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Mouse Issues....

hardhatmac

hardhatmac

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 13, 2006
167
11
Utah
Has anyone noticed when using a mouse on a mac the tracking is really strange. i.e. when you try and move the pointer slowly acts all funny and moves EXTREMELY slow! It's hard to explain. But i've messed with all the preferences and I just can't get it as smooth as I have it on my PC.... also Does anyone have the Logitec Laser Mouse? I own one, and recently it's been wiggin out on me. It's my second one in a row. I love the way it feels and looks, and all the buttons, but I need a stable mouse.
 
My Apple mouse is just as stable as my Microsoft mouse is under Windows. I don't experience any of what you describe.
 
hardhatmac said:
Has anyone noticed when using a mouse on a mac the tracking is really strange. i.e. when you try and move the pointer slowly acts all funny and moves EXTREMELY slow! It's hard to explain. But i've messed with all the preferences and I just can't get it as smooth as I have it on my PC.... also Does anyone have the Logitec Laser Mouse? I own one, and recently it's been wiggin out on me. It's my second one in a row. I love the way it feels and looks, and all the buttons, but I need a stable mouse.
Click to expand...


Maybe you are describing Mac mouse acceleration versus Windows mouse acceleration. On the Mac, moving slowly with the mouse means the cursor will also move slowly, whereas once you accelerate (speed up your movement) the mouse will move fast, meaning you can take the cursor across the screen with a quick jab of the mouse. Mac acceleration is programmed with precision of cursor placement in mind. In Windows, acceleration is more constant, I believe, so the mouse "feels" regularly faster. But the more constant acceleration at slow movement means you have less precision where you want to place your cursor. It's a matter of preference. And Windows users are so accustomed to their mouse acceleration, and Mac people with theirs, it is not easy to switch. I personally feel that Mac acceleration is less "shaky", it eases more in and out with the movement. I like the acceleration curve.

It's either this, or something is wrong with your mouse, or maybe drivers.
 
With a switch to a mac, this by far, has been one of the most difficult things to adjust to. Way more wrist-work than I am accustomed to both with a mouse and the trackpad.

Another question;
My sisters mighty mouse worked fine and smooth on my macbook, is there any reason why a $15 logitech laser mouse would be jumpy and jerky?
 
Like The Man said, this is a difference between Mac and Windows. You're not the first to complain about. Some people (though seemingly few) have real trouble with it when they first switch. I didn't really even notice it, though I do notice now if I go back to using Windows. I do prefer the Mac way, and hopefully you'll get used to it.
 
I have a very hard time using the trackpad on my ThinkPad after getting used to the PowerBook's. It just feels more natural once you get used to it. Also, you can boost the speed up in the preferences.
 
It's not Windows; it's every other OS aside from OS X (including OS 9 and earlier). And the mouse control panel in OS X does not provide any controls to fix the problem. (Yes, I do consider it a problem since it's so freakin' annoying....) Fortunately, installing USB Overdrive and fiddling with the controls there will get you a properly behaving, non-painful mouse pointer.

--Eric
 
The pointer acceleration curve has to balance both fine movement (slow) and gross movement (fast). Fine movement is for photo editors who need to be able to reliably move the pointer a pixel at a time. It's a hand-eye coordination issue.

No other OS allows for as fine a level of pointer control as OS X for small movement.

On the other hand, if you jerk your mouse quickly, that pointer will fly. Windows is neither as fine nor as fast as the OS X pointer.
 
MetalRay

I too have the logitech mouse and even after launching and turning "mouse acceleration" off in the application imouseFix it still portrayed the problem with mouse stickiness. I still thank this post though for it still has made the transition between the mice easier.
 
No s**t. And I always thought that my Macbook trackpad was broken, because I can never master the mouse movement at all. Case in point, every other minute I'd accidentally hit a hot corner and turn on expose. Now I know its due to sudden mouse acceleration over a small distance.

Unfortunately I will never get used to OS X mouse movement. At work I use a combination of Linux and Windows system for 6 hours a day, and 3 hrs of OS X at home. My brain can't adapt.
 
Hot corners

Hint:
If you have problems with the mac mouse configuration it would be smarter if you would turn off any hot corner in the preferences/Dashboard-expose directory and instead switch them into keyboard shortcuts.
 
metalray@mac.co said:
Hint:
If you have problems with the mac mouse configuration it would be smarter if you would turn off any hot corner in the preferences/Dashboard-expose directory and instead switch them into keyboard shortcuts.
Click to expand...

I know about the preference. In fact the 1st month of owning a MB, I never used expose. I exaggerated about the frequency hitting the corners accidentally. It's more like once every 20 minute. And I do prefer hot corners than keyboard.

Anyway my point is that I was always frustrated by how I couldn't master the mouse at all, sometimes overshooting and other times undershooting my target, no matter how I mess around with the trackpad preferences. I just never realize that there are essentially two modes of tracking, course vs fine grain, slow vs fast acceleration.
 
Yeah the mouse behaviour in OS X is annoying. I use USB Overdrive to disable acceleration, and that works well. You could also try Steermouse.
 
I suppose you're going to hear from more people in this thread who think it's annoying than those who don't- but that's how posts about 'problems' go. I think in reality most users would agree it is superior over windows. Maybe takes some time to get used to the control it gives you.
 
I never knowdest a difference with my track pad but sure did with a external mouse. But trough my opinion I belive that actual apple mice are more compadible such as the Mighty Mouse. My originally used USB mouse made by logitech appears to have a aquard curve uneven with the exeleration. But I have used a apple mouse on my brothers PowerBook and I did not knowdes a large difference between the platforms. Maybe 3rd party mice such as Logitech are not configured correctly with the movement sensors for the machine to calculate it efficiently. I only use a track pad and I have become 5x faster with it then a mouse. Don't ask me how I don't know.
 
I actually hate the mouse movement in Mac OS X so much that i only use my Wacom.......

Why don't they let you disable that. I just want to use my mouse like normal.
And i'm not paying to be able to disable this "anti feature".
I'm actually quite disappointed with my new iMac.
Mac OS X and Macs just don't live up to the hype for me.

:(
 
batteryes

Hi Guys,

Can anyone tell me if mighty mouse does recharge batteries on its own and if it does, if the bundle batteries are rechargeable. I found other mice which have this function and are even cheaper.

Take care
 
I found a solution

I hate the OS X mouse motion too, and the only fix I've found is to buy a Microsoft Wheelmouse for $10 on ebay, and then install the MS intellimouse driver for OS X (free). It is currently at version 7.0.0. I just got this working and am finally very happy.
 
My mouse and trackpad are perfect under OS X, but if I'm in WinXP via VMware, the mouse is really weird. It's fine with bootcamp though. I just wish it was more consistent.
 
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