Apple Pro Mouse

[canadianmac]

Is the Apple Pro Mouse worth the $90 CDN ($60 US)?
Canadian Vista

[AlphaTech]

Depends if you appreciate form as well as function. While it is true that you can get 3-button mice for less money, they don't look as nice as the Pro mouse.

I'd say it is worth having, if you get it with a system, but my personal choice is MacAlley's iOptiNet mouse (3 button, optical with the scrolling wheel). No drivers are needed for OS X, and it runs just as well under 9.x (there are drivers available there).

[grrr223]

I don't know if you have CompUSAs in Canada, but forget the Apple mouse. As beautiful as it is, stick with functionality and save yourself some money. I bought a Logitech optical two button mouse with scroll wheel for $20 over christmas. This is the closest thing I could find though. Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse, USB. I love this thing, and it has opened up a new world of ease of use and increased efficiency. I can't stand using the Apple mouse I use at work now because it doesn't have the scroll wheel on it. Once you use one for a week or so, you'll never go back.

[arn]

Originally posted by grrr223
I don't know if you have CompUSAs in Canada, but forget the Apple mouse. As beautiful as it is, stick with functionality and save yourself some money. I bought a Logitech optical two button mouse with scroll wheel for $20 over christmas. This is the closest thing I could find though. Logitech Optical Wheel Mouse, USB. I love this thing, and it has opened up a new world of ease of use and increased efficiency. I can't stand using the Apple mouse I use at work now because it doesn't have the scroll wheel on it. Once you use one for a week or so, you'll never go back.

I agree... I've got the same mouse...

The Apple Pro mouse is ok - but I think you'd prefer the Logitech - even though it's not as "pretty"

Second mouse button and scroll wheel work under OS X without extra drivers.

arn

Yes, a MICROSOFT mouse.

I'd highly recommend an Intellimouse Explorer or one of its...herd? family? group? (sorry, trying to stretch the mouse metaphor.) Anyway, I grabbed 3 during an after-Christmas sale at Staples (Business Depot) for around $40 CDN each. That doesn't include the $15 CDN rebate still to come back from Microsoft. The rebate's valid until April, so you should have time. I and the other people I bought them for love 'em.

They have 5 buttons built around an ergonomic shell incl. a scroll wheel. They use optical tracking and work flawlessly. A bit lighter and larger than the Pro Mouse, but unless you have small hands, you'll be fine with it. They include a driver for OS9 and an OSX driver is on the way. Only the 2 primary buttons on the top and the scroll wheel work in OSX so far, but the driver should bring all the functionality of the OS9 driver.

Good luck with your purchase. Yeah, it's a shame we have to go to a third party for a decent mouse at a good price, but Apple doesn't seem to concern itself with mouse ergonomics or price point too much. You gotta feel sorry for them. Must be hard to get down from such a high horse!

Originally posted by grrr223
I don't know if you have CompUSAs in Canada, [...] I bought a Logitech optical two button mouse with scroll wheel for $20 over christmas. [...]

Grrr223 and Arn have the right idea. I have the Logitech Optical Wireless thre button with scroll wheel and it is great. No wires to clutter the desktop (transmitter sits way back on the desktop, connected via USB to the Mac).

My friend bought the beautiful one-button Apple mouse and whiel he likes that it matches his keyboard and speakers, he is envious of my scroll wheel.

[eyelikeart]

There are a lot of different opinions with the Pro Mouse vs. all other. I've been using the Pro for over a year and absolutely love the thing...not to mention it's so damned cool looking. Many people don't care for it because it takes a little getting used to because the entire top of it is the button and it does track a bit different than a rollerball setup. If u insist on having a scroll wheel, then it's not the choice. But I like mine just fine (bought one when I ordered my TiBook last year).

If u want to have a mouse that is infrared, there are a few cheaper in price & smaller in size...

[oldMac]

Once you go two button scroll wheel you'll *never* go back. The scroll wheel is probably the best hardware invention in 10 years.

The second button is similar. Saves a lot of time and you don't have to use it if you don' t know how.

[theranch]

After purchasing 2 apple pro mice at $50 each(US) I wish that I had purchased a two button with a scroll wheel. I used my friends and liked it. For the money I wouldn't buy the Apple Pro mouse but go for something more practical. Don't get me wrong....these are really nice, if they come with a system

[Stike]

Originally posted by Unregistered
Yes, a MICROSOFT mouse.

Argh! I had once a M$ Mouse as a gift and it was at about 50 € (45 $ maybe) and had its cable broken not a half year later!
The Logitech is quite ok, but I dont get that optical trend. Try to move the optical mouse sideways REALLY fast, and it will stop and hang in the middle of the screen. Seems the optical resolution isnt hight enough or the recognition not fast enough.

I still use my Logitech Mouse with the ball inside. If you play UT and you have to turn around very quick, your optical mouse may let you die

[Beej]

My brain gets fried when using a 2-button mouse! It's pretty sad... I guess it's just that I've only ever really used one button mice with Macs.

You should have seen me trying to play Max Payne on a friend's PC the other day, it's was sooooo sad!

