Apple Mighty Mouse Wireless Kit
by Apple Computer
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Our Price: $89.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $26.99 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Apple Mighty Mouse Wireless Kit
Customer Review: It's mostly good.
Summary: 3 Stars
First, the praise:
Okay, I love this mouse. It's super awesome, I love that I can go anywhere with it. When I play The Sims 3 the mouse scrolls around the world wonderfully with no lag. And speaking of scrolling, the scroll ball on the mouse scrolls not only up and down, but also left and right. How cool is that? The battery life lasts a pretty long time. I usually forget that it takes batteries until I get a warning on my screen, and even then I just run the batteries down until the mouse wont click anymore. (If you own a lot of electronics that take AA's like the Mighty Mouse, Wii-motes, etc. rechargeable batteries are a GREAT investment!) I love all the buttons and how it fits into my hand, and I think it's really awesome that it's really just one big button but depending on what part you press down on depends on if you're left/right/center clicking. It's just cool. It's a very cool mouse that works well.
Now the criticism:
A lot of people have had this same problem. The scroll wheel will not last and no, you can not clean it. My iMac came with a wired Mighty Mouse. Eventually the wheel would only scroll down, but the up started working. There's no way to take the ball out and clean it. Once it's done it's done. Luckily, you do get a good run out of it. My wired mouse lasted a couple years. My boyfriend bought me a wireless one to replace it, it's about a year later, and I'm just now starting to feel the scroll stop up. Eventually, I'll need a new mouse. (If you play games on the computer you just HAVE to scroll, you can't avoid it).
Another problem that I've had is one I haven't really heard about. Correct me if I'm wrong but, the mouse will not work on a mouse pad! When I put it on a mouse pad, the cursor would either slowly drift in one direction while I had my hands completely off the mouse, or the cursor would jump around as I moved the mouse. The first two mouse pads I tried had designs on them and I thought it might have something to do with the laser and one of the colors. I got a new mouse pad which had grey and black diamonds on it (very close in color, and very small pattern) and I got the same thing. I mean, maybe i just need to have a solid colored mouse pad? Maybe I've got a funky mouse, I can't be sure. I am sure, however, that the paint on my desk is all worn off where my mouse is, and I get a constant buildup of gunk on the bottom of my mouse from whatever it scrapes up off my desk. It's really frustrating. I didn't have this problem on my wired mouse at all, I have no idea why it's happening on this one.
So summary: It's a really great mouse as long as you don't mind replacing it ever so often, have a good battery stash, and don't mind not using a mousepad!
Customer Review: disappointing and annoying
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm baffled as to how Apple ever released this product. My experience with Apple engineering has tended to be very positive but this mouse is very disappointing.
Initially, I loved it. The shape, surface, and weight are all dead on. It's very precise and the scroll ball works very well. Unfortunately, the negatives have outweighed the positives over time. I have been using it for over a year.
* The side buttons are useless. They require a ridiculous amount of pressure and you have to change the position of your hand in order to use them because they are located too far back. The problem is that the side buttons are not "buttons" at all. They are flexible (supposedly) plastic. Also, they only work as a single button and cannot be used independently, as on other mice.
* It takes practice to get used to right-clicking and, even then, it's easy to screw up. The touch-sensitive technology is ingenious but you need to make sure your left finger is nowhere near the surface of the mouse in order to right-click. You can't just rest your hand on the mouse. Also, right-clicking becomes impossible as the battery loses power. The mouse may be tracking fine and left-clicking works fine but right-clicking becomes intermittent. I think that even the purists will admit that right-clicking is now a necessity. It's also very helpful when using mouse gestures.
* The scroll ball is too sensitive and can make middle-button clicking too difficult. Say you want to middle click on a link in a browser. You carefully position the cursor over the link and press the scroll ball. What happens 9 times out of 10? The smallest movement of the scroll ball moves the cursor and you fail to click on the link. I have tried to develop a technique to avoid this but it still happens. I suppose there are some people out there who never have this problem but I guarantee it affects more people than not. The discrete clicks on a scroll wheel on a traditional mouse are much easier to work with.
* The scroll ball becomes very uncomfortable after long term use. Believe me, this thing is small and it will eventually feel like you are rolling a BB around under your finger. It's not painful, just uncomfortable. Nowhere near as nice as a traditional scroll wheel.
* As others have mentioned, it takes about 30 seconds for OS X to recognize the mouse. I'm not sure if this is a problem with the mouse or with OS X. The workaround is to toggle bluetooth off and then back on again. The mouse will be recognized immediately. Not a deal breaker.
So.... as much as I wanted to like this mouse I am going to get rid of it and go back to a traditionally styled bluetooth mouse (if I can find one).
Customer Review: Not Quite Perfect
Summary: 5 Stars
I recently purchased my second wireless Mighty Mouse -- this one for my desktop system, a Dual-G5 PowerMac -- when my Logitech S530 mouse died an early death. My first wireless Mighty Mouse was purchased for my MacBook Pro.
Initially, I replaced the failed Logitech mouse for the desktop with the tailed version of the Mighty Mouse (review posted on Amazon), which did not work out for me. (Details in my other review.) So, based on my positive experience with a wireless Mighty Mouse and my MacBook Pro, I purchased one for my desktop. This review is based on both those experiences.
First, this is a good-looking device. Like all Apple products, they spend resources on producing a visual impact with their hardware. The cool-factor is there.
