The MacBook Airs have been on the market for 10 months now. Other companies are starting to release laptops and tablets featuring Bluetooth 4.0. I was looking for a Bluetooth 4.0 mouse to purchase, but can't find any. Am I just not looking in the right places? Shouldn't BT 4.0 be popular with its power saving benefit?
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Where are the Bluetooth 4.0 mice?
- Thread starter Justin Luck
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miles01110
macrumors Core
frank4
macrumors regular
There are a lot of Mac users who are looking for an alternative to the Apple mice and I'm surprised nobody is selling a really good Mac Bluetooth mouse, they're all just Windows mice they say will work on Mac and often they don't have an OSX driver. Even a well-done conventional design would be good and they'd probably sell lots.
I checked a few mouse supplier sites and their specifications say their mice are Bluetooth but no version is identified. Is BT 4.0 that important for a mouse? I know BT4.0 is low-power.
I've been using a Dell "5-Button Bluetooth® Travel Mouse" I got on sale a few weeks ago, probably a previous version of the one at this link:
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/pro...ynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=5&baynote_irrank=0
It works OK even without a Mac driver. I prefer it over the Magic Mouse because it is not too low, it slides easier on the desktop, and the buttons are easy to push compared to MM. I modified the scroll wheel to get rid of the rotation clicks. Occasionally there are minor connection and sensitivity problems. I can use it for several hours without hand strain, unlike the Magic Mouse.
Also there is the Logitech V470.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/mice/devices/v470-cordless-laser-mouse-for-bluetooth
I checked a few mouse supplier sites and their specifications say their mice are Bluetooth but no version is identified. Is BT 4.0 that important for a mouse? I know BT4.0 is low-power.
I've been using a Dell "5-Button Bluetooth® Travel Mouse" I got on sale a few weeks ago, probably a previous version of the one at this link:
http://accessories.dell.com/sna/pro...ynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=5&baynote_irrank=0
It works OK even without a Mac driver. I prefer it over the Magic Mouse because it is not too low, it slides easier on the desktop, and the buttons are easy to push compared to MM. I modified the scroll wheel to get rid of the rotation clicks. Occasionally there are minor connection and sensitivity problems. I can use it for several hours without hand strain, unlike the Magic Mouse.
Also there is the Logitech V470.
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice-pointers/mice/devices/v470-cordless-laser-mouse-for-bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0 is appealing to me if it makes a noticeable gain in battery life for the device I am using the mouse with (e.g. notebook or tablet). Sure, the mouse itself should last a good while regardless of Bluetooth spec on one or two AA batteries. But you need a 4.0 compatible mouse for a 4.0 bluetooth receiver to operate at the new power efficient rate.
I bought a Logitech Performance Mouse M950 recently, and it's surprisingly good.
That's coming from a Razer Diamondback, and a Steelseries Sensei mouse, which are both wired.
The M950 uses a usb device for wireless data transfer, but retains the sensitivity of a good wired mouse like the above 2. Apparently, you can get a much better 'data transfer', and better response using a usb RF device, than BT. So that might explain the lack of good BT mice.
That's coming from a Razer Diamondback, and a Steelseries Sensei mouse, which are both wired.
The M950 uses a usb device for wireless data transfer, but retains the sensitivity of a good wired mouse like the above 2. Apparently, you can get a much better 'data transfer', and better response using a usb RF device, than BT. So that might explain the lack of good BT mice.