Microsoft - IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0

Hey all, Longtime lurker here—been quietly reading posts on this sub for years, but I randomly felt compelled to write this after a bit of a personal breakthrough in-game. Maybe it'll help someone else who's been stuck in the same cycle I was. I’ve been playing Counter-Strike since 2001 (yes, I’m old), and over the years I’ve used more mice than I can count—definitely a bit of a mouse whore. My hands are fairly large (19.5 x 11 cm), but for some reason, I’ve always gravitated toward smaller mice. Let’s rewind for a second… My earliest memories were with that classic white Logitech Optical Mouse—didn’t take gaming too seriously back then, but I remember it being on the smaller side, and I guess that stuck. When I started getting more serious, I switched to the Microsoft Intellimouse 3.0 and that was honestly my golden era. My aim felt crisp, clutch plays were regular, and I never thought much about the mouse—it just worked. After that, I fell back into the small mouse rabbit hole: SteelSeries Kinzu, Razer Diamondback, etc. I still held my own, but I noticed something: I sucked with the AWP. I just accepted it—"Guess I’m not an AWPer." Eventually landed on the EC2-A for a long stretch. Never quite regained that 1.6-era magic, but I chalked it up to aging, life, priorities shifting… all that stuff. I kept going with small mice anyway—FK2, MM710, MM720 (honestly loved that one for pure comfort), and most recently the MM712. From 2017 to now, I’ve been on and off with CS. I’ll grind for a few months, then disappear for a while. Recently jumped back in and found my MM712’s sensor acting up. I had a few backups lying around, including an old Glorious Model D wired—a mouse I never gave much time because it was big, and hey, I’m a “small mouse guy,” right? Wrong. I booted it up, played a few DMs, and… damn. My aim felt locked in. Tapping was on point. I had way more control than I ever did with smaller mice. That “floating” feeling from smaller shapes? Gone. Micro-adjustments that used to mess up my spray? Gone. This thing just plants itself in my hand like a brick, and suddenly I’m palm gripping again like it’s 2005. Even the AWP, which I’ve always struggled with, started clicking—literally. Shots are connecting more than ever. For years I told myself, “I’m just not an AWPer,” but maybe I just never had the right tool in my hand. It made me realize: I’ve been prioritizing what feels comfortable over what actually performs best for me. The EC2 probably should’ve been an EC1. Who knows, maybe I’d be lifting a trophy at Katowice by now /s. I’ve had my eye on the Vaxee E1, but it’s more in line with the EC2 size—and now I’m thinking I’ve been going too small for too long. Might be time to go full circle and pick up the EC1-DW instead. I’m finally starting to understand that bigger might just be better… at least for my hands and how I play. Has anyone else experienced this? TL;DR: Big-hand guy who loved small mice realized he was nerfing his own aim for years. Turns out comfort doesn’t always equal performance. RIP to all that lost ELO.

I find this quite strange because I share the same concerns as you, but unlike you, the curved side of the EC2 is why I always used mice based on that; IME 3.0, and then EC2 versions over the years (EC2 OG with glossy sides, EC2 Blue rubberised, and a few years ago the EC2-DW. However, I switched to the Vaxee AX O because I experienced some skipping issues with a few EC2-DW units. My Vaxee has recently given me some double-clicking issues after a year and a half, and I'm thinking what's next

Intellimouse 3.0 and that wasnt back then it was in 2020 when I found one

WOT inc. My friend, do not fret, you might be able to fix this :) might not even need to replace any switches. I got the same issue years ago on my old IE 3.0 after 13 years of use. I found that if I clawed hard at the chassie so it lifted a bit and clicked, it didn't double-click. So I disassembled it, added small spacers to all screws and reassembled. It works perfectly fine today and I bought it in 2003. Everything just got compressed over the years, on a very sensitive part. I mean same thing happened to my Zowie FK2 after about 1 year(speedrunning), exact same solution worked with that too and I still use it as backup or for visitors. The switches are very sensitive and when mice gets worn, they start sagging and getting all loosey goosey, It's generally that simple with mice. But you can swap microswitches as well. People will absolutely scoff hard st me for this, they tend not to believe it. But if you're "throwing it away anyway". If you want to be very, very brave. Run it in the dishwasher without detergent, twice and dry it for a day at 50-75c in the oven. The double clicks might just be due to gamer gunk. None of you would believe me if I told you how many times I've ran my Corsair K65 and K70 in the dishwasher. Bought both at a good deal about 10 years ago, both work perfectly fine today, except left arrow key on the K70. Not a huge loss, it seems to randomly start working with each interval of washing though, same goes for the LEDs, usually there's one or two who doesn't like green... Red seems to always work though. Every single visible screw is rusted, but they just keep going. It's quite amazing really. Definitely sticking with Corsair in the future as well. I tend to spill, a LOT at my PC 😄 Hence why I bought two at the same time back in the day. And why I started to get the idea of running them in the dishwasher. One of the best things I ever did. No I will not stop eating or drinking at my PC. Why should I? Corsair unofficially has my back! Edit: I'll add this. I make a blunder, I correct it with the tools I have and the product keeps working, over and over and over and over again. What do you do if you spill on your keyboard? Buy a new one?

