Review: Magic Mouse
I initially reviewed the Wacom Bamboo Touch and took a bunch of marks off because of:
a) discomfort
b) poor button placement
c) overly-sensitive double-tap recognition.
After using the Magic Mouse for the better part of an hour (after figuring out I needed some obscure Apple software update that did not show up automatically under . . . that's right, SOFTWARE UPDATE), my experience is sweet and sour, which is great if you're eating Chinese, but not so great when you're testing a mouse.
So I finally got the mouse to work, but even before pairing it I noticed it had a button. A multitouch mouse with a button! Oooh, middle-click here I come! Wrong. No middle click. No assigning any functions to that button . . . because it's THE button. That's right, bring your Mighty Mouse thinking along because that is EXACTLY what Apple duplicated for the right/left click functions. So that's Strike One. Why am I clicking left and right on a MULTITOUCH mouse?
So what are the multitouch gestures? Screen Zoom (*yawn*, unless you specifically need it, does this need to be a standard gesture??), right/left swipe to go back and forth between webpages (and I assume any other horizontally-facing pages), and up/down scroll, which works like a dream. Vertical touch scrolling (with momentum turned on) is like cream for cats. Nicely done. But that's it.
So without left/right click (or "tap") touch functions the Magic Mouse feels half-finished. Admittedly, the vertical scrolling is sweet. But not sweet enough to divert my attention from the fact that a) I have no tap functions, and b) I have middle-click, which I loved to use in order to open a new Finder window.
But it's not all bad. There's some good here. Read on.
Weight:
Apple nailed this. This has to be one of the lightest mice I've ever used. I can move it around using two fingers with no effort at all. Mind you, I'm using Lithium batteries. Note that the mouse doesn't seem to work on only one battery, unlike the wireless Mighty Mouse. Odd, but it doesn't detract from the experience. This thing glides.
Shape:
The Magic Mouse's shape might seem awkward at first glance, but start using it and you'll see that it's shaped for SPEED. Two fingers up top are all you really need to move this thing. The low-slung profile looks great. The right/left swipe movements feel fine. Surprisingly, the acrylic texture feels good and it looks like even sweaty fingers won't hamper the use of what few touch gestures there are on this thing.
Looks:
Sublime.
It's fast. But is it comfortable?
This might be a personal preference, but being able to rest your hand on a mouse is a good thing. With the Magic Mouse you're only resting the tips of your fingers on the mouse. Not quite as comfortable as my Mighty Mouse. And those somewhat sharp, angular edges of the Magic Mouse don't quite feel right. My Mighty Mouse feels like "home", and felt like it from Day One. The Magic Mouse feels like it'll get the job done faster, but pull me along for the ride and expect me to shut up while it's doing me all those other favours. My wireless Mighty Mouse is like an S-Class Merc. The Magic Mouse is a Lambo. You get the idea.
Things I'll ignore:
Tracking. OS X's tracking/mouse acceleration is horrible. Been this way for years. I'll ignore this because it's not really a mouse-specific issue. There are terminal hacks and utilities (like USB Overdrive) which solves this issue. But I still hate having to look to 3rd parties just to get better tracking.
Perhaps USB Overdrive will also extend the touch functionality of the Magic Mouse, though I'm not betting on it. There's a new version already in the works with Magic Mouse support, so we'll see.
Really annoying:
So no right/left taps. Fine. Alright, I'll let this slide. But in that case, where's my middle click? At least give us ONE other button or somewhere else to touch in order to get a lousy middle click! Cool vertical scrolling and a great shape doesn't quite make up for this lost functionality. Yes, I can reach for the keyboard, but why should I? Can I at least assign left swipe to open the Finder and right swipe to do something else? Please?
Clicking takes a lot more downward pressure than with the Mighty Mouse (especially left-clicking, for some reason), or with any other mouse, really. I don't like that. When the click functionality on a multitouch mouse is NOT an afterthought, it should be implemented correctly.
Potential:
There's always the possibility that Apple could extend the touch functionality of the Magic Mouse or that a 3rd party will do it.
Conclusion:
I think The Magic Mouse's home is back in the Apple Store. My desktop still belongs to Apple's wireless Mighty Mouse (yes, I've got one of the ones that actually work right and continue to work right.) Gimped touch functionality plus ergonomics that aren't quite up to par all but break the deal. But the speed and the vertical scrolling are sweet.
I'll hang on to the Magic Mouse for a while longer and see if the seas suddenly part, but I'm not expecting any miracles.
70/100 (B-)
REVISED (1/11/09)
I'm bumping up the score.
I'm beginning to feel the ergonomic benefits of the Magic Mouse. Your hand, while not resting on top of the mouse surface, does rest in a more natural position. It's painless and it allows for very precise movement. Further, it can be gripped very high or very low. Nearly the entire surface of the mouse is responsive.
