Which rodent should I get?
Ok, the time has come to ditch the Apple Pro Mouse. Gaming and OS X are just not working with it any more.
So what should I get based on the following requirements:
? Optical or dual-optical (doesn't matter to me, really).
? left and right mouse buttons and a wheel (preferably clickable). I would also like a thumb button (like the Logitech mouse).
? OS X support is a must!
? Not so huge that I can't stick it in my Ti PB case and take on the road (my Apple Pro Mouse is pretty much the largest I'd want to go)
? None of that weird track-ball crap. I want a mouse, damnit.
? Price is some consideration.
That Logitech dual optical mouse looked perfect until they mentioned that they don't support OS X (they even wrote it with a '10', meaning they REALLY don't know what they are doing, IMHO).
TIA
-Ender
So what should I get based on the following requirements:
? Optical or dual-optical (doesn't matter to me, really).
? left and right mouse buttons and a wheel (preferably clickable). I would also like a thumb button (like the Logitech mouse).
? OS X support is a must!
? Not so huge that I can't stick it in my Ti PB case and take on the road (my Apple Pro Mouse is pretty much the largest I'd want to go)
? None of that weird track-ball crap. I want a mouse, damnit.
? Price is some consideration.
That Logitech dual optical mouse looked perfect until they mentioned that they don't support OS X (they even wrote it with a '10', meaning they REALLY don't know what they are doing, IMHO).
TIA
-Ender
Comments
<strong>That Logitech dual optical mouse looked perfect until they mentioned that they don't support OS X (they even wrote it with a '10', meaning they REALLY don't know what they are doing, IMHO).
TIA
-Ender</strong><hr></blockquote>
For now all the buttons except for the thumb button work. If you want a Logitech then just use the left, right and scroll wheel in the mean time and wait for USB Overdrive to be released. I've got the Mouseman Optical Wireless and it's great.
And do most games recognize all of the buttons? All except the thumb button?
Thanks
-Ender
<a href="http://www.kensington.com/products/pro_mic_d1326.html#sys_reqs" target="_blank">http://www.kensington.com/products/pro_mic_d1326.html#sys_reqs</a>
I haven't personally tried it, but kensington has always been prettty good about supporting Mac.
You may, or may not, have to do the workaround on this <a href="http://kensington.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/kensington.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?" target="_blank">page</a>. But, at least they supply you with the workaround.
It glows blue. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
[ 01-05-2002: Message edited by: seb ]</p>
Apparently its a final version.
Hell, it's only $29.95. Maybe I'll get myself one. Way better than the buggy MS mouse, IMO. I like this Apple Mouse I got for free, but the one button thing is getting kinda tiring.
<strong>
It glows blue. <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
</strong><hr></blockquote>
If you're talking about the LED on the mouse, it's not blue. The back where the light glows is blue but the light itself is red.
It glows blue because of the blue plastic.
<strong>
It glows blue because of the blue plastic.</strong><hr></blockquote>
It doesn't though. You see the red even though there's blue plastic.
I guess red and blue would make purple, wouldn't it.
oh well.
[ 01-05-2002: Message edited by: seb ]</p>
So here's my experience so far:
left click, right click, scroll wheel (for scrolling), and scroll wheel click all work in OS X. Thumb click is a bit strange, but it is recognized. In the Finder, it is like a left click on some things, but at other times it does nothing. Strange. But it doesn't really have a purpose that it could fulfill anyway IMO.
Sacrifice recognizes the left click, right click, and scroll wheel (but not scroll wheel click).
Red Faction for OS X (version 1.2) recognizes left and right click. No scroll wheel recognition.
OmniWeb 4.1b works great except has no use for the thumb click. If you click the scrollwheel and then rotate it the page jumps like pageup/pagedown. If you just rotate the wheel, it is like pressing up/down on the arrow keys. Good functionality.
IE 5.1 is the same as OW except clicking the mouse wheel does nothing different than not clicking it.
I haven't tried the Quake/UT type games yet, so I don't know if they've written their own support for the extra buttons or not. I might do that later. I'll also try Giants later.
Thanks for all the advice
-Ender
Updating my last post, I've been playing Giants: Citizen Kabuto for a while now, and it recognizes every function of this mouse perfectly. I like mapping the thumb button to the jet-pack, right click to sniper mode, scroll wheel to weapon select, and scroll wheel click to the zoom level (how much zoom the sniper mode has). This frees up the keyboard hand to go forward/back left/right and the turbo.
I wish more games would utilize input devices as well as Giants. The OmniGroup really does things the right way; from their browser, to their utilities, to their games. I hope they continue such excellent work.
Oh, and this is definitely not the mouse you want if you are a roadwarrior. It's significantly larger than the Apple Pro mouse. I may continue to use the pro mouse for my Ti PB when on the road, or I may look for a small two button/scroll wheel optical replacement. Too bad all the wireless mouse options I've seen have that huge (relatively) receiver. If it were just a small USB plug with little or no cord, with a small mouse, it would be virtually perfect for planes and cars.
Ah well, gotta leave something for next year, eh?
-Ender
[ 01-06-2002: Message edited by: Ender ]</p>
Quake and Urban Terror recognize all three buttons and the scroll mouse.
-Ender