[vvedge]

I'm thinking about getting the new Apple Bluetooth wireless mouse.... hold for stones being thrown at me...

The truth is I was in love when the Pro Mouse came out at MWNY 2000, was even more entranced when the white one came out. But alas, I've only used it once in my lifetime, and it eventually died from cable fraying.... *sniff* So this is where a white wireless mouse would rub me just right! mm!

so has anyone bought it and can vouch for its quality?

2 major concerns.

1. Battery life.

I know its onyl been a few weeks since anyone could have started using it. Have the batteries crapped out on anyone yet?

2. Tension Control

The old pro mice had 3 levels of click tension. Low, Medium and high. I was saddened that the new "Apple Mice" don't have that anymore. I cant stand to see the old pro mouse go that way. But this one brings it back. From what I can see it's 2 levels of tension, or is there still the medium setting?

It'd better be worth $70..... actually I plan on getting it for $50 if I use the $20 apple store coupon that comes with with .Mac renewal.

So....

[CJG86]

I have had the mouse now for about a week and while not being able to use it yet because I am wating for my powerbook I have been reading the instructions and in there it says that there is a click tenstion. There is a little thing that is above the batteries and you move it to the + or - side.

[Sophus]

Originally posted by vvedge:
I'm thinking about getting the new Apple Bluetooth wireless mouse.... hold for stones being thrown at me...

The truth is I was in love when the Pro Mouse came out at MWNY 2000, was even more entranced when the white one came out. But alas, I've only used it once in my lifetime, and it eventually died from cable fraying.... *sniff* So this is where a white wireless mouse would rub me just right! mm!

so has anyone bought it and can vouch for its quality?

2 major concerns.

1. Battery life.

I know its onyl been a few weeks since anyone could have started using it. Have the batteries crapped out on anyone yet?

2. Tension Control

The old pro mice had 3 levels of click tension. Low, Medium and high. I was saddened that the new "Apple Mice" don't have that anymore. I cant stand to see the old pro mouse go that way. But this one brings it back. From what I can see it's 2 levels of tension, or is there still the medium setting?

It'd better be worth $70..... actually I plan on getting it for $50 if I use the $20 apple store coupon that comes with with .Mac renewal.

So....

Add this to the list:

3. the mouse is somewhat unresponsive and at the same time jumpy. Resolution, speed and smoothness is far from acceptable. I had to install MouseZoom in order to get the pointer across my screen in less than three stages. (this is an apple problem as long as I have used macs. Why don't pointer movement speed scale with display resolution?????).

4. The batteries seem to drain very quickly, according to the meter in the system prefs applet. Though only time will show the real usage.

5. God, I miss the scrollwheel and second mouse button.

any info on the performance of the MS Bluetooth mouse in OSX? If its better, I will buy one if it is better than apples offering. Mouse on macs leave a lot to be desired.

Sophus

[subego]

Originally posted by vvedge:
2 major concerns.

1. Battery life.

Mine's been on for a week and has only used 5-10%, but part of that $70 is a pair "lithium" bunny batteries.

2. Tension Control

The tension control lever is adjustable, you can put it anywhere between "+" and "-".

[subego]

Originally posted by Sophus:
Add this to the list:

3. the mouse is somewhat unresponsive and at the same time jumpy.

It's definitely slower than an APM, necessitating an increase in the tracking speed to maintain the APM "feel".

For me, this is one step below maximum. Even so, it's still a little slower than the APM, which I set somewhere in the middle. Maximum is jumpy, so if your set there (which I presume you are if you need to use MouseZoom), I feel your pain. I'm using mine on a CRT iMac though, so the slight slowdown isn't bugging me on the 14" screen. When I get one for the rig with the cinema display (which I intend to do) this might be a problem.

4. The batteries seem to drain very quickly

I think something may be wrong with your mouse. I was expecting the battery life claims to be BS (like they always are). Imagine my shock when it's on track to last for at least a couple of months.

5. God, I miss the scrollwheel and second mouse button.

I know. Thing's like this are always tough. But you can't forget they were coming home drunk every night. It was only a matter of time before you smelled someone else's USB on their dongle.

[RooneyX]

I used one at an Apple Store. It was OK if you want a basic mouse but honestly it costs too much for what you get. Apple should have developed a sleek multi-button mouse in snow and aluminiun flavors.

[vvedge]

One more question I forgot to ask? How heavy is this thing with 2 AA batteries in it? More or less thant the old Pro mouse?

...

As for cost. Back in 2000.... a black Apple Pro Mouse cost $59. This mouse was plagued by a cable that was just too short, and the funky commercial with Born to Be Wild.

Last year when the new iMac came out, they put a nice white one on the iMac... both still cost $59. They did cave in and provide longer cables for iBook and left-handed powerbook users.

