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Magic Mouse: An Updated Review

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A few weeks back, I wrote about trying out the new Magic Mouse at the local Apple Store, and how I would’ve bought one on the spot had they been available. Well this past Black Friday, we wandered into the Apple Store to save $5 on the peripheral, and were in and out in 5 minutes. I got home, opened up the fancy box and got ready to have some multi-touch fun at home.

OK, that sounded a bit wrong, but you get the idea. Hooking up the mouse wasn’t too difficult, and once bluetooth was turned on and the mouse preferences opened up, it was ready to go.

For the next week, I used the Magic Mouse as my only mouse, and at first, there was a learning curve. I was surfing on Safari at one point and accidentally swiped with two fingers, moving me back a screen and losing my work. But no matter how long I used the mouse, one thing I couldn’t get used to: the size.

No matter what I did or how I held the mouse, I couldn’t hold onto it right. I find that when I’m mousing around my 2-screen setup that occasionally I have to pickup the mouse and move it over so I can go across to the next window. The Magic Mouse is so slippery that I felt like I was holding a wet eel when I was trying to pick it up. And just moving it around the table was awkward as well, as I had to almost hold my hand in a pincer grip to move the mouse. The side of my hand also seemed to get irritated from the sharp sides of the mouse, leading me to think that I might have to build up a callous to use the product correctly. After just under one week of use, I just had enough, and I returned it to the store.

I had high hopes for this mouse, mostly because my old Logitech is showing some signs of wear and the extra buttons don’t work with Snow Leopard anymore, but the Magic Mouse just isn’t for me. I’m not sure if it’s because I’ve got big hands, or maybe because of the slick surface of the mouse, but I just couldn’t get comfortable using it, no matter how many excuses I came up with. “I’ll get used to it,” or “But it’s gonna be great on trips because it’s so small,” just doesn’t cut it when the mouse is such an integral part of the computer using experience. When you start to consider using the mouse AND the multi-touch mouse on the laptop just to get things working, then you need to step back and reconsider your decisions. For me, I decided that enough was enough, and I was done. Hopefully Apple comes out with a slightly larger version of the mouse for us big-handed users, but I doubt it. I’ll just wait until the next generation mouse comes out and try that one out for size.

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Kossi Adzo

Kossi Adzo is a technology enthusiast and digital strategist with a fervent passion for Apple products and the innovative technologies that orbit them. With a background in computer science and a decade of experience in app development and digital marketing, Kossi brings a wealth of knowledge and a unique perspective to the Apple Gazette team.

9 thoughts on “Magic Mouse: An Updated Review

  1. I had the opposite experience. I love the shape of the new mouse, prefer it over the old one, find that it fits my hand better (though I have a big hand) and works much better for me than Mighty Mouse did.

    And no filthy little track ball, either.

  2. While I agree the size and shape is a little odd, I got used to it. I do prefer the more rounded shape of the Mighty Mouse as it was more comfortable to lay your hand on. However the Magic Mouse requires more ‘holding’ which helps with precision movements. It takes some getting used to but I have (been using it for a month now)

    And the slick surface is the best feature. I love how smooth it is and how easy it is to scroll. I’ve run into a few issues where I’ve accidentally scrolled unknowingly (mostly in Photoshop) but for the most part haven’t had any problems. The momentum scrolling in Snow Leopard is fantastic and is really nice on long pages/documents. I haven’t had any mistakes using the 2 finger swipes, I use it quite regularly now and love it.

    The only problem I have with it is the fact that they removed the middle click which I used quite regularly to launch the Spaces overview. Now I’m left reaching around to use a keyboard shortcut until they man up and allow more gestures. Thankfully there are apps that already do this. Mouse Wizard is one and jitouch will be releasing their own version soon. Anyone who has a multi-touch MacBook and hasn’t tried jitouch yet, they definitely are missing out.

    https://www.jitouch.com
    and
    https://www.samuco.net/web/node/23

  3. Exactly how I feel about it too, especially the sharp edges.

    With its design flair, why does Apple consistently mess up mouse design?

  4. Oh come on!? I have had the magic mouse since it came out. Did it take some getting used to? Yes, but it works fine. Much better than the little crappy ball on the previous Mac mouse that gets all gummed up. I use it to edit video in FCP and its super. Happy I bought it. Certainly better than what I had before on all counts.

  5. I have no problems “adapting” to this mouse. In fact, I needed no adaptation. It felt like second nature to me. My previous mouse was the Mighty Mouse.

    Are some of these reviewers using the mouse differently than I do? I mean, I hear so many complaints about how unergonomic this mouse is and frankly, the way I’ve been holding my Magic Mouse is no different than how I held my Might Mouse (the one with the grey srollball) and is no different than how i held the Pro Mouse (the Apple single button mouse), and is no different than how I held the ADB Apple Mouse (the Mouse that came with the PowerPC Macs). I’ve always been holding all of them the same way.

  6. If you’re using a dual monitor setup, FORGET using a mouse. Get a trackball!

    Get a Kensington Expert Mouse trackball. the one with 4 programmable buttons and a scroll ring surrounding the ball. It’s fast, accurate and not the ergonomic nightmare that the majority of mice are. The scroll ring is a revelation after using nasty scroll wheels for years.

    Do your self a favor. Get one.

    https://us.kensington.com/html/2200.html.

  7. Just bought one of these and I’ve been playing with it a few hours. Same as you, I’m having a hard time finding a comfortable, natural way to hold it. It’s really a shame, because the touch-sensitive surface works so well, and I like not using up a USB port for a receiver.

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