Apple Magic Mouse

I ordered this mouse as a replacement for my wired Apple Mighty Mouse.

One of the big advantages of this mouse is that scrolling is via the touch sensitive surface - there are no moving parts, (like tiny scroll balls) to get caked up and stop working. Once you've set up the left and right buttons, these work really well and when you click the mouse the whole top surface tilts down a faction and makes a 'click' sound.

Using it feels very intuitive and natural and the design of the mouse as well as it's weight is pretty much perfect, at least for me.

One thing that does take some getting used to is the very fact that it is so touch sensitive and responsive. I'm a long time Mac user, (so not a newbie to any degree) but I did find it was very sensitive and it took me a few days to get used to it. Having said this, now, I'd never go back to an old style scroll wheel mouse, this feels so good you'll wonder why anyone actually used them.

The one thing I did do to improve the functionality of the mouse was to download BetterTouchTool which let's you modify the area that is touch sensitive and adds some more configuration options. This was especially useful to be able to create a non-sensitive area on the mouse's upper surface which makes it slightly more use friendly if you're someone who's hand tends to linger on the mouse. Having said this, it's still eminently useable without third party software.

Overall it's a delight to use and comes well recommended. It does need a light touch which can take some getting used to, but where I used to get occasional hand cramp, now I get none.

Get one, you won't regret it.

I've been a Mac user since 1985 - I've been using the Magic Mouse since Christmas 2009 as a replacement to my 'old' Mighty Mouse. I don't want to give a detailed review as such as that has already been covered very well here. But I would like to point out a problem that has as good as stopped me using this mouse, returning to my old, non-bluetooth mighty mouse.

I've found this mouse to be good for general use ie. surfing, scrolling through picture folders etc, but using it for what you might call 'proper' computer work like spreadsheets, Word, and even editing information in iTunes had driven me to distraction. The problem comes when you want to edit text, by highlighting, editing and clicking off, or to somewhere else on the page. Because the mouse is so sensitive to the touch of a finger you can easily find that your edited text (which may have just taken the last couple of minutes to prepare) disappears the moment you're fingers leave the keyboard and return to the mouse. The slightest touch of the finger clears all that previous work if you are not very, VERY careful.

I thought that this may just be a thing to get used to (it does after all need a little practice) but after a couple of months constant use (and constant frustration) this mouse has found itself in the drawer, which is a shame because other than that I really like it. I think the way this mouse works is certainly the way ahead, but Apple need to do a far better job of it than this!

I would also like to point out that the batteries supplied lasted from Christmas day, to the end of January (barely five weeks)

I ordered my Magic Mouse direct from Apple and it took quite a while to be delivered; over 1 week. However, it comes complete with 2x AA batteries, stored in a very slick plastic box where it is held in place with clear sticky tabs. Pairing was done in about 10 seconds after which searching for an Apple software update took about another 5 minutes.

I run the last of the G5 PPC iMacs, so I can only go as far as Leopard on the operating system. Some of the scrolling options are slightly limited compared with the Intel processor iMacs and Snow Leopard, in that the vertical scrolling has no 'weight' behind it, allowing the list or image to freewheel for a moment or two. I flick my finger and the image moves with my finger, just like a scroll wheel.

It is low and smooth and has seemingly caused some to comment that their hands become cramped, especially since they have to hold the mouse with thumb and finger to stop it scooting around the table top. To avoid this I placed my mouse on a mouse pad with a fabric weave top layer and all is well. I have had no hand cramp luckily but you do need to remember this is now a finger-tip controlled mouse, not a grab and shove. It is not somewhere to park your right hand (or left) with it tucked away moulded to your every hand crease and wrinkle. This needs a newer light touch and it works very well.

The top plastic layer is hinged internally at about where the Apple symbol is. Thus when you click the mouse the whole top surface moves a fraction of a millimetre with a positive 'click' sound and feel. In this respect it is like an 'ordinary' mouse. It feels quite weighty, which was a pleasant surprise, and all the better for it. Once the software has updated itself, the 'surface' can be enabled for scrolling and swiping. It is very intuitive, rather like the earlier mighty mouse with its miniature scroll-ball but this has the added feature of two finger swiping for backwards and forwards movements through pictures or web pages.

I enabled the 'secondary key' function, which is Windows speak for the right mouse button and then loaded a simply wonderful free add-on called On My Command (OMC), which lists a whole spread of scripts that, in effect, make the right-click feature the same as Windows. Copy and Paste are now simple mouse functions only; no more faffing about with Command-C and Command-V. With this and the new finger scroll movements I have found a simply beautiful elegant computer interface.

I recommend it. Get used to it, it's worth it, believe me.