User avatar
intric8
Seattle, WA, USA

Posted Wed Feb 23, 2022 10:10 am

I'm leery of any crowd-funded products these days, especially if they depend on factories.

Or require electronic components.
Or are a 1st-time project like this one.
Or sound too good to be true, which = most.

Regardless, this caught my eye today:

(Watch out using that Amiga logo, Lukas! Someone might try and beat you over the head with a wooden spoon!)


That is the "attract video" for an upcoming Kickstarter based out of Poland by Lukas Remis.

Since I could see this was the campaign leader's first project, my Spidey Sense was tingling a little bit even though I was quite enamored with the promo video.

I know for a lot of folks a new mouse would be a non-starter in 2022 without a scroll wheel. But Remis thought through that and has included a touch surface that would provide this feature.
touchsurface.jpg

Lukas Remis:
I'm a designer from Poland. Aside from my work as a graphics and visual effects designer, I'm a huge retro-gaming and Amiga enthusiast. I own an Amiga 600 and Amiga 1200 computers. Because of that I have started this project over a year ago. I wanted to have a brand new mouse, which will look as cool as the original Amiga mouse, but it will work not only with my retro-computer but also with my laptop or PC.
Since this project very likely would require injection molded parts for the mouse's case, my 2nd alarm bell started to ring, too.

But I will watch this project closely with interest. I think it's safe to say most folks would be using this mouse, if they got one, with a modern PC or Mac. Only advanced Amigas would very likely ever use this thing. But it's a really cool idea.

And what a nice presentation.

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Wed Feb 23, 2022 2:07 pm

I signed up for notification, when the campaign will go live.

My hope is that the cost will be in a range that will allow me to edit 4 years for it.

User avatar
BatteMan
France

Posted Thu Feb 24, 2022 3:55 am

I saw it too <3 Thx for sharing !
I could be interested for 2 mouses : 1 black for my CD32 and 1 grey for my PowerMac/iMac under MorphOS (and for using with my 1200).

I hope Lukas could finish his project without any trademark or copyright trouble...

User avatar
3D-vice
Germany

Posted Fri Feb 25, 2022 8:00 am

Yup, I just backed a 2-Pack Pledge, one white and one black Tank Mouse. <3 :boing:

User avatar
SnowGhost

Posted Thu Mar 03, 2022 12:03 pm

This looks perfect for my setup, good price too. I have the original mouse on my original hardware, but spend a lot of time using a MiSTer setup with a wireless keyboard. I've backed it hope this one goes well and he gets >150% funding so we get bundled DB9 adapter too.

User avatar
SnowGhost

Posted Thu Mar 17, 2022 12:39 pm

well you've probably seen / heard that this project passed it's goal and as at this time around 120% with over a week to go. It needs to get to 150% funding to get the stretch goal of a bundled custom DB9 wireless adapter, but that's looking quite possible. The creator has also opened other reward tiers for anyone that might want to bulk buy and resell these...

User avatar
austin90

Posted Mon Aug 29, 2022 10:48 pm

Any updates on this? the kickstarter seems to have met its goal https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lu ... ref=5c3h7i

User avatar
3D-vice
Germany

Posted Sat Apr 01, 2023 8:59 am

The Tank Mouse has rolled in!

Hey guys. Nope, this is definitely not an April-fools post... ;) Today I reveived my package from Poland, containing my two Tank Mice from Lukas (a white/beige one and a black one), as well as two DB9-adapters (a white/beige one and a black one). Here are some first impressions from the actual devices. However, I have not yet tested the mice on any of my systems, but will do this in the near future.

Have a look at those beauties:
Amiga_TankMouse_01.jpg
Amiga_TankMouse_02.jpg
Amiga_TankMouse_03.jpg
Amiga_TankMouse_04.jpg
Amiga_TankMouse_05.jpg
Amiga_TankMouse_06.jpg
The mice are well-made and fit well in the hand, despite the minimal size difference to the well-known Amiga Tank Mouse from back then. The mouse is powered by 2 AAA-batteries which are slotted into the mouse behind the lid located on the underside. The light weight of the mouse is unusual, since the original Amiga Tank Mouse is much heavier due to the included ball. However, after putting in the two batteries, the unusual lightweight feeling quickly vanished.

I am curious to get those mice up an running on my systems. :)

User avatar
McTrinsic

Posted Sat Apr 01, 2023 12:11 pm

Also got mine yesterday.

Seems like a wonderful contribution to my setup. Almost too good to be true. I have a black one.

It is indeed rather light. Even with the batteries in. That’s not good or bad - just very easily notable.

Very looooong term I am a bit cautious about the surface of the black one. I hope I am wrong but it feels like coated. That might cause issues over some years. Let’s see.

Also tried it on a Windows laptop. Works like a charm with the invisible scroll-area.

On the Amiga I have it attached to a mouSTer. Works as if the two were made for each other.





Return to “Modern Take”