The addition of middle-click functionality in some form would put it over the top.
Clicking takes more pressure than it should, however, especially right-clicking.
80/100 (A-)
REVISED (2/11/09) AND FINAL SCORE
Yes, this review took nearly three days to complete. Interestingly enough, it shows the progression of my experiences with this mouse. The ergonomic benefits and sheer speed (due to the light weight) are becoming much more pronounced. I feel compelled to give Apple even more credit because these are such salient factors. The Magic Mouse has replaced my wireless Mighty Mouse completely, and even though there is no middle-click option, I'm finding that given the benefits of the mouse I'm not missing it as much.
A middle-click option or some sort of similar tap functionality would earn an A+.
All in all, well-done, Apple.
Final score:
85/100 (A)
a) discomfort
b) poor button placement
c) overly-sensitive double-tap recognition.
After using the Magic Mouse for the better part of an hour (after figuring out I needed some obscure Apple software update that did not show up automatically under . . . that's right, SOFTWARE UPDATE), my experience is sweet and sour, which is great if you're eating Chinese, but not so great when you're testing a mouse.
So I finally got the mouse to work, but even before pairing it I noticed it had a button. A multitouch mouse with a button! Oooh, middle-click here I come! Wrong. No middle click. No assigning any functions to that button . . . because it's THE button. That's right, bring your Mighty Mouse thinking along because that is EXACTLY what Apple duplicated for the right/left click functions. So that's Strike One. Why am I clicking left and right on a MULTITOUCH mouse?
So what are the multitouch gestures? Screen Zoom (*yawn*, unless you specifically need it, does this need to be a standard gesture??), right/left swipe to go back and forth between webpages (and I assume any other horizontally-facing pages), and up/down scroll, which works like a dream. Vertical touch scrolling (with momentum turned on) is like cream for cats. Nicely done. But that's it.
So without left/right click (or "tap") touch functions the Magic Mouse feels half-finished. Admittedly, the vertical scrolling is sweet. But not sweet enough to divert my attention from the fact that a) I have no tap functions, and b) I have middle-click, which I loved to use in order to open a new Finder window.
But it's not all bad. There's some good here. Read on.
Weight:
Apple nailed this. This has to be one of the lightest mice I've ever used. I can move it around using two fingers with no effort at all. Mind you, I'm using Lithium batteries. Note that the mouse doesn't seem to work on only one battery, unlike the wireless Mighty Mouse. Odd, but it doesn't detract from the experience. This thing glides.
Shape:
The Magic Mouse's shape might seem awkward at first glance, but start using it and you'll see that it's shaped for SPEED. Two fingers up top are all you really need to move this thing. The low-slung profile looks great. The right/left swipe movements feel fine. Surprisingly, the acrylic texture feels good and it looks like even sweaty fingers won't hamper the use of what few touch gestures there are on this thing.
Looks:
Sublime.
It's fast. But is it comfortable?
This might be a personal preference, but being able to rest your hand on a mouse is a good thing. With the Magic Mouse you're only resting the tips of your fingers on the mouse. Not quite as comfortable as my Mighty Mouse. And those somewhat sharp, angular edges of the Magic Mouse don't quite feel right. My Mighty Mouse feels like "home", and felt like it from Day One. The Magic Mouse feels like it'll get the job done faster, but pull me along for the ride and expect me to shut up while it's doing me all those other favours. My wireless Mighty Mouse is like an S-Class Merc. The Magic Mouse is a Lambo. You get the idea.
Things I'll ignore:
Tracking. OS X's tracking/mouse acceleration is horrible. Been this way for years. I'll ignore this because it's not really a mouse-specific issue. There are terminal hacks and utilities (like USB Overdrive) which solves this issue. But I still hate having to look to 3rd parties just to get better tracking.
Perhaps USB Overdrive will also extend the touch functionality of the Magic Mouse, though I'm not betting on it. There's a new version already in the works with Magic Mouse support, so we'll see.
Really annoying:
So no right/left taps. Fine. Alright, I'll let this slide. But in that case, where's my middle click? At least give us ONE other button or somewhere else to touch in order to get a lousy middle click! Cool vertical scrolling and a great shape doesn't quite make up for this lost functionality. Yes, I can reach for the keyboard, but why should I? Can I at least assign left swipe to open the Finder and right swipe to do something else? Please?
Clicking takes a lot more downward pressure than with the Mighty Mouse (especially left-clicking, for some reason), or with any other mouse, really. I don't like that. When the click functionality on a multitouch mouse is NOT an afterthought, it should be implemented correctly.
Potential:
There's always the possibility that Apple could extend the touch functionality of the Magic Mouse or that a 3rd party will do it.