[AlphaTech]

Originally posted by Stike


Argh! I had once a M$ Mouse as a gift and it was at about 50 € (45 $ maybe) and had its cable broken not a half year later!
The Logitech is quite ok, but I dont get that optical trend. Try to move the optical mouse sideways REALLY fast, and it will stop and hang in the middle of the screen. Seems the optical resolution isnt hight enough or the recognition not fast enough.

I still use my Logitech Mouse with the ball inside. If you play UT and you have to turn around very quick, your optical mouse may let you die

I agree about not getting a m$ mouse. I have also had issues with UT and the logitech optical mouse. I haven't tried it recently with my MacAlly optical, but I do know that the MacAlly with the ball in it works real well.

[grrr223]

Oh yeah, I second whoever said it, that the logitech mouse works in os X without any new drivers, so great.

This is kinda unrelated, but I reall applaud Apple for updating the drivers in it's software (canon printers aside, I'm referring to a recent thread). My parents are using a beige G3 that they're getting every last bit of life out of. They have a firewire card and a USB card in it, 2 printers, a DV camera, a scanner, and one of those lovely logitech two button optical mice. Well, over x-mas break, I reformatted the hard drive and installed os 9.2.2. I should have just plugged everything in and tried it first, EVERY driver was built in already. I actually caused a @#$@#$ nightmare of a problem by INSTALLING the drivers because they were downgrading and conflicting with what Apple had already put into their lovely OS. Go Apple.

I will admit that windows is getting much better at stuff like this with XP but yuo still usually ahve to insert the stupid install disk to do it. You may have heard me mention this before, but in my job at MIT's IT dept., every new PC setup that we do encounters new problems, not one has taken less than 3 hours, and each problem is new, the Macs on the other hand I can do in about 30 minutes (with the convenience of a firewire cable as opposed to either transferring files to the server through ethernet or physically removing the old hard drive and hooking it up to the new computer to transfer the files directly). I hate Windows.

[AlphaTech]

Last week I used Vise to create an installer for all of our software at work. Before that, we had to install each application, along with the updates (two for Illustrator 9, one for Photoshop 5, two for office 2001...). Now, we can just select what applications we want to install, and let it run. This is going to reduce the install time to at least 1/4 the time it took before (if not less time).

With the few peecee's at work, we always install win2k on any new, or re-, deployment. I dread the day we are told to go with xp. M$'s support for older systems is no where near as good as Apple's. At least in reguards to old computers and new OS's (9.x and 10.x)

Repairing the OS on a Mac is 1000x easier then on a peecee. With the Mac, you can install a fresh copy over the old one, it repairs or replaces files that need to be. Worse case, delete the system item and then do a full install, or have it perform a clean install. With peecee's that is almost impossible, and takes hours if not longer. I can fully configure a design or page production department Mac in under 2 hours (with a full diagnostic/repair set run before delivery to ensure good system helth). Peecee's take at least a half day, if not longer.

[ebound]

Logitech Mouseman Dual Optical. $45 USD. Doube the precision, it's got three buttons (two on top and one on the side!) and a scroll wheel. If you wanna go wireless, it's gonna cost ya $75 USD for the wireless version.

[mac15]

logitec are alot better than the rest
it doesn't need to be pretty to sit in your hand

[Wes]

All these mouses (I believe in computer talk it does not become mice) with five buttons really annoy me. Knowing microsoft(doesn't deserve a capital) pretty soon they're going to release a keyboard on wheels just to drive the consumer nuts as usual. It be called the superintelli mouse and will come with 187 pages of documentation and faulty drivers that will install the BSOD(Blue Screen of Death) onto your mac--Beware-- you have been warned.

[jagolden]

The Apple Pro Mouse has a great feel and is the smoothest mouse I've ever used. It's a great size and weight, especially for those of us with larger hands.

However, the USB cable is so short it's all but unusable on an iBook. Also the lack of more than one button and croll wheel really limit it's usefulness.

I use a Macally optinet 2 button mouse with a button/scroll wheel on my ibook, G3 and G3 wallstreet and it is incredibly usefull. Not as smooth as the apple Pro Mouse but the extra buttons and especially the scroll wheel make it most useful.

When I'm on the G4, I am constantly trying to "right click" or "scroll" the apple Pro mouse becaue I have gotten so uesed to it.

Now, if someone would introduce a mouse with a little scroll ball that would allow horizontal and vertical scroll that would be great in Photoshop or Illustrator!

[OSeXy!]

It's beyond me why no other manufacturer has produced a mouse that looks like the Apple Pro, but adds the needed buttons and wheel. Does Apple have a copyright on the clear plastic and shape?

[cleo]

Originally posted by OSeXy!
It's beyond me why no other manufacturer has produced a mouse that looks like the Apple Pro, but adds the needed buttons and wheel. Does Apple have a copyright on the clear plastic and shape?

Not sure about that... but I remember reading after MWSF that Macally was lucky enough to have guessed white as the new "in" color and was currently developing white wireless mice and keyboards that should match the new iMac quite nicely.