heads and then release to create a more destructive and expensive projectile
john Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 True, but cable ties and padlocks are good investments
Norphy Posted June 20, 2006 Posted June 20, 2006 We have optical mice on almost all of our computers but there are a few benches they don't work well on, generally reflective ones. Trouble is, if we put mats down they pull them to pieces so if they complain we tell them to use a piece of paper or something
thom Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 InfoMat send us 50 free mousemats every year. They are covered with "Educational Websites" adverts. I don't know who signed up for it but their site is http://www.infomat.net I just looked at it and it seems to have loads of resources and content for schools. They also do some great competitions. I've never devoted time to looking at what else they offer but it looked quite good from the front page of the site!
Geoff Posted June 21, 2006 Posted June 21, 2006 We have optical mice on almost all of our computers but there are a few benches they don't work well on, generally reflective ones. Trouble is, if we put mats down they pull them to pieces so if they complain we tell them to use a piece of paper or something Our's just write grafiti all over the desks. Does the job.
trogers Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Yup optical mice are the future. Ben What do I do with shiny surfaces. Anyone else had this problem? Anyone tried painting an area of the desk for each mouse? If we get mouse mats they will just get trashed and make a mess. Any ideas greatfully recieved.
Sylv3r Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 What do I do with shiny surfaces. Anyone else had this problem? Anyone tried painting an area of the desk for each mouse? If we get mouse mats they will just get trashed and make a mess. Any ideas greatfully recieved. I suppose you could stick vinyl or carpet tiles to the benching next to each PC - it will probably look better then painting the areas.
Tony_Mc Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Some of our rooms have the rules of the IT rooms, laminated in matt finish and stuck down. does the job lovely
john Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Fablon squares perhaps or just fine grade wet and dry paper to rough the surface up again?
grumpy_git Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 How shiny are they? Our laminate benches are usually pretty shiny if polished, and I've never had any problems with them.
p858snake Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Try the mouse mats that arn't the form ones, try find a "laser" mouse mat they are thin plastic type of material that should be easily stuck down with double sided tape.
teddybear Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 One of our nurseries use eMacs on yellow laminate desks. The optical mice refuse to work without some kind of non-reflective surface to be used on. As most of the kids haven't turned to thuggery yet they stick an A4 piece of black card to the desk and the mouse works fine on there.
Spitfire Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 We had to bring back mouse mats after moving to optical mice and new shiney desk tops the firm we used was Promotional Mouse Mats mousemats made in the UK for printed business gifts and their britemats, now students can't pick them apart and they seem not to "borrow" them to take home. The firm print anything on them you want and aren't too expensive.
DrPerceptron Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Buy optical mice. No need for mouse mats then. Unless you have a red or a yellow desk... they just don't work on those full stop (here anyway...) Shiny surfaces generally mess with the optics of it in the same way a hair might (jumps around, is inconsistent etc) We considered painting an area of the desk, but thought the kids would just scratch that off. How about sticky-taping down a sheet of plain white paper? we sticked our mouse mats down, most have been pulled off, nearly all them don't have the top anymore and the majority have at least one corner picked off them.
Michael Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 I use optical mice or 'laser mouse' as some the kids call them
rad Posted February 20, 2009 Posted February 20, 2009 Get D+t to make you some out of wood, no problem then! RM have stopped shipping them with our PC's, all optical so no need for mouse mats.
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