Magic Mouse use

[Barrygou]

I'm using the Magic Mouse that came with my iMac. I like many of the features of it but I had to find a very large mouse Pad, 9 x 14 inch, because moving the cursor from one side to the other of the 27 inch display requires a wide "movement". I only see one setting in the System Prefs / Mouse, under the Point & Click tab, for "Tracking". I have it set to the 3rd fastest. I tried different speeds. It seems ridiculous to have a mouse pad that large and fortunately I have the desk space for it. Am I doing something incorrectly? Is there another / better mouse or 3rd party software to control the Magic Mouse?

 

[pigoo3]

It seems ridiculous to have a mouse pad that large and fortunately I have the desk space for it. Am I doing something incorrectly?

Two things:

1. You don't necessarily need a mouse pad with the Magic Mouse. When "mice" had a roller ball on the bottom. Mouse pads were needs for "traction" for the rollerball. Magic Mice…have no "roller-ball". Of course I realize that you may have a desktop surface you don't want to scratch or mar.
2. Mouse pads (length & width) are not designed (and have not been designed)…to be an exact representation of the "screen real-estate" on the display.

When the mouse gets near the edge of the mouse pad…you're supposed to lift the mouse up…reposition it on the mouse pad…and continue on.

Also. If you were not using a mouse pad…and never lifted up the mouse. At some point you would be 5 feet away from the computer. When using a mouse it's just natural during use…for the mouse to "wonder-off" in all sorts of directions. No mouse pad (no matter how large)…will ever be big enough.

- Nick

 

[Barrygou]

Thanks for the information. I'm trying the Magic Mouse, without the pad, just on my desk surface. It's wood with a clear coat. It seems to work better. Will the mouse wear on the desk's surface? Could I put felt strips on the bottom of the mouse?

 

[pigoo3]

Will the mouse wear on the desk's surface? Could I put felt strips on the bottom of the mouse?

I'm willing to bet that over time & with the amount of movement we do with a mouse…some noticeable scratching/marring will eventually be seen in the clear coat/polyurethane. If attaching some felt strips will help…you could try that.

- Nick

 

[Barrygou]

Felt does not work on the two, black plastic strips, on the bottom of the Magic Mouse. For some technical reason, unknown to me, those two strips on the bottom have to be in direct contact with some surface.

 

[chscag]

Thought I would throw in my 2 cents worth here. First, I absolutely can't stand the Magic Mouse or any rodent that Apple has provided over the years. They wear out quickly and are difficult to clean when the scrolling mechanism becomes dirty. I also have a 27" iMac and keep a large mouse pad on my desk. But I use an inexpensive wired mouse from iHome which has outlasted the Apple brand.

If you can get used to it, the Magic Trackpad that Apple sells is easy to use and does not require a pad or large desktop area. A bit pricey, but you can sometimes find them on eBay or Craig's List much cheaper than sold direct by Apple.

 

[pigoo3]

Felt does not work on the two, black plastic strips, on the bottom of the Magic Mouse. For some technical reason, unknown to me, those two strips on the bottom have to be in direct contact with some surface.

It may have more to do with distance. Maybe the felt strips are too thick increasing the distance from the mouse & desktop surface…and throwing off the mouse calibration. I'm actually not a big mouse person. I prefer trackball input devices…or maybe even a Magic Trackpad before a mouse (to each their own).

- Nick

 

[corbintech]

Although I really did like the way the magic mouse worked, it was a battery hog and the features were not worth it to me.

I have been using this mouse for years and love it. I have turned others on to it and it takes about a week to get used to and after that you cannot imagine going back to a regular mouse. Surprised me, it is even fine for gaming (for me anyways):

Wireless Trackball M570 - Logitech Support

I really do like mine and any wrist pain I ever had with a regular mouse is gone. No need for a mouse pad.

 

[harryb2448]

corbintech have you thought of using an Apple trackpad with your iMac as Nick suggests? Neat and tidy with a Twelve South MagicWand dock.

For me no going back to meeces!


http://store.apple.com/au/product/H3443ZM/A/twelve-south-magicwand

 

[corbintech]

corbintech have you thought of using an Apple trackpad with your iMac as Nick suggests? Neat and tidy with a Twelve South MagicWand dock.

For me no going back to meeces!


Twelve South MagicWand - Apple Store (Australia)

I don't think it will fit the bill for the little bit of gaming I do.

Besides, I have used the mouse above for so long that anything else just seems strange. I don't even use the stock keyboard as I wanted a number pad.

 

[pm-r]

Even though I don't use or even enjoy using an Apple Magic Mouse, but for those occasions that I have, I've never had problems tracking with a single large wrist twist to cover even a 27" display using the Pref Pane Mouse settings, so I'm just wondering if there isn't something wrong with that Magic Mouse???

PS: Regardless of optical mouse used, I've always found a good quality, fine textured and non-patterned mousepad to work best.

And BTW, my wife has a miniature Indian rug mousepad, and if I use it with my hi-def Logitech mouse, the tracking barely moves, even with the mouse pref pane set to fastest. So check your mousing surface or even try a large plain paper writing pad for a mouse pad and see if there's any difference.

 

[corbintech]

Even though I don't use or even enjoy using an Apple Magic Mouse, but for those occasions that I have, I've never had problems tracking with a single large wrist twist to cover even a 27" display using the Pref Pane Mouse settings, so I'm just wondering if there isn't something wrong with that Magic Mouse???

PS: Regardless of optical mouse used, I've always found a good quality, fine textured and non-patterned mousepad to work best.

And BTW, my wife has a miniature Indian rug mousepad, and if I use it with my hi-def Logitech mouse, the tracking barely moves, even with the mouse pref pane set to fastest. So check your mousing surface or even try a large plain paper writing pad for a mouse pad and see if there's any difference.

Thats a very good point.

And, one could go into setting and set sensitivity which in turn would mean it takes less to move it more.