I had to retire my MX500 some time ago and got myself a Razer Deathadder, but I really dislike the shape and now that it starts to act up on me - I never want to see a razer mouse on my pad again. (got two Deathadders and both are clicking insanely on their own)

I've heard that the MX518 is a stable gaming mouse, but I'm a bit attracted to the "fluff" of the G5, being able to fine-tune its weight etc.

I'm using a Steelseries S&S mouse pad and I've heard some issues with laser mice on some surfaces (especially plastic pads) so I'm wonderring which mouse to get. The G5 is almost double the price of MX518 - is it really worth it for extra DPI and some weights?

Also - anyone had issues running either mouse in linux? Any information/input is appreciated!

Edit: Spelling.

Don't mind the dpi, for the weight system - it might be worth it.

But the mx518 is a better mouse.

G5 is the better mouse here.

Even though that weight system is retarded (I never used it because it was worthless), the DPI stuff will come in handy. You can also change the DPI on-the-fly so some games benefit from that. Also worth mentioning is the fact that G5 defaults to 500Hz even without drivers or whatever, so you don't have to waste your time configuring it via drivers or something else. And finally, the G5 grip feels better than the MX518 grip since it's rubbery one with rev2 G5.

Those problems you have read about laser mice and different mousepads, are gone with G5 at least. When the mouse was released and was still using 1.00 firmware, there were some problems. However Logitech fixed the problem by releasing 1.01 firmware soonish and later than that 1.02 was released. So any new G5 will have updated firmware that works on everything, at least on everything I've tested.

I've read that ignorant mousemark test that measured ONLY the speed sensor is capable to cope with, and yes, MX518 got better "score" in that. However like I said, "ignorant", means that the test ignored everything else that comes with the mice. I own both mice and the feature set and accuracy of the laser makes it a better mouse. I'm relatively low sens user (18cm for 360°) and I never got G5 to skip after the firmware update, regardless of the movement speed I was giving to the mouse.

Thats low by qw standards. CS players and some q3 players use 50cm or more and that is where G5 skips. There are some pro cs players who play with 1 metre/360! Crazy I know but its true.

You can also change DPI on-the-fly in MX518, also there is rubber grip in it. And the 500hz fix isn't that much of an operation really. I've been very, very satisfied with MX518. Great mouse at that price (less than 30e here in finland).

I have no experience of G5 though. Most likely a great mouse also.

Thanks for the answers.
My sens is around 10cm per 360deg (or 2pi rad), so I doubt I'll get any skips cause of that.
When I used the MX500, it would get quite slippery after a while. I read some reviews of the G5 and most of them praised the "rubber that isn't really rubber" surface for long sessions (around 2+ hours with short breaks).

Can anyone confirm/dismiss that the shape of the MX518 / G5 is the same as MX500?

It is.

From what I've heard and from my own experience with MX518, I'd say MX518. Sturdy, flawless mouse which seems to last forever.

edit: And I would also never buy a laser mouse again after my experience with Lachesis.

518 4 life

Oh Lachesis what a terrible sensor on that mouse

I will propably use my MX518 as long as it lasts, and then buy another one. It's just that good in my opinion. :>

MX518 is identical shape to G5, but the sensor is placed off-centre on the G5! MX518 has 1800 DPI, G5 2000. MX518 has a higher linear response between physical speed and movement information produced. And at the time of release LASER sensing technology was more valuable as a marketing buzzword than its sensing ability and was inferior to non-LASER sensing, though perhaps LASER has improved since then..

I sold my MX518 when I got a G5 and to be honest I wish I hadn't. The buttons are slightly more comfortable/easier on the MX518 IMO, i.e. having 2 thumb buttons and a button above the wheel.

That said, the price of the G5 has come down now and may be easier to get hold of too.

I own a Logitech G5 Rev.2007

The weight system is nice if you like a heavy mouse, if not, you won't be using it at all.

The mouse has 2 thumb buttons but it's only useful the one closer to the thumb for gaming, i can't reach well the other one (probably how i hold the mouse).

It has 2 buttons below mousewheel to change DPI. For me it's useful because in windows i use 800 and gaming i set it to 2000. If you don't like changing DPI all the time you can use the mouse software, but i don't like having external programs controlling my mouse so i just use xp default driver and mouse works 100%.

XP SP3 installs by default, the registry keys SmoothMouseXCurve and SmoothMouseYCurve located in [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse] of regedit. These 2 settings were fuckin up my mouse movement completly. I don't know if this is a standard behaviour but once i removed them mouse started working normal.

About the skipping, i did a small test:
I´ve set FOV 10 and sensitivity 0.1 using 2000 DPI. I did not noticed mouse skipping, but with 400 DPI it did started moving more onto the right after a few movements left and right, but i doubt anyone will play with 400 DPI and sensitivity 0.1

That's all i can remember for now...

Added: Pressing mousewheel (mouse3) is hard, thats probably the only thing i dislike about the mouse, mousewheel (mouse3) on Intellimouse Explorer 3.0 (old one gray) was much easier to press.

I own a MX518 and G5.

I have the weight maxed out on my G5 and use it all the time.

I'm still waiting when people will stop bullshitting the G5... I mean, they probably read the Mousescore thingy on Esreality, so they think they know something, but that test was about the 1st G5 (silver on top), not about the latest G5 version (with blue pattern on top). I'm telling you, the newer G5 is fine for quake. And no need for manually overdriving your usb port either.

I have the blue G5 and it's a pos on my green icemat v2. Even on my cloth and plastic pads, I make the thing skip easily with my 20cm/360 sensitivity.

Edit: I don't know why the term "skipping" is used to refer to a mouse not being able to read correctly at high speeds. If you move a mouse fast enough, eventually it will give you nearly random input. You can have any fov, any sensitivity, any pitch and yaw, etc and EVERY MOUSE will eventually "skip" once you reach a certain speed.

Don't buy laser, buy IR. mx518 over G5 for sure

So the new MX518 has IR sensor? I have the old MX518 with 1600dpi and small feet.

I'm very satisfied with my G5, never had any problems with it. Doesn't skip or anything.

I used a mx510 before this one, and between those two mice I'd give my best to the G5. The mx518 is probably though a great mouse as well.

Same step for me. I replaced my old and right-button-sticks-from-time-to-time MX510 with a Logitech G5. As a surface I chose an Allsop Travelsmart mousepad. Both work nicely together. I just have started to play again, and so far I experience absolutely no skipping even if I do fast turns. With the same settings and in respect to the MX510, I receive a much more continuous and fluid motion inside QW. (Thinkpad X40/Linux/ezquake 1.93/360°=20cm).