WOT inc. My friend, do not fret, you might be able to fix this :) might not even need to replace any switches. I got the same issue years ago on my old IE 3.0 after 13 years of use. I found that if I clawed hard at the chassie so it lifted a bit and clicked, it didn't double-click. So I disassembled it, added small spacers to all screws and reassembled. It works perfectly fine today and I bought it in 2003. Everything just got compressed over the years, on a very sensitive part. I mean same thing happened to my Zowie FK2 after about 1 year(speedrunning), exact same solution worked with that too and I still use it as backup or for visitors. The switches are very sensitive and when mice gets worn, they start sagging and getting all loosey goosey, It's generally that simple with mice. But you can swap microswitches as well. People will absolutely scoff hard st me for this, they tend not to believe it. But if you're "throwing it away anyway". If you want to be very, very brave. Run it in the dishwasher without detergent, twice and dry it for a day at 50-75c in the oven. The double clicks might just be due to gamer gunk. None of you would believe me if I told you how many times I've ran my Corsair K65 and K70 in the dishwasher. Bought both at a good deal about 10 years ago, both work perfectly fine today, except left arrow key on the K70. Not a huge loss, it seems to randomly start working with each interval of washing though, same goes for the LEDs, usually there's one or two who doesn't like green... Red seems to always work though. Every single visible screw is rusted, but they just keep going. It's quite amazing really. Definitely sticking with Corsair in the future as well. I tend to spill, a LOT at my PC 😄 Hence why I bought two at the same time back in the day. And why I started to get the idea of running them in the dishwasher. One of the best things I ever did. No I will not stop eating or drinking at my PC. Why should I? Corsair unofficially has my back! Edit: I'll add this. I make a blunder, I correct it with the tools I have and the product keeps working, over and over and over and over again. What do you do if you spill on your keyboard? Buy a new one?

WOT inc. My friend, do not fret, you might be able to fix this :) might not even need to replace any switches. I got the same issue years ago on my old IE 3.0 after 13 years of use. I found that if I clawed hard at the chassie so it lifted a bit and clicked, it didn't double-click. So I disassembled it, added small spacers to all screws and reassembled. It works perfectly fine today and I bought it in 2003. Everything just got compressed over the years, on a very sensitive part. I mean same thing happened to my Zowie FK2 after about 1 year(speedrunning), exact same solution worked with that too and I still use it as backup or for visitors. The switches are very sensitive and when mice gets worn, they start sagging and getting all loosey goosey, It's generally that simple with mice. But you can swap microswitches as well. People will absolutely scoff hard st me for this, they tend not to believe it. But if you're "throwing it away anyway". If you want to be very, very brave. Run it in the dishwasher without detergent, twice and dry it for a day at 50-75c in the oven. The double clicks might just be due to gamer gunk. None of you would believe me if I told you how many times I've ran my Corsair K65 and K70 in the dishwasher. Bought both at a good deal about 10 years ago, both work perfectly fine today, except left arrow key on the K70. Not a huge loss, it seems to randomly start working with each interval of washing though, same goes for the LEDs, usually there's one or two who doesn't like green... Red seems to always work though. Every single visible screw is rusted, but they just keep going. It's quite amazing really. Definitely sticking with Corsair in the future as well. I tend to spill, a LOT at my PC 😄 Hence why I bought two at the same time back in the day. And why I started to get the idea of running them in the dishwasher. One of the best things I ever did. No I will not stop eating or drinking at my PC. Why should I? Corsair unofficially has my back! Edit: I'll add this. I make a blunder, I correct it with the tools I have and the product keeps working, over and over and over and over again. What do you do if you spill on your keyboard? Buy a new one?

It's a good mouse, but as every mouse it's a preference. I had the ec1 for probably 8-10 years and bought a superlight and tried it for 3 months. I never got used to it. Came from a intellimouse 3.0, then the ec1 gen 1 and all iterations after that. Now I have a glorious model d 2 pro that is basically a clone of the ec1. Loved it from day 1. The logitech is a ambidextrous mouse, it reminded me of the intellimouse 1,0. Buy what you like and what feels best for you. The only thing I could recommend is to buy one with one of the latest sensors

it was IE 3.0 back in 2016 when I started playing CS:GO

Razer Copperhead - later IME3.0 and Zowie FK1 for years

**[Microsoft IntelliMouse](https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2018/06/26/a-legend-reborn-microsoft-brings-back-the-iconic-mouse-the-classic-intellimouse/)** (*[Wiki link](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=IntelliMouse&oldid=1315094778)*). Though I didn't use the original 1996 IntelliMouse Explorer nor all the multiple IntelliMouse Optical and Explorer models between 2000 - 2004/5, I purchased and use the then updated black/grey IntelliMouse 3.0 when it was released in 2006. FYI, IntelliMouse 3.0 name was used twice, first was for the office based 2003 version, but later again in a visually and hardware refreshed version for gaming in 2006. It was updated in 2017 as the IntelliMouse Classic, and most recently as the Pro IntelliMouse (SKU: NGX-00012) in 2019, but I skipped these. The IntelliMouse 3.0 (in fact, most of them) are was a weird, low DPI mouse with high scanning sensors, hyper precise and comfortable, and just looked cool to me. I miss them 😢

WMO IntelliMouse 1.1 Explorer 3.0 etc was used my a very few top tier players up until 2019 / 2020. I myself have used it (MLT04 sensor) since it got released on and off until now, overclocked to 500 or 1000 hz is is still viable and if it had a faster pcb I would prolly main it still since I still have aim records with it that I cannot beat with new mice. Some aimers also still have records using the first superlight even though newer mice exist and afaik the best rifler in cs2, donk used it just a couple of months ago. Superstrike looks like the new thing that will last a while now..

I have the g502 hero, wish it was a little bigger for bigger hands. Microsoft intellimouse I think is the perfect size