As much I would love to be, I'm not a techy guy. Fixing things is not my cup of tea. I was a bad tech support when I worked in the call center and it's not a secret--just ask my colleagues haha! Tonight I had this crazy idea of bringing my bad ass ten-year old gaming mouse back to life using a spare part from a cheap functional mouse. What pushed me to do it? I love the feel of a gaming mouse, the ergonomics, not having to complain of tendinitis or bursitis ,customizable cursor speed, and the ease of having programmable switches. Plus, for more precise handling this model has removable and adjustable weights at the bottom which looks like a barrel from a revolver. Okay, I'm just tired of using cheap mice that's too small for my big hand. (I can't accept the idea of an awesome gadget go to waste too)
All the while, I thought it was a Genius but Google revealed something else: an A4tech X-748K which I scored from a surplus shop for Php 500 back in 2010 still in the box and in mint condition. Cheap? Ooh yeah! It's currently £24.95 in Amazon. Upon troubleshooting, it turns out the cord is the source of the issue. The plan is to get the cord from the working mouse and solder it to the A4tech X-748K. Taking apart the cheap mouse was a no-brainer since the screws were visible, however, removing the screws from the gaming mouse took me longer than expected.
The new,ordinary mouse on the left and the old but sleek gaming mouse on the right
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| Skates removed |
Youtube vids showed that the smooth pads at the bottom of the mouse, skates as they call it, must be removed since it conceals the screws. Now, why didn't I think of that? Upon opening the mouse, I tracked the cable and found out where it ends up. To remove it is like dislodging a cartridge from an old gaming console. If I replace it the same way then I do not have to solder it to the board!
The interior of an A4tech X-748K,a complicated one
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| The cheap one |
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| The end of the mouse cord |
I took out five more screws inside and unplugged cables from both mice. I plugged the working cable to the non-working mouse and tried it. Well, what do you know? It worked!
Super glue to put back the skates
The challenge was putting the pieces of the X-748K gaming mouse back together making sure all buttons still respond perfectly. Since the cables are not exactly identical, it consumed much of my time but if it functions like the way I used to remember it then the end justifies the means, as one philosopher said.
I cleaned the bottom of the mouse pads before applying super glue and putting it back to its place and voila! It was almost good as new. The exterior shows signs of heavy usage and the right click is not as responsive as the left click. Why should I complain if I have 6 other programmable buttons to utilize? I'm finally done and it's now 2AM.
For a recap these are the steps I did:
1. Disassembled both mice by removing the screws, the gaming mouse screws are underneath the skates.
2. Removed the covers.
3. Unplugged the end of the mouse cord from the board for both mice.
4. Plugged the working cable to the board of the gaming mouse carefully placing the cord inside so it functions smoothly.
1. Disassembled both mice by removing the screws, the gaming mouse screws are underneath the skates.
2. Removed the covers.
3. Unplugged the end of the mouse cord from the board for both mice.
4. Plugged the working cable to the board of the gaming mouse carefully placing the cord inside so it functions smoothly.
I'm not a gamer and I have not used the mouse and all the accessory buttons. Now I'm seriously considering online games just for the heck of taking advantage of this old timer. That didn't sound good, did it?
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