Conclusion:
I think The Magic Mouse's home is back in the Apple Store. My desktop still belongs to Apple's wireless Mighty Mouse (yes, I've got one of the ones that actually work right and continue to work right.) Gimped touch functionality plus ergonomics that aren't quite up to par all but break the deal. But the speed and the vertical scrolling are sweet.
I'll hang on to the Magic Mouse for a while longer and see if the seas suddenly part, but I'm not expecting any miracles.
70/100 (B-)
REVISED (1/11/09)
I'm bumping up the score.
I'm beginning to feel the ergonomic benefits of the Magic Mouse. Your hand, while not resting on top of the mouse surface, does rest in a more natural position. It's painless and it allows for very precise movement. Further, it can be gripped very high or very low. Nearly the entire surface of the mouse is responsive.
The addition of middle-click functionality in some form would put it over the top.
Clicking takes more pressure than it should, however, especially right-clicking.
80/100 (A-)
REVISED (2/11/09) AND FINAL SCORE
Yes, this review took nearly three days to complete. Interestingly enough, it shows the progression of my experiences with this mouse. The ergonomic benefits and sheer speed (due to the light weight) are becoming much more pronounced. I feel compelled to give Apple even more credit because these are such salient factors. The Magic Mouse has replaced my wireless Mighty Mouse completely, and even though there is no middle-click option, I'm finding that given the benefits of the mouse I'm not missing it as much.
A middle-click option or some sort of similar tap functionality would earn an A+.
All in all, well-done, Apple.
Final score:
85/100 (A)
Comments
That's actually better than the crap Prince McLean pumps out.
Contrary to popular belief, I AM capable of objectivity.
BUT . . . my wireless Mighty Mouse is still more comfortable, and the lack of a middle-click is just killing me. I mean, come on, at least give is ONE configurable swipe, button, or tap. Even a cleverly recessed button just on the side where the thumb would be placed, completely flush with the curve and the surface. The pressed state doesn't even have to be very deep.
Lucky for Apple the vertical scrolling is so well implemented, not to mention the 360-degree scrolling. The Magic Mouse's scrolling kills Logitech's implementation now.
I'm gradually getting adjusted to the feel of the mouse. At least it doesn't hurt my hand or my wrists/forearm like the Bamboo Touch did. That wasn't a mouse, obviously, I'm just comparing multitouch navigation solutions.
BUT . . . my wireless Mighty Mouse is still more comfortable, and the lack of a middle-click is just killing me. I mean, come on, at least give is ONE configurable swipe, button, or tap. Even a cleverly recessed button just on the side where the thumb would be placed, completely flush with the curve and the surface. The pressed state doesn't even have to be very deep.
Lucky for Apple the vertical scrolling is so well implemented, not to mention the 360-degree scrolling.
I haven't used it much but I it seems to have a better feel in my hand, scrolls and clicks better, IMO, compared to a MM.
I'm not missing any of the buttons that was on the Mighty Mouse because i've turned on Active Screen Corners.
The mouse in my opinion is quite light, and definitely lighter than the Mighty IMO.
Moving it around is fantastic, and to scroll i'm not even holding my hand on the mouse, i'm typing and just holding one finger down the top of it and it just scrolls.
SO natural.
I've had the Magic Mouse now for two days. It feels SO natural. The moment I got it, it just felt natural to use, and the scrolling is fantastically smooth, and quick aswell..
I'm not missing any of the buttons that was on the Mighty Mouse because i've turned on Active Screen Corners.
The mouse in my opinion is quite light, and definitely lighter than the Mighty IMO.
Moving it around is fantastic, and to scroll i'm not even holding my hand on the mouse, i'm typing and just holding one finger down the top of it and it just scrolls.
SO natural.
The scrolling is genius, I have to agree.
Well I haven't gone back to my Mighty Mouse yet, so that must be a good sign.
I too, use hot corners. But I work with the Finder a lot, so I had that set to middle click on my Mighty Mouse. I found it amazingly convenient. Unfortunately I can't open up a new Finder window via a hot corner, nor is there a universal keyboard shortcut for it, so I'm using option-command-space in order to bring up the Spotlight window, which is the same thing.
Why? Why? Why? Why? its so stupid!!!
However, as with so much from Apple outside of the core (a la Apple TV), it's just shy of being great. I'm hopeful Apple will add more controls, because if it truly is 'multi-touch'; why can't I assign specific gestures and clicks to actions?
2 fingers down when clicking and I should be able to get Expose;
3 fingers down when clicking and I should be able to show desktop or spaces.
A circle with 2 fingers should open a finder window.
Pinch to zoom should work
resting my entire palm and all fingers on the mouse for 5 seconds should sleep/wake the machine...etc.
