Apple Magic Mouse: Just Got It & I Hate It. Wanna Buy?

Magic Mouse (Multi-Touch)

It took me long enough, but I finally got the Apple Magic Mouse. My precious. I was too slow to get my hands on one the first shipments that arrived here in Malta and the next shipment was delayed for several weeks because of bad weather conditions throughout Europe for the past month or so.

But today – I finally got it. I wish I could return it…

Well, it looks stunning. The ergonomics though, terrible. I kinda knew that (I do read reviews…). The old Mighty Mouse sucked so much I cannot believe it (I still have it though, hidden far back in my bottom desk drawer), I figured the Magic one must be better – and it is, a lot better. Just not good enough.

First of all, it’s amazingly slow. Setting the tracking speed to max (fastest) and I still have to move twice the distance with it, than my old Logitech mouse. Means I have to use the entire mouse pad to get from one side of the screen, to another. I didn’t buy Magic Mouse to workout.

Luckily, there’s an app a hack for that. There seems to be a few, but I’m using this one. Simply go into Terminal and copy/paste the following:

defaults write -globalDomain com.apple.mouse.scaling -float 12.0

Now, logout and log back in. It will move a lot faster now. I still don’t like it though, it moves in mysterious ways compared to my other Logitech mices. I doubt it’s a question of getting used to it – and even if I do get used to it, I’m concerned about the long-term affects the poor ergonomics will have on my wrist, considering that I spend most of my day in front of a computer (most of the time with a Logitech MX Revolution mouse though, at the office).

Other things I miss about the Magic Mouse compared to my Logitech’s:

  • No button I can assign the CMD+H shortcut for hiding windows. I use that shortcut often to quickly get rid of windows that I don’t need to work in, or if I just open up TweetDeck to check for updates, then CMD+H (via the mouse button) to get it out of the way again. It’s just part of my workflow and I love it.
  • No buttons to assign next/previous tab in Firefox/Safari. It does have two-finger swipe to go forward/back in websites and other applications, but no tab switching.

I’m gonna give it a few more days just to see how it pans out but I’m afraid I just need to accept a 69 euro loss. Unless somebody comes a long, willing to buy it for, say, 40?

14 thoughts on “Apple Magic Mouse: Just Got It & I Hate It. Wanna Buy?”

  1. I have to thank you Klaus….. Now I won’t be looking to obtain one of these anytime soon, the headline says it all.
    .-= Extreme John´s last blog ..A Day in the Life of.. Episode 5 [video] =-.

    Reply
    • Maybe I should have included this in the post – but if you don’t require additional buttons on the mouse and you don’t use it for a full day, the Magic Mouse is probably just fine. And it looks great too. But for my use, it’s just too bad.
      .-= Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Friday Flick Find: Steve Jobs’ Meanest Jokes About Microsoft =-.

      Reply
  2. Ahh that’s too bad Klaus. I never really got into the whole “Apple” product line. I’ve always used a PC and have bought 3rd party mice, keyboards, monitors… you name it.

    Hopefully you can sell it on Ebay or on here! 🙂
    .-= Brad Ney´s last blog ..Further Accelerate Your Blog – MaxCDN is offering 1TB of Bandwidth for $10 =-.

    Reply
    • I already sold it 🙂 Half the price though, but at least he’s happy that he now got a cheap Magic Mouse.
      .-= Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Friday Flick Find: Steve Jobs’ Meanest Jokes About Microsoft =-.

      Reply
  3. That sucks to bad you can’t return it. Greg Ellison
    .-= Greg Ellison´s last blog ..Learn About Affiliate Marketing from a Pro =-.

    Reply
    • Yeah – but I already sold it again, though not at full price, so I had a loss on it.
      .-= Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Friday Flick Find: Steve Jobs’ Meanest Jokes About Microsoft =-.

      Reply
    • Like I just wrote to Extreme John’s comment: if you don’t require additional buttons on the mouse and you don’t use it for a full day, the Magic Mouse is probably just fine. And it looks great too. But for my use, it’s just too bad.
      .-= Klaus @ TechPatio´s last blog ..Friday Flick Find: Steve Jobs’ Meanest Jokes About Microsoft =-.

      Reply
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  6. To each his own I guess. I LOVE my Magic Mouse. I use it all day, every day. 🙂
    .-= Alex Suarez´s last blog ..Fun With Fish Eyes =-.

    Reply
  7. Thanks mate, I was looking at getting one of these but it just goes to show, you cant trust all they say on the products sites etc about these being so good 🙁
    Thanks again for saving me money and time by not getting this dude 🙂

    Reply
  8. This officially ends my curiosity over this mouse. Thanks. Saved me $70USD.

    I’ll also await your review of the desktop mouse pad thing, whatever they call it. I know santa is bringing you one of those..

    Reply
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