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Who Actually Likes the Magic Mouse?

Whaddya think of the Magic Mouse?

  • Total voters
    86
AngerDanger

AngerDanger

Graphics
Original poster
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Dec 9, 2008
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magic_mouse_2_review_800home2_thumb800.jpg

Either version. I ask because it's been my favorite mouse for eight years, but I often hear people complaining about the ergonomics.

I don't try to rest my palm on it; I just hold my hand as if it were more rotund and drag it around. I've never had any issues with it at all.

So, vote and feel free to explain your choice.

Why I love it:

I once had a Logitech mouse that had about 10 buttons, and I thought that was great. With apps like BetterTouchTool, the Magic Mouse effectively has (through gestures) all of these buttons:

allthese.gif


But unlike the Logitech, the buttons are all contained within the capacitive surface, so it has a gorgeous minimal design.
 
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my original magic mouse died (came with the 2011 iMac i had), and i replaced it with a Logitech that was similar to it - and i really liked it. When i get my new MBP last summer, i bought the new magic mouse and the new magic keyboard, and i like the MM better than the Logitech.
 
HBOC said:
my original magic mouse died (came with the 2011 iMac i had), and i replaced it with a Logitech that was similar to it - and i really liked it. When i get my new MBP last summer, i bought the new magic mouse and the new magic keyboard, and i like the MM better than the Logitech.
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So cast your vooote! :mad:
 
done (on the mac).

i have both versions, both have problems - first version has abysmal battery life for some reason, I put a mobee on it and it kinda works at home, but for the go it's a no-no.

with the second version comes the dumbass pairing that needs a connection trough lightining. a bit of a PITA as I share the same mouse across 2 macbooks and a hackbook. gen 1 was much smarter about pairing. battery life is stellar tough.
 
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b0fh666 said:
done (on the mac).

i have both versions, both have problems - first version has abysmal battery life for some reason, I put a mobee on it and it kinda works at home, but for the go it's a no-no.
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What kind of battery life were you getting? I get 2.5–3 months on a single pair of AAs which I thought was decent.

with the second version comes the dumbass pairing that needs a connection trough lightining. a bit of a PITA as I share the same mouse across 2 macbooks and a hackbook. gen 1 was much smarter about pairing. battery life is stellar tough.
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I'm glad to hear from somebody who got the 2nd generation MM and isn't complaining about the location of the Lightning port. I never knew it had to be paired using a cable, though; that really does suck.
 
Rok73 said:
The Magic Mouse is way too heavy for my liking. Too. heavy.
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Very interesting. Of the many potential criticisms that come to mind, being too heavy is not one of them. However, I've seen people complain about it being too light.
 
Rok73 said:
Well, my point still stands. I've been gaming semi-professional on PC and I am used to light mice.
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I never said otherwise; I just found it interesting because it was the opposite of what I expected. :) On a related note, the black bumpers on the bottom aren't the best; they don't glide well over all surfaces and sometimes seem to scrape, which is the last thing a mouse should do.
 
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Having to lift up your finger when not clicking annoyed me most I think, along with not being able to scroll normally in SolidWorks on Windows (which is why I got a mouse in the first pace). Now I have the Logitech MX Master, best mouse out there IMO. Superb comfort, great scrolling, Bluetooth and works with macOS gestures.
 
I find myself going back and forth between the Magic Trackpad and the Magic Mouse both v2. I think I probably use the magic mouse on occasion because of what I paid for it, but really find most any task to include PS work can be done pretty well with the trackpad alone. For some finer detail like dodge and burn I will use the mouse, and if I really need to fine control I'll use the Intuos, which is my least preferred method. I do like the sleek design, but even with my small hands my pinky drags so that isn't much fun.
 
sunapple said:
Having to lift up your finger when not clicking annoyed me most I think, along with not being able to scroll normally in SolidWorks on Windows (which is why I got a mouse in the first pace). Now I have the Logitech MX Master, best mouse out there IMO. Superb comfort, great scrolling, Bluetooth and works with macOS gestures.
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How do you mean having to lift your finger? Is that just in Windows? I rest both my index and middle finger on mine at all times. Can still scroll, swipe and click with one or the other while the other one is still resting on the surface.

Anyway, that aside, I'm not the biggest fan anymore. I used to like it, I used Apple mice for years after switching from Windows where I used stupidly expensive Logitech mice. But these days I'm a trackpad guy and that's what killed mouse use for me.

I just find the trackpad (I use a Magic Trackpad 2 and come Friday the one on my new MacBook) more versatile. The trackpad has so many more gestures without even resorting to BTT and of Course the TP has much more surface area for them. After years of use I can be just as precise using a trackpad now.

I still whip out the mouse (not an euphemism :D) now and again to see how I feel about it, I'm using it just now in fact, but it's not winning me over.
 
sunapple said:
Having to lift up your finger when not clicking annoyed me most I think, along with not being able to scroll normally in SolidWorks on Windows (which is why I got a mouse in the first pace). Now I have the Logitech MX Master, best mouse out there IMO. Superb comfort, great scrolling, Bluetooth and works with macOS gestures.
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Oddly enough, I just gave this a try on my mouse, and they worked fine; I can leave fingers on the mouse while scrolling. Apparently, I hover my fingers above the mouse by default anyway, so I never knew it rejected extraneous input.
 
I've had and returned the Magic Mouse about 4 times now. I want to love it as the scrolling is great, but for whatever reason my hand just enjoys a normal logitech mouse in concert with BTT to get the buttons/side scrolling/etc to do things I like.

