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Apple Introduces Magic Mouse - A Multi-Touch Mouse

I had a good play with the magic mouse in the Apple store today. I was a little sceptical about it from the photos, but having used it I have revised my initial thoughts.

Overall it is leaps and bounds over the mighty mouse which I can't stand.

The mouse does audibly click when you press the button area so it gives a positive feel. I noticed that pressing with one finger to the left or two fingers (I am right handed) it is like a left click, to right click you do have to lift your left finger off the left mouse area so not so good for gamers. The scroll feature is fantastic and works really well a bit like the iphone. The pointer is responsive so the laser accuracy works well. It was hard to assess the ergonomic feel of the mouse and I did get wrist ache after a while but like all apple stores I was standing up so it was awkward to use properly, especially as I am tall so I was stooping over the table.

One feature I really did not like was the two finger swipe to go forward or back this was a little clumsy and will take a little practice as the mouse moves sideways unless you grip it between your thumb and little finger. Using it on a mouse mat may well help, the apple guy seemed to have mastered it well so it does work but not that easy to perform.

The construction is something else, it looks and feels something special with its aluminium base and high gloss white translucent plastic finish, really first class. Overall it is very different to any other mouse I have used and will take a bit of getting use to, but I will be ordering one today.
 
macmedal said:
I had a good play with the magic mouse in the Apple store today. I was a little sceptical about it from the photos, but having used it I have revised my initial thoughts.

Overall it is leaps and bounds over the mighty mouse which I can't stand.

The mouse does audibly click when you press the button area so it gives a positive feel. I noticed that pressing with one finger to the left or two fingers (I am right handed) it is like a left click, to right click you do have to lift your left finger off the left mouse area so not so good for gamers. The scroll feature is fantastic and works really well a bit like the iphone. The pointer is responsive so the laser accuracy works well. It was hard to assess the ergonomic feel of the mouse and I did get wrist ache after a while but like all apple stores I was standing up so it was awkward to use properly, especially as I am tall so I was stooping over the table.

One feature I really did not like was the two finger swipe to go forward or back this was a little clumsy and will take a little practice as the mouse moves sideways unless you grip it between your thumb and little finger. Using it on a mouse mat may well help, the apple guy seemed to have mastered it well so it does work but not that easy to perform.

The construction is something else, it looks and feels something special with its aluminium base and high gloss white translucent plastic finish, really first class. Overall it is very different to any other mouse I have used and will take a bit of getting use to but I will be ordering one today.
Click to expand...

NICE. Good review. I can't wait to get one. I first need to do a ram upgrade on my macbook. And a bigger hard drive, but I really want that mouse. : )
 
It's a little funny to me how apple is pushing how green their products are but then sell peripherals that use a couple of batteries at a time.
 
CQd44 said:
It's a little funny to me how apple is pushing how green their products are but then sell peripherals that use a couple of batteries at a time.
Click to expand...

the bluetooth keyboard only requires one battery now, and if its anything like the old mighty mouse you can put one or two batteries in depending on how heavy you want it. It will just last longer with two batteries. Do you want the mouse to be solar powered?
 
Cozmo85 said:
the bluetooth keyboard only requires one battery now, and if its anything like the old mighty mouse you can put one or two batteries in depending on how heavy you want it. It will just last longer with two batteries. Do you want the mouse to be solar powered?
Click to expand...

Corded would be nice ;)
 
Will we be able to activate Expose, Desktop Expose and Spaces from the Mouse with preconfigured or configurable gestures?

Kind Regards
 
Cozmo85 said:
the bluetooth keyboard only requires one battery now, and if its anything like the old mighty mouse you can put one or two batteries in depending on how heavy you want it. It will just last longer with two batteries. Do you want the mouse to be solar powered?
Click to expand...

