difference between optical and laser

I was looking at a specs page of 2 different mice. An optical mouse and a laser mouse. What's the difference between those two?

 

technically i dont know any difference, but i think calling it a Laser just sounds better than Optical

BTW: optical devices have being around for a while now[ot]but i could be wrong[/ot]

 

Well the strange thing is: the wired Apple mightymouse had optical tracking, and the wireless mightymouse had laser tracking

 

found this on cnet

Source, so there is a difference[ot]you live and learn[/ot]

 

Thanks for the info

 

no probs[ot]i just assumed they were the same[/ot]BTW: another thankies to google :good:

 

A friend of mine bought a high DPI mouse (not sure if it was laser) for gaming, and he thinks that there is a big difference in sensitivity. It doesn't make a difference if you're not gaming, but if you need precision that go for a DPI of 800 or more.

 

i did think it was just a different work they were using to hype up sales[ot]but i'm wrong Again[/ot]

 

Thanks! I not a real gamer, but this is useful if I want to become one