My main issue with the Magic Mouse is the lack of height - I don't "claw grip" a mouse, but I do like to have just a bit more shape/height to help me quickly and easily, without looking, perfectly grab and start using the mouse. Over the course of day I'd always notice that the initial "grab the magic mouse and start doing something" experience just had a touch of orientation lag and would tend to move the cursor a bit etc.

Also, on a normal mouse, though I love gestures in general, I really prefer the super positive actuation of an action that a click provides. I'm very experienced with gestures and pads and no matter how much I tried, I'd always have failed activations of a gesture on the Mouse (not so much on the trackpads ever though).

I have a feeling a force touch mouse or some other updated version is coming that perhaps will have even more updated touch recognition hardware built-in. That might help, but ultimately the small area with which to actually do the gestures is likely the larger problem.

Glad some love it. It's very sexy looking and the scrolling is wonderful, but at the end of it all, a more normal mouse with some BTT triggers setup simply works more efficiently and comfortably for me.
 
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AngerDanger said:
Oddly enough, I just gave this a try on my mouse, and they worked fine; I can leave fingers on the mouse while scrolling. Apparently, I hover my fingers above the mouse by default anyway, so I never knew it rejected extraneous input.
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I have to sy it's been a while since I've had that mouse, but isn't the full weight of your fingers enough to click? Even if it works, it's not a very ergonomic mouse anyway. I can rest my full hand on the MX Master which fits my hand exactly and comfortably. Depends on how much you use the mouse, but it's important to have one that's ergonomic.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I've had and returned the Magic Mouse about 4 times now. I want to love it as the scrolling is great, but for whatever reason my hand just enjoys a normal logitech mouse in concert with BTT to get the buttons/side scrolling/etc to do things I like.
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Logitechs are great mice. I remember the one I had prior to the Magic Mouse had a charging base that broke, so I stopped using that mouse altogether. Nine or ten years later, the mouse somehow still has charge. I didn't even think that was possible.

sunapple said:
I have to sy it's been a while since I've had that mouse, but isn't the full weight of your fingers enough to click? Even if it works, it's not a very ergonomic mouse anyway. I can rest my full hand on the MX Master which fits my hand exactly and comfortably. Depends on how much you use the mouse, but it's important to have one that's ergonomic.
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Not for me; maybe I have dainty fingers. It's never been even a little painful for me, but I still wish they'd make it a little taller so that others could use it without cramps or fatigue. It would take a complete redesign, though; making the current design bulge out more would just look goofy.

mouse1.jpg


It doesn't look great, but I think Microsoft nailed the shape of their capacitive mouse.
 
Just purchased, so limited observations thus far.

Bluetooth paired readily and without problem(In usual Apple fashion). Ergos work for me, I use it for an hour or so at a time mind you.

All the complaints of the charging cable sticking out the bottom of unit are valid but moot, 2 minutes of charge time gets you 9 hours of runtime.

Like the fact that the Bluetooth connection is stable, and I didn't end up having to sacrificing a USB port for a receiver on my MacBook.

And yes, it's damn gorgeous if aesthetics are important to you.

Best
 
It's funny to me that a company that is so good at industrial design has never made a mouse that really nailed it. . . Original iMac "puck" epic fail. Pro Mouse, it wasn't bad. Whatever the next one was with the little ball that you couldn't ever clean lint or dust out of. . no thanks. And then the Magic Mouse, which for me is just uncomfortable to use with Illustrator / Photoshop, etc. Great idea, just bad implementation.
 
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It's "adequate". I have both models but use neither. I use the Logitech MX Master and its predecessors for a single reason; they better fit the ergonomics of my hand. I use a "palm-grip" on a mouse, so the flatness of the Magic Mouse is strenuous and uncomfortable to use for longer sessions. Aesthetically, the Magic Mouse is unmatched. The visual design is stellar. For everything else, I need bulgy, banana (oval) shaped mice that leave as little space as possible between my palm and the surface of the mouse.
 
I like it, but I still prefer a traditional mouse with a lot of buttons so I can map keys and commands to it. I've also developed the same mousing technique as you have with it. I hold it lightly instead of palming it. It works well that way, but I find the gesturing motions on it to be too hard on my hands. I deal with RSI. I'm able to use the simple mouse functions without problems, but if I'm doing a lot of swiping on the surface of the Magic Mouse, it goes downhill for me.

Also, the gesturing surface is still just too narrow for me. If I'm doing a bunch of gestures, I'd rather have the trackpad (which I own too and is also second to a comfortable mouse with lots of buttons).
 
I have the MM2 and I like it though the tracking speed was wwaayyyy too slow for me. ( I use very fast tracking speeds on my computers ). Basically, most people who try my computers can't control the mouse and I slow it down for them.

I fixed the slow tracking speed though by making an alteration in Terminal. Now it tracks nice and fast.

The one other thing that is hard for me is the scrolling is opposite from other mice and other systems.

I regularly go between a custom Windows desktop and my Mac and they are each opposite to the other.

I know I can change the direction in settings but then that affects other things. I think there was a write up about this on this or another Apple site not too long ago.

I have ( still in box ) a Magic Trackpad. I don't know yet if I will ever use it, since I do like the feel of a mouse. We shall see.
 
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Aenygma22 said:
I have the MM2 and I like it though the tracking speed was wwaayyyy too slow for me.
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That bothers me to no end too! I have my mouse set to be very high gain too and the max setting for Magic Mouse only gets half as fast as I want it to go.

There's also software that can make it easy to tweak your mouse acceleration. I use Steer Mouse for that. It's also handy to allow you to remap buttons on multi-button mice to other actions.
 
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