Product: Apple Magic Mouse
Price: $69
Rating: Strong Recommend
When Apple released the Magic Mouse a few months ago I instantly wanted one. Bruce, my life and housemate's only response was, "Do we really need another mouse?" When our review unit came in the mail, who was the one ripping the packaging open? Exactly. Bruce's series of responses once he got the Magic Mouse synched goes as follows:
"How did they do this?"
"This is the best thing ever!"
"This is the best mouse ever, because it has nothing noisy or clunky on it."
Unboxing: Like with all Apple products, the packaging for Apple's new Magic Mouse is inspiring. No oversized boxes here, rather a petite plastic coffin that perfectly fits the mouse, a small manual, and a warranty booklet. Two double A batteries are already installed in the mouse; all you have to do next is synch the mouse with your computer and you're ready to go. The bottom of the case has simple illustrative instructions on how to take advantage of the Magic Mouse's multi-touch capabilities. 
Performance: When you first look at the Magic Mouse and see just how basic it's design aesthetic is, it's hard to believe that it can compete with more complicated mice with their track balls, right and left buttons, and crazy ergonomic shapes, but it can and it does. The first thing we noted when using the Magic Mouse is how hardy it feels. Without a flimsy trackball or wheel to scroll through pages, there are literally no moving parts that can break, get gunked up, or lose their abilities. The laser tracking engine Apple has built into the mouse allows you to scroll, click, and move onscreen from almost any surface. We moved our Magic Mouse from our home office to our Mac Mini run media center in the living room and were impressed with how much better this mouse works when using our couch as mouse pad than our previous mouse. 
I've tried using this mouse and I found it terribly frustrating. The swiping motions almost always moved the mouse itself, requiring me to hold the mouse with my thumb and pinky before using my index and middle fingers to swipe. Now, maybe this is because I have large hands, but this awkward "hold-and-swipe" combo forced my wrist in an uncomfortable position. Since I spend approx. 8 hours using my mouse, I could see joint problems being a result of prolonged use.
view ominoustoad's profile
I've had this mouse for a while now, and absolutely love it. I used to like the Mighty Mouse, but the ball was always getting dirty and not scrolling. This thing though has no moving parts (apart from click).
I did at first miss the middle button click, but I seem to have got used to not using it. I hope Apple allows more configuration - the device can detect 3 or 4 finger gestures, not just 2, so 3 finger click for middle button would be nice - even 2 or 3 finger up-down swipes would be good too.
Overall, I love it.
view curmi's profile
I have this mouse as well and also love it. I hated the constant cleaning required for the Mighty Mouse. So much better.
view modernguy's profile
I tried this mouse at the apple store and could not even get it to scroll. I am a tech junkie / geek, and yet I can't get it to scroll... no sale. I even went in and checked the settings. no dice.
Missing the expose buttons is a huge hit too. seems like they could have left those in.
I am a "claw" user but i even felt the mouse a bit small and too flat to hold comfortably. i even have small hands, it was no help.
For those stuck with the mighty mouse, to clean it. flip it upside down on a standard sheet of printer paper, push it down and roll the hell out of it. I had a mouse that hadn't scrolled down in weeks and did this and it works great now. I'll take rubbing my mouse on a sheet of paper once a week over the magic mouse.
view jmorey's profile
jmorey: any chance the demo model was used to a state of non-function? I've seen that a few times at Apple Stores where crowds can be pretty brutal on demo products.
view gregory's profile
I can't imagine that I ever used another mouse. Astonishingly good.
view matthewhambrick's profile
The mouse is nice, but it's not my cup of tea. I like having extra buttons on a mouse because they provide short cuts so you don't have to press the back button on browsers or changing the volume.
view synapblink's profile
odd if a touch mouse could be used to the point of un-usability. it's not like a button that broke, it has none...
plus i am brutal enough on my mouse, 10 hours of use a day, so if it can't stand up to that, another check on the list of Cons
view jmorey's profile
I tried this at the store, and found that to get it to scroll as quickly as I would like, i had to take my hand off the mouse, and move my finger down the entire thing. It wasn't comfortable and felt awkward.
Possibly, this is something that would just need to be tweaked in the settings, but there is no way for me to find out until the holiday shopping rush dies off. Anyone else have this experience?
view mr_c0w's profile
I was wondering what mouse pad you had there? And would I be able to purchase one?
view alexghui's profile