I’ve used SU for a few years but I have a lot of work ahead. I need to get the right gear other than the basic mouse, I know it’s a personal preference thing but . . .
What do I pay for a mouse?
What type of mouse?
Do I need a space navigator like 3DConnexion ?
or use both at the same time ?
Graphics card: What will my GC show up as on my PC?
How do I choose the right one?
Thx
Need is a relative term
Generally you need to pay very little for a mouse, the most basic cheap mice work best. They need a robust scroll wheel and no fancy divers.
Then you go another step and try a spacemouse, you either love them or hate them. Do your best to try one out for a week or so before buying one, They work with you non dominate hand, in other words you have a mouse in each hand and they do different things. Until you have done it it makes no sense, once you have got it right you can’t go back.
The other side of that is 3dconnexion produce a professional graphic mouse, it is designed to work with your dominate hand and is said to be very accurate, for the price I would want it to be very very accurate and make me really tasty tea during breaks.
Graphic cards and their drivers are very important, Nvidia cards are very much better than intel cards. A fast single core processor with a dedicated graphic card, generally an Nvidia, will give you the best hardware option.
Having said all that, so much depends on what you expect from your modelling. I often use an old I3 that works quite well, but I know I have to wait for it. I also have a very fast I7 that can lag due to the Intel Iris graphics. However, both work for what I need, so you need to understand what you need as well. Software is not something that you use in a vacuum. How you work with other software effects your choices
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I agree with @Box.
One additional thought: the basic Space Navigator only moves the camera around the model; it does not move the cursor and therefore can’t be used to draw or select anything nor to activate any regular or context menus. I have not worked with fancier 3DConnexion products so I don’t know whether they add cursor manipulation, but with the basic navigator you still need a mouse or trackpad.
It seems that people either quickly learn and come to depend on the SN or else hate it. I’m among the addicts, but to each his own…
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Horses for courses, as @Box says.
If you are mainly doing 2D work, there is no point in a SpaceMouse. In fact, it will make things harder because it will be impossible to keep the camera at 90 degrees to the working plane.
If you are doing 3D work, a SpaceMouse is fantastic for improving navigation. Having said that, I have been using SU for about 15 years and only got around to getting a SpaceMouse this year. When navigating in 3D, I find I use both my right and left hand mouse to get around. The SM does all the swooping around and diving but it’s not so good when you get close up as it moves too fast. I fond it easier to home in with the wheel on the ordinary mouse for that.
The graphics card is crucial. If you work on very large files or if you want to do high end rendering, you will need a big beast. Ordinary SU use is fine with lower end cards but some are more equal than others. Take @Box’s advice.
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I prefer a seven-button mouse.
Arrow keys are mapped to the extra buttons for instant Inference Locking.
Currently $18 USD at BestBuy
The basic SpaceNavigator® 3D mouse is best suited for presentations, not for modeling.
• A keyboard shortcut is faster than fishing for tools with the mouse.
• A programmable mouse button is faster than reaching for keys.
Fast Navigation Commands
• Standard Views (7 views)
• Zoom Extents
• Zoom Window
• Zoom Selection
• Previous (6 views)
• Orbit Tool > Double-click (Moves the center of view to the cursor location)
• Face Context Menu > Align View
• Axes Context Menu > Align View
One of the GEFORCE® GTX 10 SERIES with 6GB memory is a good choice.
SketchUp Hardware and Software Requirements — SketchUp Help
https://help.sketchup.com/en/sketchup/sketchup-hardware-and-software-requirements
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One thing that used to drive me crazy were the monotonous click of the mouse button during late nights sat in the quiet corner that I sit. I’ve used various 3 button mice over the years, but I bought my current one simply on the basis that it has a “silent” click. Its not actually silent but very quiet, and has made a heck of difference to my sanity.
I currently use a Logitech wireless M220, it’s small compared to other mice but I’ve got used to it really well. I’ve had it for a year and have only recently changed the battery for the first time, I had to change batteries every week with my last one. A cheap but quality choice that gets the job done.
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Personally, I find that the most frequent keyboard shortcuts I use are <space> and <escape>. So much so that my trackball is the Logitech M570 which has two buttons beyond the (for the PC) traditional 3. And they’re programmable, so I have them programmed to those two keystrokes.
I also have a SpaceMouse PRO. It has 15 programmable keys beyond the basic SM function. And I don’t use them. SM use is most definitely an acquired taste. Many people are perfectually functional without one, some are vastly more productive with one. Me? I find that it’s useful when I’m in one of my intense modeling periods (I’m a hobbyist.) My use of Sketchup constitutes periods of heavy use interspersed with longer periods of almost no use. And the muscle memory necessary to use a SM well disappears during the longer periods of little use. I love it when I’m in the groove, but I hate that I seem to not maintain the necessary muscle memory for more than a day or two!
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Geo, what a neat idea with mapping the buttons to the arrow keys. I’m gonna try that.
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I’ll have to argue a bit with you on that one George, I manage fairly well with a basic SM. I have the two buttons set to shift and ctrl and I get most things done that way.
But these things are all about personal preference, no two people will every work exactly the same way.
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Thanks for the advice. I bought the M510 mouse which is working, I downloaded the Unifying Software but it won’t connect, I’ve gone on to the Logitech community to try get some answers. There is no 'red ’ light showing underneath ? is this correct ?
The LED on the bottom of the M510 (I have two of them here) does not have a visible output. You should not see red light.
If you have the mouse turned on, the Logitech software should identify that you have the M510 and show you the correct buttons.
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I sense some confusion.
Logitech Unifying software enables you to connect more than one wireless Logitech device via just one Logitech Unifying USB receiver.
You do not need the Unifying software if you’re connecting just one device, the wireless mouse.
Logitech Options software is what you use to customize the mouse buttons.
Here: … Logitech Support + Download
Logitech Options Icon
Logitech Options Interface
Update: Checking my control panel I noticed the software was not installed (Dow!, not plug-in-play) so I uninstalled the unifying and have installed the correct software. I’ve had a quick look at the ‘mapping’ but not sussed it out yet.Thx
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There have been instances where the smooth scrolling feature of certain mouse control software may cause scrolling to become oversensitive.
Logitech Options mouse control software also has a smooth scroll feature.
Here’s where you can turn it off.
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Just spent an hour trying to find this adjustment interface, I had it yesterday.
Did you find it finally?
No, looked through my history, spending more time trying to second guess the Logitech website and the mouse than in Sketchup 
So you installed the utility that Geo pointed to? In the search window on the taskbar type logi and you should see Logitech Options in the menu.
I uninstalled it as Geo said it’s not needed, I thought it would come as a desk top icon, but that would to easy
He told you to uninstall the unifying software and install the Logitech Options.software.
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