With the recent revision of the eMac, they have since released the "Apple Mouse" for $49. This mouse lost the tension adjuster (which very few mice even today have), and still cost way too much for a "basic" mouse.

Now a few weeks ago, they released the Apple Bluetooth Wireless mouse. Which costs $69, $10 more than the original basic mouse. Considered, it has been 3 years. And it is still the first revision.

But why pay $70 for a simple mouse.... I dunno, what do you tell PC people when they ask why do you pay more for a Mac?

Just my speech and self justification of my upcoming purchase. I've heard alot of good advice, but I'm still in love with the Pro Mouse 3 years strong, and this is still probably the best one yet.

[PeterKG]

Where is everyone getting their Apple BT mice? I check the two Apple stores near my home almost daily and they have not even got them in yet.

[herbsman]

i think they suck. lookswise i think apple did an ok job. its simple and its kinda cool but like many in the world, i require a scroll wheel and second mouse button.

as far as quality, i did notice that the mouse was in fact jumpy from time to time but nothing that would get in the way of productivity. i really hate this mouse but my friend is in love with it.

[vvedge]

I think we've established this mouse doesn't have a scroll wheel or 2nd or 3rd buttons.

That's not stopping me.

[elmer]

Mine's supposed to ship on or before Oct. 7th to Toronto.
I've been using mostly my powerbook trackpad, and sometimes an MS 4 button + scroll optical, which is great, but I miss the comfort of a one-button that I used to have when I had a PowerMac. It's something I never appreciated until I tried it. I'm a little worried about the tracking speed from the posts here Oh well, wait and see I guess. My tests will be gaming for speed, and Photoshop Elements for precision.
Sophus, I think you should go get a refund, based on your battery problem, and then get the new Belkin bluetooth mouse if you miss the scroll wheel so much.

[subego]

Originally posted by vvedge:
One more question I forgot to ask? How heavy is this thing with 2 AA batteries in it? More or less thant the old Pro mouse?

More than an APM. I don't have a scale, so I can't give specifics. My snot-nosed guess is that it weighs somewhere along the lines of an APM with a couple of AA batteries taped to it.

I personally like the extra weight. On the downside, the batteries aren't located at the mouse's center of gravity. They're placed roughly where my knuckles rest, giving the mouse a distinct "ass-heavy" feel.

P.S. Checking on the Apple website, the click tension knob is only supposed to be used at "+" and "-". The fact I could get it to sit in-between, led to the assumption it was more like a slider.

It still looks like a mouse pecker though.

[elmer]

Just got my Apple BT mouse. Not too heavy - a little heavier than my MS Optical Intellimouse Explorer.
One unpleasant surprise: I found if you turn it off and the laptop is on and reports "Connection Lost", you can't just turn it on again and start using it, you have to set it up again in bluetooth preferences. EDIT: ACTUALLY YOU JUST HAVE TO CLICK THE MOUSE -- DOH!
A pleasant surprise though - I can still disable my laptop screen and use the laptop keyboard with the wireless mouse. Just connect the VGA cable, close lid and wait for sleep, then click BT mouse, wait for wake, open lid. Screen is disabled and keyboard works.
The mouse battery seems to be going down alarmingly fast so far. Have to see how this plays out in future. EDIT: After that first shocking sight of 85% level, the level seems to have stayed put - don't know how I lost that 15%, but things are ok now.
The tracking is plenty fast for me. And it's not 'jumpy' when you turn it down.
I prefer the '-' level of tension. The slider is inside the mouse.
My parents are using a Microsoft bluetooth mouse in the other room; so far there appear to be no conflicts.

[Sophus]

Originally posted by elmer:
The tracking is plenty fast for me. And it's not 'jumpy' when you turn it down.
I prefer the '-' level of tension. The slider is inside the mouse.

I believe I was the one mentioning that the mouse was slow and jumpy. My USB adapter is plugged in to a usb hub. I ran the firmware updater when installing the the keyboard and mouse. However, I saw no progress bar or any of the usual stuff when installing something. Just some activeity, and my bluetooth devices discnnected and then reconnected and status in the update window returned back to "inactive". At first, I thought the firmware had been updated, but after a couple of days I started to suspect that the firmware update of the bluetooth adapter did not work the first time. Amongst other things, neither keyboard nor mouse worked at boot, in single user mode or open firmware.

Today I turned off all bluetooth devices, removed the usb hub and plugged the bluetooth adapter into the mac usb port. I reconnected my apple pro keyboard and mouse and rebooted. I then ran the updater again, and sure enough, it now showed a progress bar and updated nicely. I then rebooted with the usb reciever in the now reconnected hub, and everything is just smooth and dandy. Much better! Actually the mouse now feels just as good as the wired pro mouse. I'm happy. Also the battery meters have stabilized. In the beginning they seemed to drain extremely quickly, but now they are both almost back to full.




Sophus