One less battery. All the difference.
The Apple Wireless Keyboard now requires just two AA batteries — one less than the previous model. And its intelligent power management system conserves battery life. So when you’re not using it, the keyboard automatically powers down. The instant you start typing, your keyboard
 
CQd44 said:
It's a little funny to me how apple is pushing how green their products are but then sell peripherals that use a couple of batteries at a time.
Click to expand...

I actually think it's disgraceful rather than funny. This is off topic but I think the amount of battery powered devices available now is terrible. Especially when taking into consideration that these battery driven devices are sat next to a machine that provides a perfect power source.

How much world pollution has been caused in the last few years by the influx of wireless products? Whatever Apple do or any other company do with their 'arsenic free' glass or whatever surely can't offset the amount of damage caused by not offering a wired option to their devices.

Yes lots of people use rechargables but at the end of their life most of these will be in landfill polluting soil. And there's plenty of people who don't use rechargable.

Anyway for all their stances of Apple leaving the chamber of commerce over green issues –*I think a simple thing like only producing wired periphials would be much more beneficial to us all. And anyone who argues that – my desk is cleaner or they like it wireless... well we all have to make sacrifces and having a tiny peice of wire on your desk is hardly a major sacrife is it?

In addition to all of the above. Even if people are using 'safe' batteries – these still have to be manufactured, packaged, shipped and charged with a recharger... and this recharger needs to be manufactured, packaged and shipped.
 
a cat *miaow* said:
I actually think it's disgraceful rather than funny. This is off topic but I think the amount of battery powered devices available now is terrible. Especially when taking into consideration that these battery driven devices are sat next to a machine that provides a perfect power source.

How much world pollution has been caused in the last few years by the influx of wireless products? Whatever Apple do or any other company do with their 'arsenic free' glass or whatever surely can't offset the amount of damage caused by not offering a wired option to their devices.

Yes lots of people use rechargables but at the end of their life most of these will be in landfill polluting soil. And there's plenty of people who don't use rechargable.

Anyway for all their stances of Apple leaving the chamber of commerce over green issues –*I think a simple thing like only producing wired periphials would be much more beneficial to us all. And anyone who argues that – my desk is cleaner or they like it wireless... well we all have to make sacrifces and having a tiny peice of wire on your desk is hardly a major sacrife is it?

In addition to all of the above. Even if people are using 'safe' batteries – these still have to be manufactured, packaged, shipped and charged with a recharger... and this recharger needs to be manufactured, packaged and shipped.
Click to expand...

Very true this goes around the board. Batteries are one of the worst things we use.
 
Nuvi said:
What about all the 3d and video post production software out there that need three buttons? You do realize that Win needs the right click no more then Mac which = both of them need it badly...
Click to expand...

I've been using Apple computers since the days of the Apple ][ and have never found a need to use a right-click on any Mac, let alone more than two buttons. Even the few Windows users I help don't use the right-click.

Everyone is different, so of course there are people who want more buttons, but few of them actually need more buttons and using the OS itself doesn't need more than one. :)

I've also never had a problem with the Mighty Mouse scrollball and don't know of anyone I help who has either.
 
macmedal said:
to right click you do have to lift your left finger off the left mouse area so not so good for gamers.
Click to expand...

This is what I was afraid of. And this cannot be fixed with a software update, because it's an inherent limitation of the design (i.e. single button mouse).

If you have both fingers resting, the mouse can't possibly tell if you clicked with your left or right finger. It only has one button, and the touch sensor sees the exact same image (two fingers down). You gotta release your left finger, so that the touch sensor can tell only the right finger is on the mouse. This is a design issue, and will never be fixed. Not until Apple (or another vendor) comes out with a mouse with two real buttons on it (or a sensor that can discriminate between clicking on the left half vs. right half).
 
Hmm... I've been looking at getting a Mighty Mouse for my Mac mini for awhile now... Might have to take a little trip to the Apple store and try one of these out.
 
CQd44 said:
It's a little funny to me how apple is pushing how green their products are but then sell peripherals that use a couple of batteries at a time.
Click to expand...

