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(Almost) The Best Bluetooth Mouse There Is...

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Diomedes

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
250
0
San Francisco
I had a post earlier about not being able to pair a Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse with a PowerBook G4 17".

With the help of the San Francisco Apple Store Geniuses, we figured out how to make it work...

1. Run the Bluetooth Setup Assistant.
2. When it gets to the device type, make sure Mouse is selected. DO NOT PRESS CONTINUE YET.
3. Underneath the mouse, depress the "Make/Break Connection" button.
4. Click on Next. Your Mac should see the mouse (called Microsoft Mouse).
5. Click "Pair..."

Now, it will not pair. The Setup Assistant will not hang or crash.

6. Quit the Bluetooth Setup Assistant.
5. Go to "Send File..." under the Bluetooth menu, or from the Bluetooth Preference Pane.
7. If prompted, select any file.
8. Select the Microsoft Mouse from the Available Devices, and click "Send".

It will fail, of course. But your mouse will now be paired. You can now use the Microsoft Mouse preference pane to control it.

Since it is Microsoft...make sure you have the latest Mouse software (5.1).

Obviously, a mouse is a personal preference, and those steps mike look like a lot of hassle, but I have always loved the feel of Microsoft's. And now, you can use the horizontal scroll wheel, etc.

At the Apple Store, we tried this on Macs running 10.3.4, 10.3.5, and 10.3.6. All of them had the latest Bluetooth software (1.5).

Thanks to the Geniuses at the San Francisco Apple Store! I now have (IMHO) the best Bluetooth mouse available! (And I've tried most of them...)
 
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efoto

macrumors 68030
Nov 16, 2004
2,624
0
Cloud 9 (-6)
Could you post a link for the specific model that you are talking about? I have used on of the M$ mice before, pretty sure it was a BT one, and I wasn't sure about it.
If you have a link for it, that would be grand.
Thanks, cheers.
 
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Diomedes

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
250
0
San Francisco
Oh, actually there is a very distinguishing feature on the new model. Besides the 2004 date, you'll see "Windows XP Service Pack 2" all over the place as a requirement for PC users.

Now I wonder what I can do with this Bluetooth USB dongle...
 
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efoto

macrumors 68030
Nov 16, 2004
2,624
0
Cloud 9 (-6)
This does look like a pretty nice mouse, not sure it will get me away from my MX700, or theoretically the MX1000 lazer that I am debating a purchase on currently. I love Logitech, they just do it sooooo well.
Thanks for the link, helped a lot.
 
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Diomedes

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
250
0
San Francisco
Well, as I said, mice are a personal preference. The MX 900 tracked waaay too slow for me, although I did like its buttons near the scroll bar (and they make excellent programmable buttons for Expose). If Logitech had a driver (or there was some way to get it to track faster), it would be a close call.
 
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efoto

macrumors 68030
Nov 16, 2004
2,624
0
Cloud 9 (-6)
Ugh, slow tracking?

There goes another good product that I'm not going to touch then because I hate slow response in my pointer.

Thanks for the heads up, helps make a few decisions easier.
 
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bryng

macrumors member
Jan 5, 2003
78
0
I dunno' about the whole "best mouse" race ... the Apple BT Mouse gets 5 stars at the Apple store ... sounds like a shoe-in to me ... :D
 
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efoto

macrumors 68030
Nov 16, 2004
2,624
0
Cloud 9 (-6)
Thats a single button Apple mouse like the other classic clear one right? I am switching soon, but I think personally I would prefer a 3button scroller, at least for starters until I learn how often you need to use the "right click" on a Mac.

Speaking of which...how often do you need to use the crtl-click on a Mac?
 
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Enigma

macrumors member
May 20, 2004
44
0
I've got two BT mice, the original MS BT one (without the horizontal scroll, which to be honest, I'm not to keen on), and the Apple one. I actually prefer the Apple one, the fact it can be switched off is a major advantage since I carry my PB about quite a bit, and to be honest, I no longer miss the second (or third) button and scroll wheel. I reconnect it when I'm playing games, but other than that, I stick with the Apple one.

The battery life with the MS was also pretty poor in my experience. I've had my Apple one for a month and a half now and still on the original batteries. Be lucky if I got a couple of weeks out of the MS one.

I bought the MS one before I got my PB to use with my Windows desktop machine, since I had been planning on switching to a Mac for about six months and figured I might as well buy a new mouse I could use with it as well. Coincidentally, I had no problems what so ever connecting it to the Mac, it just discovered it without any hassle, which is more than can be said for setting it up with Windows...
 
