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trackpad?

Benz63amg

Benz63amg

macrumors 601
Original poster
Oct 17, 2010
4,591
1,099
hey guys, i have a magic mouse which i love and i was checking out the magic trackpad on youtube and stuff and i think its cool, i checked it at the store aswell..

these of u who have it, do u recommend it or its not worth it? ill be using it alongside my magic mouse, its not going to replace my mouse.

i mean does it add cool functionality to the imac or no?
 
Personal pref bud. For the fine-detailed and precise work I do, a trackpad would be way to cumbersome to use. For others, it will work perfectly and they'll appreciate over any mouse. Really depends on what your needs are and how you like to use your computer.
 
The trackpad in my MBP is awesome mainly due to a little program called BetterTouchTool that allow you to make gestures for EVERYTHING on your system and within specific applications.

If I had an iMac, I'd use the Magic Trackpad without a doubt :)

Hope this helps.
 
Rory Manton said:
I use a track pad, after using it for a couple of weeks it becomes instinctive.
Click to expand...

I agree with you. I love multi-gestures such as 4 fingers swipe down for expose', 4 fingers swipe up for showing desktop and especially, 3 fingers for going forward or backward.
 
If you find you're using the touch properties of the Magic Mouse a lot, then you may well find the pad really suits you.

For example, just browsing this site I'm mostly using touch on my MM - I'm scrolling by touch, I'm going back and forward through pages with touch, and I'm clicking with touch. The only time I move the actual mouse is to put the cursor on a link; with the pad I'd just drag and tap.

So they way I figure it, I'm going to be better off with the pad (I have one coming with my new iMac). There will be times when I do need the mouse - graphics, games, maybe video editing (but I use a shuttle pro mostly for editing) - so I won't be ditching it entirely. However, for general tasks, I'm already in a pad mindset.

Does it add cool functionality? A bit. It makes multitouch gestures easier than with the mouse. And as Mrguidogenio mentioned, BetterTouchTool is a brilliant add-on that really makes the pad (and indeed the mouse) shine.
 
Bat6111 said:
I agree with you. I love multi-gestures such as 4 fingers swipe down for expose', 4 fingers swipe up for showing desktop and especially, 3 fingers for going forward or backward.
Click to expand...

I'm pretty addicted to the gestures as well. Can't imagine not having them anymore. I'd recommend the trackpad.
 
The trackpad on my MBP is one of the things I like the most, I just can not switch back to a laptop with a regular trackpad, because I use the gestures constantly. I've used the Magic Mouse before, but I really don't like it's ergonomics. I will definitely choose for the trackpad when I buy my iMac next month and I will use my Logitech G5 gamingmouse for games and tasks that require pinpoint accuracy like photoshop.
 
wow so many good things said now :D

i use alll the mutli touch gestures of my magic mouse and i love it(going back between pages with the 2 finger scroll) and scrolling up and down and thats about all the magic mouse can do.
 
I use a Logitech VX Nano for most duites but also keep my MagicPad on the desk for gestures. Best of both worlds.
 
I love the Trackpad, as others have said once you get used to the gestures its hard to use anything else. I highly recommend it.
 
Bat6111 said:
I agree with you. I love multi-gestures such as 4 fingers swipe down for expose', 4 fingers swipe up for showing desktop and especially, 3 fingers for going forward or backward.
Click to expand...

Then use the mouse, it does the same thing.
 
I love the trackpad on the mac laptops and thought I would love the desktop version. I was wrong, I don't know why but I just could not get use to it.

I sold the trackpad and use the magic mouse. I hated the magic mouse at first but now I love it. I tired to love the trackpad but it was not happening
 
lamonsas said:
no it doesnt, u cant do these gestures with the magic mouse.
Click to expand...

But there are a variety of different plugins that will give it the same functionality as a trackpad and possibly even more. Magicprefs allows you to do one to four finger swipes, one to four finger taps, one to four finger clicks, and set scrolling boundaries among a plethora of other options. It even gives you back the "third button" click (previously the scroll-wheel click). Not to mention it's free! Check it out!
 
yea but i rather not mess with unofficial mouse drivers to create gestures not ment for the magic mouse u know..
 
lamonsas said:
yea but i rather not mess with unofficial mouse drivers to create gestures not ment for the magic mouse u know..
Click to expand...

Wow, of all the ridiculous things I read on these forums... good luck getting the best use out of your computer with that mentality. Buy a trackpad then and leave it be.

Edit: And for the record, Apple does support the software. A quick Google led me to find it on their Downloads page under the System/Disk Utilities section.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/magicprefs.html

But I understand if this process is too COMPLICATED for you.
 
Last edited:
For my iMac, the Track Pad purchase was waste of dollars. If wondering, my family tried it and pref the wireless mouse instead.
 
lamonsas said:
yea but i rather not mess with unofficial mouse drivers to create gestures not ment for the magic mouse u know..
Click to expand...

BetterTouchTool isn't a mouse driver as such - it doesn't replace that Apple functionality, it adds to it. And you've got full control over what it does, or doesn't, do - if you just want to add a three-finger swipe to activate Expose to your mouse, then that's all you have to do. If you want to add a bunch of gestures to your mouse AND pad, then you can do that too.

And if you decide it's not for you, then you simply remove it.

Put it like this - you add all sorts of "unofficial" stuff to your computer all the time; have you installed Firefox? Chrome? VLC? Photoshop Elements? Steam? They're all just as unofficial as BetterTouchTool.
 
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