Yeah, comfort definitely is an essential consideration when choosing a mouse. Dunno, seems kind of self-evident though.

Hm, not sure what I'd put there? Maybe just note claw vs palm vs hybrid grip types?

This guide is intended to help you pick the right mouse, then configure it properly for TF2.

**Picking the Right Mouse**

*Go Optical!*
Simply put, optical sensors are superior to lasers for FPS gaming. The only advantage lasers have is that they track on a wider variety of surfaces. Otherwise they all suffer from many of the "Sensor Quality" considerations covered below.

**Factors to consider:**

-*DPI*:
High enough to reach the useful DPI threshold for your inches/360 and keep your in-game sensitivity low enough to avoid "pixel skipping". For a 1920p resolution this would be whatever DPI allows your cursor to move fast enough with an in-game sensitivity below ~2.7128. Lower resolutions will not need as a high a DPI, while higher resolutions will require more.

-*Polling Rate*:
You want your mouse to be capable of 1000hz (and use that). Most modern mice meet this criteria, but be sure to find out that the mouse can actually perform without problems at its max polling rate. Many mice claim to have 1000hz capabilities but cannot truly hold that rate stabley and fluctuate below it. Read reviews with actual testing! http://www.overclock.net/ is a great resource for these.

-*Click Response Time*:
How fast your mouse registers the actual click of the m1/m2 buttons. Here are some ratings for a number of mice: http://www.overclock.net/t/1411332/mouse-button-lag-comparison

-*Sensor Quality*:
Below are the main considerations for the quality of a sensor to keep in mind when going through reviews of mice

* Acceleration
* Prediction
* Lift off distance
* Max perfect tracking speed
* Malfunction/ Skipping speed
* Lag/Delay
* Jitter
* Smoothing
* Pixel walk
* Pixel skipping

For info on what these are and succinct reviews of various mice's performance in the above regards, read this excellent post:
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=56240.0

-*Mouse feet*:
You want these to PFTE (100% Teflon), some mice skimp on mouse feet material and use subtances with a lower friction coefficient.

-*Mouse Weight Matters*
It's easy to discount the weight of the mouse when making your choice. Using a slick pad? Heavier mice generate more momentum and can prove unwieldy. Ultimately this comes down to personal preference, but lighter mice tend to provide superior "finesse".

**Picking the Right DPI**

Higher DPI is only useful to a certain (specific) point--the point of having a sufficiently high DPI is to prevent "pixel skipping", which is the phenomenon of your FOV (your crosshair/cursor/view) moving at more than 1 pixel at a time no matter how small the mouse movement. This occurs when the in-game sensitivity multiplier is too high. As mentioned, with no acceleration and a 1920x1080 resolution, the maximum in-game sensitivity without pixel-skipping is 2.7128, as derived by the formula found here: http://www.funender.com/quake/mouse/index.html
The higher your resolution, the higher a DPI you will need. Use the above link to find your max useful DPI if you use a different resolution than 1920p.

*Do NOT use a DPI any higher than you need!* Higher DPI's generally mean lower max tracking and malfunction/skipping speeds (how fast you can move your mouse before it experiences tracking errors), as well as the emergence of "Jitter" (cursor shakes rapidly, as if vibrating).
The other important thing to know about DPI is that every mouse has "Native DPI Steps". These are the DPI settings the mouse is actually capable of--some mice give other DPI options which take a native step then interpolate it to "fudge" a different "DPI", and this interpolation creates minor inaccuracies in tracking. "Next Gen" mice using the brand new Avago 3310 sensor, which should become the new standard among most non-Razer or Logitech mice, for the most part only have native steps as options, happily.

**tl;dr:**

To find the right DPI for your inches/360 and mouse, find out what your mouse's available Native DPI Steps are, then use the lowest one that can keep your in-game sensitivity low enough to avoid pixel skipping.

Here is a long list of mice and their sensors to help you in your research:
http://www.overclock.net/t/854100/gaming-mouse-sensor-list

**Proper Mouse Settings in TF2**
- *Use Raw Input*
Just do it. Google what it is if you'd like, but all you need to know is that it is definitively better. There are rumors that there may be a hint of input lag added, but this is insignificant compared to the problems of negative acceleration, framerate dependent cursor movement, and susceptibility to problems built into Windows with hard-to-get-rid-of acceleration and such.

-*Disable "mouse filtering"*
It is simply bad. Untick that box in your Mouse Options in the TF2 menu, or put this in your autoexec.cfg: "m_filter 0"

-*Disable Acceleration*
For "precision weapons" which require pixel-by-pixel accuracy (sniper rifle, ambassador, etc.), it is widely recommended that you disable acceleration, or at least try out doing so. If you have Raw Input enabled (DO IT), simply disable accel in the Mouse section of the TF2 Menu or put the following in your autoexec.cfg:

    m_customaccel_exponent 0
    m_customaccel_max 0
    m_customaccel_scale 0
    m_filter 0
    m_forward 1
    m_mouseaccel1 0
    m_mouseaccel2 0
    m_mousespeed 1
    m_customaccel 0

**Picking Out a Mouse Surface**
The most overlooked factor in choosing a mouse pad is *durability*--most pads wear out in the area you swipe your mouse most, and end up having inconsistent glide (friction) in different parts of the pad.
You also want a pad which will not eat up your mouse feet.
Other than that, I'll defer to the "Choosing a Mousepad" section of this essential mouse guide (read the whole thing, it's great):
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/tech-support/333648-an-overview-of-mouse-technology
I personally have tried an obscene number of pads of every sort, and consider the FUNC surfaces head and shoulders above the rest. These are lightly textured black hard pads (the type of surface sensors track best on), they are gentle on mouse feet, and they simply do not wear.

**Maximize Your FPS!**
Higher FPS = lower input lag. Simply put, the higher the better, and the more responsive your mouse will feel (among many other benefits which I will not cover at the moment--read up!).
Razer GameBooster can really help here, as can a performance config--here's mine:
http://pastebin.com/GWqDFVtE

I hope you found this guide helpful. Feel free to ask questions, request anything I missed, or debate any assertions made.

Love,
stabby stabby
GINYU FORCE RULES

**Useful Links:**
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=56240.0
Mouse Guide with links to good resources and relevant software

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/tech-support/333648-an-overview-of-mouse-technology
The ultimate guide to mice. Great detailed read.

http://www.overclock.net/t/1433882/gaming-and-mouse-response-bios-optimization-guide-for-modern-pc-hardware-2014-r0ach-edition
Mouse Responsiveness guide

Same thing is happening to me.

I highly recommend the Func Surface 10302L.

A free program called cursorlock fixes this.

Improve cooling and/or OC or upgrade your CPU.

Could I include this in my next "everything pack" update?

Nice work.

We are.

Eh, when I did a timedemo host_thread_mode 2 gave a few more frames than 1. It's a competitive config, not meant for offline practice where FPS is a non-issue.

I do believe the issue is noted in the config, too?

That's sexist :%

Why?

Don't cap.

It only does 75hz :(

Update your firmware and do the surface quality analysis thing for your pad to fix the tracking error.

I gave up on the g502...too damn heavy :( I'm bummed the g402 isn't using the same sensor.