Ever heard of re-chargable batteries? Granted, they don't last as long as non-rechargable batteries on a single charge.. but still... still better.

Its a real shame that the mouse doesn't support Expose functionality ( at the moment ).
 
MythicFrost said:
Will we be able to activate Expose, Desktop Expose and Spaces from the Mouse with preconfigured or configurable gestures?

Kind Regards
Click to expand...

This is what's holding me back from getting one. The Magic Mouse looks really nice, but it seems to have a lot fewer buttons than the Mighty Mouse.
 
cppguy said:
This is what I was afraid of. And this cannot be fixed with a software update, because it's an inherent limitation of the design (i.e. single button mouse).

If you have both fingers resting, the mouse can't possibly tell if you clicked with your left or right finger. It only has one button, and the touch sensor sees the exact same image (two fingers down). You gotta release your left finger, so that the touch sensor can tell only the right finger is on the mouse. This is a design issue, and will never be fixed. Not until Apple (or another vendor) comes out with a mouse with two real buttons on it (or a sensor that can discriminate between clicking on the left half vs. right half).
Click to expand...

Not necessarily - it should be possible to detect which finger is fattest (due to spread caused by downward pressure) and perhaps by comparing that to the size of the finger when the button was not clicked it may be able to distinguish between left and right. I currently use my Mighty Mouse in two button mode and I very rarely fail to get a right click when I want one. I can only imagine that the Magic Mouse is at least as good as the Mighty Mouse in this regard so I expect I'll get on just fine. Having said that, I will be trying before I buy just to be sure and ideally I'll be trying from a seated position to make it realistic.


Craig.
 
macmedal said:
I noticed that pressing with one finger to the left or two fingers (I am right handed) it is like a left click, to right click you do have to lift your left finger off the left mouse area so not so good for gamers.
Click to expand...


Thanks for confirming that this mouse is just as worthless as the Mighty Mouse.

Who the hell wants to their left finger to right click? :mad:
They should have made the surface pressure sensitive if they wanted to use this kind of scheme.
 
What is the battery life with these bluetooth mice? I'm tempted but concerned that a mouse would end up sucking huge amounts of power from it. How many hours of use?
 
It's not like Apple are forcing the wireless mouse & keyboard on you.
You do know you can choose to have a WIRED mouse & WIRED keyboard when you build/Configure your system!!!
OK its not a wired magic mouse but the option is there for the greener of people.
 
Checked it out at the Sydney Apple Store (and the new iMacs). I went there with intention of buying or ordering one.

To be fair, the place was packed, I was standing up and had little time to really play with it and was chatting with two Apple guys about some Time Machine issues.

Like some reviews I've read, I'd give it a mixed review.

General mouse movement/pointing = good. Vertical scrolling = excellent. Left/right two finger swipe = not good, very clunky as the mouse moves around (would probably improve with use). Left/right click = fine for me. Thin/lack of height = not comfortable for me.

While I rarely use Macbooks (and therefore trackpads) I do note that a trackpad is integral to the Macbook and doesn't move around like the new mouse does when double finger swiping.

I left without ordering one, and thought it needed a second longer, relaxed visit to check it out.

My advice to everyone: definitely spend some time trying one before you order one.

Off topic, the new iMacs look very smart.
 
I also had a play with it yesterday at Regent Street. First thoughts: Why the sharp edge? This just reminded me of the first generation wristcutter Macbook. The Mighty Mouse had at least rounded edges, this seemed to be a step backwards. It felt awkward to hold as you can only grip it with the tip of your fingers and thumb and I cannot imagine anyone putting up with it for a whole day's work.

Scrolling was not smooth as there seemed to be some friction on the surface layer. I tried pinch-zooming in iPhoto, but it only enlarged pictures to full-screen. Resizing wouldn't work. I lost patience with it then so did not test any further.

Someone will love it, I'm sure. Just not me.
 
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