Mitthrawnuruodo

Mitthrawnuruodo

Moderator emeritus
Mar 10, 2004
14,422
1,063
Bergen, Norway
efoto said:
Speaking of which...how often do you need to use the crtl-click on a Mac?
Click to expand...

I'm Ctrl-clicking several times dayly, most often in iTunes or in Finder. I actually Cmd-click more often, though, opening links in new tabs (behind the current one) in Safari.

I just use my trackpad for the moment, but any my old mouse had two buttons and a clickable scrollwheel, and this will be minimum when I buy a new one. Don't have the internal Bluetooth module on my iBook - damn those bad descriptions in Apple Store Norway - so I'll manage without mouse until my next machine.

Have tried using my regular USB-mouse, but kept stumbling in the wire, and then bought a Home-RF mouse with an USB-adapter, the adapter was always in the way and had an extremly short range: less than a meter (~3 feet).
 
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erroneous

macrumors member
Jul 25, 2004
63
29
efoto said:
This does look like a pretty nice mouse, not sure it will get me away from my MX700, or theoretically the MX1000 lazer that I am debating a purchase on currently. I love Logitech, they just do it sooooo well.
Thanks for the link, helped a lot.
Click to expand...

I've got an MX700 on my G5. Physically I think it's a good mouse, and I find the revised button layout to be an improvement on the MX700 it replaces.

Unfortunately in the current version of the logitech control centre (1.4.1), there's no option to configure the horizontal scrolling feature. You're stuck with the default behaviour which seems to be a short horizontal scroll with a slow repeat rate that never accelerates. In Firefox it moves forward and back through browsing history. It's not much use, and so I still find it less annoying to hold shift down and use the vertical wheel to scroll horizontally if needed.

I had the mouse briefly configured on an XP PC, and there seemed to be a better array of speeds and accelerations for both horizontal and vertical scrolling.

Been wondering how MS's mouse horizontal scrolling compares. Anyone used both mice?
 
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Diomedes

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
250
0
San Francisco
erroneous said:
I've got an MX700 on my G5. Physically I think it's a good mouse, and I find the revised button layout to be an improvement on the MX700 it replaces.

Unfortunately in the current version of the logitech control centre (1.4.1), there's no option to configure the horizontal scrolling feature. You're stuck with the default behaviour which seems to be a short horizontal scroll with a slow repeat rate that never accelerates. In Firefox it moves forward and back through browsing history. It's not much use, and so I still find it less annoying to hold shift down and use the vertical wheel to scroll horizontally if needed.

I had the mouse briefly configured on an XP PC, and there seemed to be a better array of speeds and accelerations for both horizontal and vertical scrolling.

Been wondering how MS's mouse horizontal scrolling compares. Anyone used both mice?
Click to expand...

I found Logitech's scroll wheel to be too stiff and sometimes unresponsive. Microsoft's new line of mice have a smooth-feeling scroll wheel that can be manipulated with little effort.
 
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Diomedes

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Oct 5, 2004
250
0
San Francisco
efoto said:
Thats a single button Apple mouse like the other classic clear one right? I am switching soon, but I think personally I would prefer a 3button scroller, at least for starters until I learn how often you need to use the "right click" on a Mac.

Speaking of which...how often do you need to use the crtl-click on a Mac?
Click to expand...

Since I use a Windows PC at work along with my PowerBook, and I am official switcher, I just can't get used to the single button. Even if the drivers aren't programmable, you can always assign Expose events to the additional buttons. I find myself using (and appreciating) Expose a whole lot more than when it was first introduced.
 
Mechcozmo

Mechcozmo

macrumors 603
Jul 17, 2004
5,215
2
Left hand on the keyboard, right hand on the mouse. I can manipulate the menu commands, control click, etc, very easily.
 
JesterJJZ

JesterJJZ

macrumors 68020
Jul 21, 2004
2,443
808
I honestly can't understand how you guys can use a BT mouse. Every one that I've tried has lag time. Untill they become undistinguishable from the performace of corded mice I consider them junk. It feels like a step backwards in technology for me.
 
jadam

jadam

macrumors 6502a
Jan 23, 2002
699
2
The MX700 is by far the best mouse I have ever used. I would assume the MX900 would be the best bluetooth mouse as it is exactly the same as the 700 but with bluetooth instead of RF.
 
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