Type 2/type 3 mouse pads turn out to be a fairly rare and expensive
beast. It was considerably harder than expected, but thanks to the
following we have a victory:
From: Aydin Edguer <edguer@alpha.CES.CWRU.Edu>
From: Jeff Bacon <bacon@mtu.edu>
From: bzs@world.std.com (Barry Shein)
From: etnibsd!vsh (Steve Harris)
From: mek@dazixco.ingr.com (Mark Ketter)
From: rcsmith@sed.csc.com (Ray Smith)
From: zrke01@trc.amoco.com (Rickey K. Ewing)
Terminology:
Most of the vendors I talked to called the type 2/3 mouse a low resolution
optical mouse. They called the type 4 a high resolution.
Official Sun mouse pads:
Solar Systems (1-800-253-5764) has a few used ones in stock at $25.00
each, but is looking for a source for more. It seems the bulk of the
3/X0s they buy come in without pads, so they expect their stocks to
be gone quickly (thanks to Steve Harris for the contact).
MicroConnections (1-800-372-3725) used to sell the pads, but doesn't
any more. Their old price was $38.00!
SunExpress (1-800-USE-SUNX) sells only type-4 keyboards/mice, and
only as a package -- you can't get the pad separately.
Mouse Systems (510-656-1117) (aka MSC Technologies) is now in Fremont,
CA. They supposedly sell two pads which can be used with the type 2/3
mouse, the metal pad you're used to and a foam-backed pad. I've used
the foam ones and don't find them as nice as the metal -- your mileage
may vary. Sorry, I have no price info as they had not called me back
by the time of this summary.
Alternatives:
Steve Harris says that LogiTech sells a mechanical mouse with a Sun
interface cable. Call LogiTech at 800-253-5764.
Mark Ketter (mek@dazixco.ingr.com) says he has some extras and says
he might be willing to sell them.
Jeff Bacon says SunExpress also offers a mechanical mouse "dirt cheap"
Barry Shein offered two interesting alternatives. First if you have
a good-quality copier (*really* good quality), simply make a copy of
a pad and tape it to something. This actually worked somewhat on the
cheap copiers at the client site, but I wouldn't want to live with the
results forever. Try your own copier and see how it works. Second,
properly faded denim (you know, blue jeans) also works. I was not as
successful with this, but my jeans are fairly new. It does
not work on a suit. :-)
Last but not least, Ray Smith forwarded an old posting by to alt.sys.sun
by Thad Floryan (thad@public.BTR.COM) suggesting Halted Specialties
(1-408-732-1573). I called, and they were selling a whole box of used
pads and bought them all myself. My client now has his share, and the
rest are available from me for $10.00 each plus $3.00 S&H in the US.
These are supposed to be kind of scratched up, so I'll be testing
all and discarding any that don't work. Supposedly this was their last
box, but who knows...
I've got to say a few more words about Halted Specialties. These guys
are great. They buy up odd lots of all kinds of strange computer stuff
for next to nothing and sell for slightly more. Back in my UNIX PC
days I and other folks bought all kinds of stuff from them -- disks,
power supplies, monitors, keyboards -- and got good service at a very
good price. If you're ever looking for something off the wall, give
them a call. In ancient correspondence someone (Thad?) glowingly
described a walk through their warehouse as an amazing experience.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Fri Sep 28 2001 - 23:06:48 CDT