Part of the PCjr package I just snagged was a really cool mouse called the VisiCorp Visi ON M2. It's optical, which is totally mind-blowing for the time.
In brief discussion with Mike (forum deity) he indicated it was probably a re-labeled Mouse Systems product and judging by the pictures I found online, he appears to be 100% correct on that.
Here are some pictures of the mouse:
You can see the DB25 to PCjr cable adapter that came with it. Really over-engineered, heavy duty metal construction all around, thick shielding on the cable.
Yep ... definitely a relabeled Mouse systems product. The adapter cable is a standard PCjr serial adapter. The box is the power input; back then they couldn't run straight off the serial port because the current draw was too strong.
I did not know that Visicorp had relabled and sold mice - that is quite the find!
It's crazy, Google is turning up very little about this mouse. I've even tried searching for "Mouse Systems 2-button" and come up nearly empty. The only other reference to it I see out there is this one: http://spiderweb.wz.cz/mysi/visicorpm2.htm (Bring a translator)... the translated text is:
"VisiCorp M2 is a mouse that makes me a bit worried-given the state in which I saw a (slightly gutted) I can 100% tell if I'm wrong, but in the bottom part, I would say that it is an optical mouse older. It has two buttons-one marking (select) and one on shift (scroll). The computer is connected via the 21-pin connector, the cable leads through the pack, where to connect the 9-volt source. If anyone know more, so write me.
He gave: Morhoo"
On a related note, I'm curious if there were ever any of the mouse systems mice that were sold with the PCjr serial connector on them, or if you were required to use the adapter?
On a related note, I'm curious if there were ever any of the mouse systems mice that were sold with the PCjr serial connector on them, or if you were required to use the adapter?
Sorry I'm a little late to this party, but the answer is yes, they did have Mouse Systems mice with actual PCjr connectors on them. It uses two connectors, serial (S) and light pen (LP). The instructions say the light pen port is used to power the device. It was called the PCjr Mouse. I have one CIB.
EagleTG wrote:I personally love the grossly over-engineered adapter that converts from DB25 to IBM PCjr proprietary serial. The thing weighs more than the mouse.
RF interference was a big thing back in the 80's so a lot of manufacturers went overboard with shielding their products so the neighbors television wouldn't go all wonky whenever you turned on your computer.
