Mouses on Macs seem to suck

[laserbeam273]

So at work I use a Windows computer with a stock-standard Dell mouse. Previously at home I've used the trackpad on my MBP. But recently I've got a new game (haha minecraft) and I've tried my available mouses (old mighty mouse, old acer mouse, and my little brother's hardcore gaming mouse), and they all seem to suck. They jump around, the acceleration is terrible compared to Window's algorithm (or maybe it's just because it's different), and it's just overall uncomfortable to use, especially for long periods of time.

Anybody else had issues with this? How did people fix it? Do I need to go out and buy myself a good mouse, a good mousepad, and some software with decent drivers for the mouse? Ultimately I want it to work the same as Windows as I don't want to have to change my mouse control when switching between OSs.

 

[Wafflausages]

dont know about a fix but i totally agree with the mouse acceleration on mac sucking

 

[kamuix]

The razor naga I have seems to work fine. Also has drivers from the website that allows you set dpi on the fly and it works great. On my windows pc I have a logitech g7 and I find the two are pretty equal. The good thing I like about the razor is that it has profiles so you can switch from gaming to regular use etc...

 

[Mobius 1]

try setting the mouse speed on system preferences.

for minecraft i use magic mouse, the accidental scrolling is HELL but tracking seems 2 be fine

i'm on a really big mousepad (almost as big as my desk) rly no kid. so you may try using a mousepad


MM is good for lifestyle, SUCKS for gaming.


wanna swap the razer for my MM?

 

[MonkeySee....]

Mouses

 

[Transporteur]

When I switched to Mac six years ago after years of using Windows, the mouse acceleration immediately bummed me out as well.

I've been using the good old Microsoft IntelliPoint mouse till then which comes with a specific driver from Microsoft. The acceleration of that combination (mouse and driver) is 100% like the Windows one (which is much more precise in my opinion).

I've tried all other third party options (USBOverdrive etc.) but nothing comes close to the real deal from Microsoft.

 

[laserbeam273]

Thanks for the replies all. So sounds like there are people out there using mouses on macs, and are happy with it. Might be time for me to go out and get a good mouse before I get RSI from the trackpad. Thinking about getting a Logitech MX1100, anyone know what it's like? Looks pretty good.

 

[Outrigger]

Thanks for the replies all. So sounds like there are people out there using mouses on macs, and are happy with it. Might be time for me to go out and get a good mouse before I get RSI from the trackpad. Thinking about getting a Logitech MX1100, anyone know what it's like? Looks pretty good.

FYI, mice is the word you're looking for.

 

[Jookbox]

FYI, mice is the word you're looking for.

Both are acceptable and grammatically correct... not that you didn't understand him in the first place.

 

[fkhan3]

I gave up using a mouse and switched to Apple Trackpad instead.

 

[SidewaysTakumi]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

Have you tried downloading BetterTouchTool? It allows for mouse acceleration customization and it feels great. It also allows for tons of other customizations as well.

 

[vincenz]

Both are acceptable and grammatically correct... not that you didn't understand him in the first place.

I've never seen "mouses" used anywhere, referring to the animal or the computer peripheral.

 

[kalsta]

So at work I use a Windows computer with a stock-standard Dell mouse. Previously at home I've used the trackpad on my MBP. But recently I've got a new game (haha minecraft) and I've tried my available mouses (old mighty mouse, old acer mouse, and my little brother's hardcore gaming mouse), and they all seem to suck. They jump around, the acceleration is terrible compared to Window's algorithm (or maybe it's just because it's different), and it's just overall uncomfortable to use, especially for long periods of time.

Based on the thread title, I thought you were going to say that Apple branded mice weren't very comfortable to use or something, and I was going to come on here and agree! But in terms of the actual behaviour of the cursor when using a mouse, I've been using Macs for many years and always found it to be very smooth. In fact, in years gone by I used to wonder the exact opposite — why using a mouse on friends' Windows PCs seemed so jittery! I guess Microsoft improved this over the years, because I don't remember experiencing that for some time, but I'm still not sure what the problem your experiencing on the Mac is.

I do find that by default, mouse tracking is set too slow on the Mac, and I always make it faster in system preferences (which another commenter mentioned).

I've never seen "mouses" used anywhere, referring to the animal or the computer peripheral.

I remember reading somewhere years ago that 'mouses' was supposedly the correct term when referring to the computer peripheral, but I don't think anyone told 99% of the world's population, so… go with 'mice'. It makes you sound like less of a doofus to 99% of the world's population.

 

[laserbeam273]

Based on the thread title, I thought you were going to say that Apple branded mice weren't very comfortable to use or something, and I was going to come on here and agree! But in terms of the actual behaviour of the cursor when using a mouse, I've been using Macs for many years and always found it to be very smooth. In fact, in years gone by I used to wonder the exact opposite — why using a mouse on friends' Windows PCs seemed so jittery! I guess Microsoft improved this over the years, because I don't remember experiencing that for some time, but I'm still not sure what the problem your experiencing on the Mac is.

I do find that by default, mouse tracking is set too slow on the Mac, and I always make it faster in system preferences (which another commenter mentioned).



I remember reading somewhere years ago that 'mouses' was supposedly the correct term when referring to the computer peripheral, but I don't think anyone told 99% of the world's population, so… go with 'mice'. It makes you sound like less of a doofus to 99% of the world's population.