The function of the mouse is very good. It has four buttons, although they are not apparent. The two primaries are activated by "leaning" the mouse to the left or right. It sounds more complicated than it is and don't let that intimidate you. The third button is under the scroll-ball. The fourth is activated by squeezing the sides of the mouse.
Bluetooth pairing with the desktop Mac was trivial. Turn it, tell the system to find the mouse, and pair it.
I turned off the third and fourth buttons because I never use them. I use the scroll-ball a lot, though, and generally like the way it functions. I'll have to check with my MBP mouse, but the desktop mouse requires a little pressure on the scroll-ball to obtain full activation of the scrolling feature. This isn't an issue for me, but it might be for those who use the third button as well. (I may have a defective unit -- but it doesn't matter because I don't use that third button.)
Cursor tracking is good and I have the sensitivity turned up pretty high. I also have the double-click sensitivity turned up high. I'm a fast-clicker and don't need much time to get there.
My only reservation about this mouse is when playing games. If your game uses the right mouse button to perform some action (like navigating in WoW), then you may find you sometimes don't get what you're expecting. This happens to me sometimes when I think I've turned (the camera angle changed) but I actually activated the left button and not the right. So, if I move forward, I swing back in the original direction and move that way. This is probably attributable to user error (or as a friend sometimes tells me, SUE -- stupid user error! :) but it is something to be aware of.
Overall, though, I really like the way this mouse works. The looks are lagniappe.
Customer Review: The Mightiest Mouse Around
Summary: 4 Stars
In short, if you have a Mac of any sort, this mouse is fantastic. The wide functionality and streamlined, minimalist design are completely on par with what you'd expect from Apple products.
I read all the reviews prior to actually purchasing this, and as you may have seen there are many good and many bad, so I would recommend doing the same and deciding for yourself if this is what will work for you.
I will admit it is a little pricy (around $70 USD), but from what I've experienced it's well worth the cost.
First, it's wireless ability comes NOT from it's communication through a USB "dongle" (Who TF decided to call them dongles anyway?!?), but through Bluetooth which is not only quite reliable, but also doesn't take up those all too precious ports.
Second, the 360 degree scrolling capabilities come in very handy while editing pictures, browsing the web, navigating sound files on a wide scale, not to mention the scroll ball itself is also a programmable button (I set mine to bring up Dashboard for one-click weather, calculator, and other miscellaneous widgets).
Next, I love having the fourth "squeeze" buttons on the sides, which are also programmable (I like it on Spaces so I can switch quickly between, though Exposé is nice too). The only issue I have with this button is that you do have to reposition your hand slightly to get the right amount of pressure to activate the button, which to some may a big deal, but not to me.
As far as right-clicking goes, it's also a little touchy. However, I would say it works about 95% of the time, conservatively speaking. The tracking is excellent, the battery life is great (no change after two months), and it's also got a sleep function (it turns itself off when the computer is sleeping/shut down) which is also helpful when it comes to conserving battery life.
All in all, as I said above, I think this is a fantastic mouse even though it is a bit on the expensive side for a product of its type. The only reasons I didn't give it 5 stars are because a) right click is a bit off, b) it's not the most ergonomic mouse out there, though I've not experienced any discomfort in two months of regular use, and c) the scroll ball can get kind of grimy after a bit and there's no good way to clean it other than to turn it upside down on a lightly dampened cloth (similar to what you'd clean eyeglasses with) and roll it back & forth.
I hope this helped.
Customer Review: Form Mostly Over Function?
Summary: 3 Stars
Like others, I recently purchased a 2.5GHz MacBook Pro after being away from the Mac world for a few years. I wanted something that matched the MacBook in function and in form. Unfortunately, I only got three-fourths of what I wanted.
Out of fairness, I'll note the good first.
The Mighty Mouse looks like every other Apple design--minimalist, yet refined. From the top, it could double as a bar of soap due to its milky white oval design. The side buttons sit nearly flush and unnoticeable, and the scrolling ball is neatly recessed. The smooth bottom slides easily on a mouse pad or wooden desk surface. And, because mine is new, the scrolling ball operates flawlessly (though I am wary of dirt--but hoping that the alcohol cleaning cures it). Bluetooth connectivity is perfect--though, from what I've experienced in the short time I've had the MacBook, Apple focuses on simplicity and making things "work." Connectivity, then, is no different. Essentially, it looks good, and for a casual use, is perfect. In other words, 2/2.
That being said, I expect a little more out of Apple.
As others have noted, if you have your pointer finger on the left of the mouse, it is difficult to register a right click (due to the collapsing nature of the click mechanism). To have a flawless right click, you need to life your pointer finger. Of course, left-clicking works well.
The left and right side buttons, which apparently match your thumb and ring fingers, are quite difficult to operate. In the process of squeezing in my thumb, for example, I can't help but compress the mouse itself, which results in a left click. The right side is even more difficult and usually requires the a bit more manipulative force. I'm not sure if Apple made the buttons too stiff or if I am doing something wrong--but, a mouse being a mouse, I cannot imagine that I am making an error in use. Hence, 1/2--for a total of 3/4 of the way there.
All that being said, I hope that over time two things happen: (1) I get used to it and the mechanisms "break in," and (2) that Apple tweaks the design to allow easier operation of the side buttons and right click. While it's "close" to what I expect from Apple, it's not "close enough." I would buy it again, however, because I wanted something Apple, and that's exactly what I received.