I've had the Mighty Mouse for a few days now, and I thought I'd write an informal "one user" blurb on it... just user feedback, hopefully useful to someone out there...
Installation was a cinch, though I was surprised that you had to restart the computer (I'm on 10.4.3 all up to date)... coming from Apple I'd have expected it to load and work right out of the box. The second thing that was surprising to me, is how long it took to restart... the grey screen with the apple logo and circle underneath was there for a good 3-4 minutes. Third surprise, was that the right "button" functionality is not the default... out of the box, the left and right click are identical, i.e. it's just a standard left click, as if it's a standard Apple one button mouse... you have to go into preferences and select for the right button to work like the right button.
One negative is that the mouse usb cord is a bit short, not intolerable, but not ideal either... on my iBook all the ports including usb are on the left side (rant: does anyone else find that placement extremely suboptimal?? I'd rather have the disc slot on the left side, where it is easy to operate with the left hand, and where disc access is not obstructed by the power cord! Meanwhile, most people are right handed and it's a pain to put in usb drives on the left side compared to the right side, and also all cords like mice cords have to now snake around to reach the right side - how inconvenient! /end rant/). So, now the cord is even shorter, and since it naturally has some kinks in it, it's just a touch short, though not tragically so.
Next, I was surprised to see how big it is, and how heavy. This is definitely not ideal if you want to be portable. Plus, I'm used to mini-mice even when at home, and moving such a big and heavy mouse seems like hauling stones heavy labor.
Another big negative for me, is how slow the mouse is. I put it on the fastest speed in the pref panel, but I still find I have to move my hand a huge distance for the pointer to follow. Frankly, the trackpad is faster.
This next complaint may be a purely personal issue, but somehow the placement of the side buttons is not perfect... I find myself fumbling for them... I realize there's no ideal position, as everyone's hands are different, just be aware of the issue.
On the positive side... I've had none of the problems reported on the various mac boards... the mouse is stable, not overly sensitive, it's very accurate, and the pseudo "buttons" work well. Of course, I've only had it for a few days, so it's possible it'll wig out in the long run, but so far, so good.
The biggest positive for me, is the little scrolling nub that doubles as a button. I love the feel of it, the ease of movement (this has been a pet peeve of mine for years - the wheels on almost all mice are such a CHORE to move - they require way, way, way too much force to use... in fact, I've hung on to my kensiko mice for years and years simply because I could find no mice - none - with a decent wheel... until now, with the Mighty Mouse!). The little nub is extremely accurate, I love the default scrolling speed, I love the feedback sound, and I find the amount of force needed to activate the nub as a button is also perfect (default: controlls dashboard).
So, depite the negatives, the scroll nub/button is such a hit, the mouse is in my mind a success.
Of course, I got this mouse in essence for free in the Amazon deal with the purchase of an iBook, I got a $50 rebate which brings the cost to 0. Were it not for that, and if I had to pay for it would I do it for $50? No, but that's probably more of a subjective thing - I just can't take big mice at this point, only minis, and I know I'm pretty unique in that (most folks, especially those with bigger hands, like a full-size mouse). Plus, I'd like a bluetooth one, which we all know is coming. One other thing for me... I'm trying to learn to operate exclusively with the standard iBook, i.e. only use the trackpad, and really learn keyboard shortcuts, so I've sort of been avoiding any mouse. But overall, I'm glad to have this mouse, and I think it's a perfectly successful product... sure, has some flaws as I enumerated, but overall, I think it's great. Of course, YMMV.
Installation was a cinch, though I was surprised that you had to restart the computer (I'm on 10.4.3 all up to date)... coming from Apple I'd have expected it to load and work right out of the box. The second thing that was surprising to me, is how long it took to restart... the grey screen with the apple logo and circle underneath was there for a good 3-4 minutes. Third surprise, was that the right "button" functionality is not the default... out of the box, the left and right click are identical, i.e. it's just a standard left click, as if it's a standard Apple one button mouse... you have to go into preferences and select for the right button to work like the right button.
One negative is that the mouse usb cord is a bit short, not intolerable, but not ideal either... on my iBook all the ports including usb are on the left side (rant: does anyone else find that placement extremely suboptimal?? I'd rather have the disc slot on the left side, where it is easy to operate with the left hand, and where disc access is not obstructed by the power cord! Meanwhile, most people are right handed and it's a pain to put in usb drives on the left side compared to the right side, and also all cords like mice cords have to now snake around to reach the right side - how inconvenient! /end rant/). So, now the cord is even shorter, and since it naturally has some kinks in it, it's just a touch short, though not tragically so.
Next, I was surprised to see how big it is, and how heavy. This is definitely not ideal if you want to be portable. Plus, I'm used to mini-mice even when at home, and moving such a big and heavy mouse seems like hauling stones heavy labor.
Another big negative for me, is how slow the mouse is. I put it on the fastest speed in the pref panel, but I still find I have to move my hand a huge distance for the pointer to follow. Frankly, the trackpad is faster.
This next complaint may be a purely personal issue, but somehow the placement of the side buttons is not perfect... I find myself fumbling for them... I realize there's no ideal position, as everyone's hands are different, just be aware of the issue.
On the positive side... I've had none of the problems reported on the various mac boards... the mouse is stable, not overly sensitive, it's very accurate, and the pseudo "buttons" work well. Of course, I've only had it for a few days, so it's possible it'll wig out in the long run, but so far, so good.
The biggest positive for me, is the little scrolling nub that doubles as a button. I love the feel of it, the ease of movement (this has been a pet peeve of mine for years - the wheels on almost all mice are such a CHORE to move - they require way, way, way too much force to use... in fact, I've hung on to my kensiko mice for years and years simply because I could find no mice - none - with a decent wheel... until now, with the Mighty Mouse!). The little nub is extremely accurate, I love the default scrolling speed, I love the feedback sound, and I find the amount of force needed to activate the nub as a button is also perfect (default: controlls dashboard).
So, depite the negatives, the scroll nub/button is such a hit, the mouse is in my mind a success.
Of course, I got this mouse in essence for free in the Amazon deal with the purchase of an iBook, I got a $50 rebate which brings the cost to 0. Were it not for that, and if I had to pay for it would I do it for $50? No, but that's probably more of a subjective thing - I just can't take big mice at this point, only minis, and I know I'm pretty unique in that (most folks, especially those with bigger hands, like a full-size mouse). Plus, I'd like a bluetooth one, which we all know is coming. One other thing for me... I'm trying to learn to operate exclusively with the standard iBook, i.e. only use the trackpad, and really learn keyboard shortcuts, so I've sort of been avoiding any mouse. But overall, I'm glad to have this mouse, and I think it's a perfectly successful product... sure, has some flaws as I enumerated, but overall, I think it's great. Of course, YMMV.