Hopefully Apple or a 3rd party adds these types of functions soon; because I love the hardware.
They'll never learn though, that much is a given at this stage in the game.
Here's my design I made before magic was announced:
I think some of the early reviewers wrote this one off too soon.
It still has some pretty big flaws though. Ergonomically it's too low, the sides are sharp, the right-click doesn't work without lifting the index finger, it only has two button support and no custom gestures, momentum isn't supported under 10.5, the tracking is too slow and the pads on the bottom aren't horizontal so they add extra resistance to the left-right movement (and add wear to a wooden desk).
It's a good mouse and a huge improvement over the old one but that's a lot of flaws and a good number of them are deal-breakers for me personally. I really want the scroll functionality it has but other than that, it's a fairly average mouse if you've used Logitech or Microsoft wireless mice before.
Here's my design I made before magic was announced
Rather than the split shell, they just need pressure sensitivity so they know where the mouse press happened. They could even have had a button on either side so that one pushed down more than the other but pressure means more than two buttons. The scroll works better over the whole mouse than in a constrained area, it's a must for side scrolling.
I used one in a store for the first time today. WOW! After reading so many negative reviews, I had low expectations. I now believe that most reviewers are just used to saying bad thins about Apple mice. For me, it was love at first touch. The tracking was smooth. The scrolling is genius. The two finger swipe will transform how we interact with webpages and other applications. I loved the weight. It was easy to grip. I did not have to chase it around the dest when gesturing as the touch area is very sensitive. I think some of the early reviewers wrote this one off too soon.
I started out almost hating it. In my review I mentioned initially that it belonged back in the store, not on my desk.
Slowly but surely it grew on me and I began to appreciate its strengths, which became more pronounced as time wore on.
Now, I love it. My wireless Mighty Mouse is in storage along with several (very good) Logitech mice.
The Magic Mouse is a pleasure to use, and ergonomically speaking (for my hand, anyway), shockingly good, given its low-slung style.
One side note. Even if you do not like the mouse for whatever reason, you have to admit that it is one of the most beautiful pieces of consumer electronics to come out in a long time. This mouse in its retail packaging should be in the Museum of Fine Arts. I will keep this one on the display case long after its usefulness as a mouse is past. I know I sound like a gushing fan, but you really have to see it in person if you have not had the chance.
Ya know, those Apple logos are expensive because of the quality materials they're made out of! Definitely worth 25% more!
Just brought one home and I must say I am even more impressed. I'm not sure why people are complaining about the ergonomics of this mouse. To be sure, it is different, but not uncomfortable. We are all used to our whole palms covering the mouse. Not so with the Magic Mouse. I rest the lower part of my hand on the desk and place two fingers on the upper surface of the mouse. My thumb and other two fingers fall naturally into place along the sides of the mouse. My hand makes no contact with the mouse save for the fingertips that control and move it. My hand stays in it most natural position. This feels much more natural and ergonomic. We no longer have to palm the mouse like a basketball.
My hand and wrist barely move. This mouse allows for extremely precise fingertip control. I haven't only gotten used to this, but I've come to prefer it.
Good one Ireland!
Ya know, those Apple logos are expensive because of the quality materials they're made out of! Definitely worth 25% more!
If they could have found a way to make the Apple logo light up, I would have paid 25% more.
The Logitech MX Revolution is about 10X better than the Magic Marketing Mouse. It's better in a number of ways, even scrolling. "To me" the MMM is unusable.
You are so right in stating that the Logitech is a good mouse.
I haven't used the Magic Mouse, so I can't compare it with the Logitech.
However, using the Logitech Evolution (smaller than the Revolution) I can send the cursor anywhere on my 22" monitor (and second monitor) desktops using my thumb, little finger, and a slight hand movement.
My index and middle fingers rest lightly on the left and right split buttons, and the right/left/up/down (clicking or spinning) scroll wheel is between those fingers.
Behind the wheel is a (programmable) button that I use to show open apps. When clicked, I can point the cursor at an app and open it with a right click.
My thumb is resting (in a hollowed area for the thumb) on the page forward/backward buttons.
There is a programmable button immediately next to the Left (split) button. I haven't thought up a use for this yet.
The Scroll wheel is also a programmable button. I use it to send the cursor to the Apple Logo or to the 'enter' button in a dialog box. There are times when I lose the cursor among many open files on both screens. Sending the cursor to the Apple Logo locates it for me.
I can't imagine a mouse that is more versatile than this one. Probably, the F-22 Raptor's control stick has more usable buttons than this Evolution. My Apple mice are sleeping in a storage box, never to be awakened.
I have small hands more suited to the Evolution though I have a rechargeable Revolution which I use when the batteries in the Evolution die. I use a separate battery charger for the Evolution mouse.