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Magic trackpad worth it?

T

theRAMman

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 6, 2012
168
0
The Moon.
Later this year I'm planning on buying a mac mini and I was wondering on what I should get as a mouse. I narrowed myself down to two options: get an expensive, ergonomic mouse or buy the trackpad for normal use and get a cheap mouse for when I want to play minecraft (for the right click) I always loved the mtp but the horrible £60 price tag always put me off. Any help welcome :)
 
I have the trackpad. it's ok for web surfing. But when it comes to anything productive it is very hard to get use to.
I bought the magic mouse to replace the trackpad. It's nice because it has gestures.
 
I'd go with the MT + cheap mouse. But the best way for you to decide is to go to an Apple Store and play with the ones setup to be sure.
 
I bought a magic trackpad, and I have to say, I'm not happy with it.

The trackpad on my MBA (and all my other Mac laptops) have always been wonderful. The feel and usability of the magic trackpad are nowhere near as nice as the trackpad on my laptops. I guess maybe I should play with the settings more, but I never did with my laptops.

In any event, your plan to get a cheap gaming mouse is probably a good one.
 
If you like the trackpad on a MacBook then you'll be fine with the Magic TrackPad.
Mine works just fine but I have to admit I don't use it as much as I thought I would.
 
I switched to the Magic Trackpad shortly after they first went on sale, and there's no way I'd go back to a mouse — especially with multi-touch OSs like ML.
 
Have both Magic Mouse and Touchpad. I tried the pad in the past with my iMac; but it didn't feel right. So I put it aside. Recently I cleanup my desk and rediscovered the pad. I try again to adopt and give it a second chance.

I have no problem with the touchpad on my MBA or former MBP and love the gestures. Maybe I need change the position of the touchpad ?

Where you guys place the pad ?
 
iaymnu said:
I have the trackpad. it's ok for web surfing. But when it comes to anything productive it is very hard to get use to.
I bought the magic mouse to replace the trackpad. It's nice because it has gestures.
Click to expand...

I hear you on this. I have BetterTouchTools installed and have added some very handy gestures. But the fact that I use spreadsheets a lot means I need a mouse, not want, NEED. The trackpad is meh, but I could probably live without it.
 
TrackPad now collecting dust. Could not get used to it. Now using a nice wireless mouse. Enough said. ;)
 
I own both the magic mouse and trackpad, the mouse gets used much more frequently. In fact, the trackpad I got (as a gift, mind you, I wouldn't have spent the money or asked for it myself), is in a drawer and doesn't get used much at all. I thought I would've loved it like the trackpad on the macbooks, but I couldn't get used to it.
 
I recomend the magic mouse. I have both the magic trackpad and magic mouse, and I prefer the mouse. In a notebook the touchpad is so good you dont need a mouse, but for PCs, I prefer the mouse. The trackpad sucks when editing a video or playing games. The magic mouse does have a right click

Having said that, the magic mouse sucks for games that require a scrol wheel. Nevertheless, I never game on my Mac.
 
Just picked up one of these yesterday and absolutely love it. Multi-tasking in Mountain Lion is so simple. I have always loved using trackpads on my Mac notebooks. The Magic Trackpad is a great solution for someone who is used to trackpads but wants to use their notebook with an external monitor and keyboard. I highly recommend this device. Not only does it function well, it also looks really cool sitting on the desk! :p
 
The Magic Trackpad is great for non precision work of if your work doesn't require a lot of right clicking.

There's a few things I've noticed about using the MT and why it's not quite as natural as using the trackpad on the a MBP.

First, regardless of where you place it, it's not as convenient as the trackpad on a MBP. Using the MBP requires less movement from the keyboard because the keyboard and trackpad are on the same plane. Switching from the keyboard to a Magic Trackpad always requires an arm movement.

The MT being on an incline also makes it not feel quite the same as using the MBP pad.

The surface where you place your MT matters a lot as well. My primary working surfaces are either covered by a couple Ripper XXL pads, which about a meter/yard wide by half a meter/yard long, or a leather desk blotter. It's hard to get a consistent click without pushing hard on the MT if your MT is on anything but a hard surface.

That said, I fee that there are a few situations where an MT is better than a mouse - setups where there is no good surface on which to set your mouse or where space is at a premium, such as as a HTPC or multicomputer setup.
 
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