Haha yeah I realised I spelt that wrong. Mice is the way to go it looks like.

I suppose my key issue is that the way mice act on Mac is different to the way mice act on Windows - a bit of a pain really when I'm switching between the two. Because I can't go out and change all the windows computers I'm using (university, work), I'd like my mac to replicate the windows mouse experience. Besides, I quite like the way the work on Windows, probably just because I'm used to it.

I have downloaded a program that allows you to tweak the acceleration (called Mouse Acceleration), so that's helped a bit, still not the same though.

 

[kalsta]

I have downloaded a program that allows you to tweak the acceleration (called Mouse Acceleration), so that's helped a bit, still not the same though.

Did you try adjusting the tracking speed in System Preferences first?

I occasionally have to use a Windows PC, but in recent years I don't remember noticing a significant difference in the mouse behaviour. I tend to dislike the overall experience of using Windows, so perhaps there's a subtle difference that grates away at me a bit without me being conscious of it. I'll have to pay it more attention next time I'm using Windows!

 

[kalsta]

BTW, I don't particularly like Apple mice, so I just use a very basic Logitech two-button mouse. With the right mouse mat, it just glides over it and the cursor movement on screen is very smooth. I only mention this because, in addition to 'acceleration', you mention 'they jump around', and this is never my experience so long as your mousing surface is appropriate for the mouse you're using. If the cursor seems at all jittery, there must be an issue causing this.

 

[laserbeam273]

Did you try adjusting the tracking speed in System Preferences first?

I occasionally have to use a Windows PC, but in recent years I don't remember noticing a significant difference in the mouse behaviour. I tend to dislike the overall experience of using Windows, so perhaps there's a subtle difference that grates away at me a bit without me being conscious of it. I'll have to pay it more attention next time I'm using Windows!

Yeah I have. My main issue is the acceleration - Mac mouses are real slow when it comes to small movements, way slower than Windows. It eventually speeds up, but that curve is very different from a Windows mouse.

On a side note though, neither the trackpad or mouse go fast enough for my likings. I prefer the mouse to fly across the screen with the slightest twitch

 

[laserbeam273]

BTW, I don't particularly like Apple mice, so I just use a very basic Logitech two-button mouse. With the right mouse mat, it just glides over it and the cursor movement on screen is very smooth. I only mention this because, in addition to 'acceleration', you mention 'they jump around', and this is never my experience so long as your mousing surface is appropriate for the mouse you're using. If the cursor seems at all jittery, there must be an issue causing this.

Ah thanks for that. Good to hear that you saw the same problem I have, and mouse pads fixed it.

 

[kalsta]

Ah thanks for that. Good to hear that you saw the same problem I have, and mouse pads fixed it.

That's not exactly what I said. I'm not sure what is causing your cursor to 'jump around', so it's really not possible to say if I have seen the same problem. What I have seen is that some desktop surfaces simply don't work very well with an optical mouse, but that wouldn't matter whether you were using a Mac or PC. What I'm saying is, cursor movement on the Mac should be ultra-smooth. If it isn't, something is wrong. It could be your mousing surface, it could be a software issue, who knows.

Yeah I have. My main issue is the acceleration - Mac mouses are real slow when it comes to small movements, way slower than Windows. It eventually speeds up, but that curve is very different from a Windows mouse.

On a side note though, neither the trackpad or mouse go fast enough for my likings. I prefer the mouse to fly across the screen with the slightest twitch

Ah… Well I guess that is a question of personal preferences then, and also what you're used to. I like the level of precision I get when moving the mouse slowly, but at the same time, a quick flick of the mouse (of only a few cm) can fling the cursor across the screen quickly. I would hate for Apple to change the way this works.

As I said, I'll have to pay more attention to how it behaves next time I'm on a Windows PC, for comparison.

 

[laserbeam273]

That's not exactly what I said. I'm not sure what is causing your cursor to 'jump around', so it's really not possible to say if I have seen the same problem. What I have seen is that some desktop surfaces simply don't work very well with an optical mouse, but that wouldn't matter whether you were using a Mac or PC. What I'm saying is, cursor movement on the Mac should be ultra-smooth. If it isn't, something is wrong. It could be your mousing surface, it could be a software issue, who knows.

Yeah I completely read that wrong, sorry. Hopefully the mousepad should do it though.

 

[KurtangleTN]

Honestly, the acceleration does suck, but you'll eventually get used to it. I remember the shell shock after using boot camp for about 6 months straight and going back to OS X.

 

[jonnysods]

Thanks for the replies all. So sounds like there are people out there using mouses on macs, and are happy with it. Might be time for me to go out and get a good mouse before I get RSI from the trackpad. Thinking about getting a Logitech MX1100, anyone know what it's like? Looks pretty good.

I have this. Great mouse for the Mac. Logitech do a good job with keeping the software current.

 

[seetheforest]

The moment I read the thread title I knew what your problem would be. The acceleration curve for OSX is horrible. I've DL'd a number a programs to try and combat it. Right now it is pretty usable if nothing else. I think I had the most success with USB Overdrive, but I've messed with the settings within so many programs that I honestly don't know which one affecting the mouse control anymore.