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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Consumer Hardware & Components > Logitech MX 900 support?

Logitech MX 900 support? (Page 2)
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richc
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Nov 21, 2003, 09:39 AM
 
Ok, I got a second response to my original e-mail to Logitech Support(see page 1 near the bottom), it is as follows:

"Thank you for using Logitech's Electronic Technical Support. My name is Santosh. The following information addresses your original question. You may wish to print this out and/or save this on your computer.

I am sorry for the issue you are experiencing with your Logitech device.
Your suggestion will be forwarded to the concerned department. You can also send your suggestion in writing to the Logitech Corporate Office at:

Logitech Inc.
Attn: Public Relations
6505 Kaiser Drive
Fremont, CA 94555"

So it appears, writing to Logitech may be helping out. I will also be writing them a letter via snail mail. I would like for others to please help in this cause also. Surely with enough letters Logitech will respond with the drivers. This is my mission...
( Last edited by richc; Nov 21, 2003 at 09:54 AM. )
     
capetown
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Nov 21, 2003, 10:51 AM
 
I have now tested both at home with a powerbook 17" rev b (so using internal bluetooth module), with latest firmware and bt patches from apple.

MX900 vs Apple BT
Price in UK
- I believe PC World have an exlusivity agreement till Jan
�90 (pc world) vs �60 (John Lewis)
Buttons
8 vs 1
Off button
No vs Yes
Base station for charging and BT (Pc only)
- plugs into either usb or mains power for charging
Yes vs No
Both really easy to pair with the powerbook
- Apple mouse shows battery life
- MX900 does not show battery life - it has a little led which blinks red when its battery is low
Rechargeable
Yes vs No
- MX900 should last 2 days
- Apple mouse should last 3 months
Wake computer
Yes vs Yes (latest firmware enables this - download from Apple)
Included in the box
-Apple
Mouse, cd, batteries (not rechargeable)
-MX900
Cd, bt (PC only) / charging (PC and Mac) base station - usb and mains plugs

Performance
-Apple
Very out of date functionality - only 1 button - no scroll wheel, 2nd mouse button or other buttons to use with Expose?
Low profile, extremely comfortable to use (on par with MX900)
Weight is a little lighter than MX900 (better)
Easy of movement over surface - Really good, would be better if mouse was lighter, better than MX900)
Accuracy is on par with a wired mouse. Very slight delay when switching on (much better than MX900)
Speed - a little slower than a standard mouse on Windows
Click - loud (I would prefer a silent click) - softer than MX900
Batterly life - time will tell. But I prefer not recharging if the battery will last 3 months. Off button should help with this.
Intergration with Pathner - Intergrates nicely, and shows up as bluetooth mouse with battery meter etc. Can wake powerbook by clicking the mouse
-MX900
Great functionality - 9 buttons - scroll wheel - rechargeable
Great ergonomics, but looks cheaper than the apple mouse
Slightly heavier than the apple mouse but much heavier than wired mice
Doesn't seem to slide over a surface that well. It has 4 glide pads, but the weight of the batteries impedes the feel
Accuracy - what accuracy - no matter what I have tried the movement in inconsistant and laggy - don't have that problem with the apple mouse. I actually purchased the MX900 first and only then purchased the Apple mouse to see if it was BT that was causing the lag. But Apple's mouse is far more accurate. A number of other users do not have this problem (perhaps they are using the DLINK adapter) or are just not as fussy as I am. I feel it is not acceptable. Perhaps that is why Logitech believes it is not compatible with OSX.
Speed - it does appear to be slightly quicker than the apple, but not as quick as windows.
Click - the main 4 buttons have a very loud click (not to my liking), but the 3 smaller buttons are near silent (great!)
Battery life - stated as 2 days. So one can just keep the mouse in the supplied recharger when not in use (NB: The mouse disconnect from the powerbook when in the charger).
Intergration - The pairing process was really simple, but it does not show up as a bluetooth mouse in the preference pain, and hence the battery meter is not shown. It can however wake the powerbook. But the lag makes me wonder how well the two devices comunicate?

Any questions?

NB: I will be trying to return the MX900 and will use the Apple mouse until Apple releases a modern replacement with more than 1 button.

NB: I was at the apple expo in London today and all the G5 game stations had wired logitech mices attached to them - wake up apple?
     
richc
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Nov 21, 2003, 10:59 AM
 
Thanks for the great report capetown, I too feel the lag you are talking about and I use the D-Link module suggested by Apple. I have just written Logitech a letter and it is signed and on it's way. Please help everyone
     
cornydog
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Nov 21, 2003, 10:13 PM
 
I finally got around to testing with an external monitor. I don't see any lag at all. I would consider myself to be about as fussy about something like that as one could be. At work I have to wash my trackball every few days, just because I get tired of stickiness. I haven't had any accuracy problems either. It's comparable to my wired MS explorer--except heavier.

richc--I'll be writing logitech bright and early monday.
     
richc
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Nov 22, 2003, 01:49 PM
 
Originally posted by cornydog:
I finally got around to testing with an external monitor. I don't see any lag at all. I would consider myself to be about as fussy about something like that as one could be. At work I have to wash my trackball every few days, just because I get tired of stickiness. I haven't had any accuracy problems either. It's comparable to my wired MS explorer--except heavier.

richc--I'll be writing logitech bright and early monday.
Thanks cornydog, your help is GREATLY appreciated.
     
capetown
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Nov 22, 2003, 02:24 PM
 
So do you have any idea why I and a number of others are having such pad performance.

I would love to use it if I could figure out how to reduce the lag.

What is your setup and configuration.

Cheers
     
todrain
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Nov 23, 2003, 01:12 PM
 
I saw that Logitech now has a bluetooth keyboard and mouse bundle... has anyone heard if that will eventually have Mac Drivers as well??? ( I would love to share a BT Mouse and Keyboard with my Mac and PC!)

thanks!
     
richc
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Nov 23, 2003, 07:28 PM
 
Originally posted by todrain:
I saw that Logitech now has a bluetooth keyboard and mouse bundle... has anyone heard if that will eventually have Mac Drivers as well??? ( I would love to share a BT Mouse and Keyboard with my Mac and PC!)

thanks!
Hello todrain, Please e-mail and write Logitech by letter to get support for our Macs. I've already sent my letter and e-mailed twice. Hopefully with enough of us, they'll do it.

E-Mail support link here:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?co...port/contactcs
( Last edited by richc; Nov 24, 2003 at 02:35 PM. )
     
nerd
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Nov 24, 2003, 06:59 PM
 
I just emailed them today asking for Mac support. On the note of performance, the mouse is very responisve but I think I might see what others have talked about with the lag on my 12" Powerbook. I can barley see the jump and yet on the pc here at work I don't get that at all. For now I'm going to leave the MX 900 at work until USB Overdrive gets updated for it, then I'll switch it for my MX 700 at home.

Brad

EDIT: I'll take the mouse home tonight and try it out on the G5 and see if I get the same lag that I think I see in the powerbook. I'll be trying it with the built-in Bluetooth and I'll post back here with the results. Oh yea, I also emailed USBOverdrive for support.
( Last edited by nerd; Nov 24, 2003 at 08:07 PM. )
     
todrain
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Nov 24, 2003, 09:20 PM
 
I sent them a message as well. Next time I talk to their rep, I'll be sure she hears about it too.

-Tom
     
nerd
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Nov 25, 2003, 12:28 AM
 
Okay, I just paired the MX 900 with the G5's built in Bluetooth. There is a lag in the cursor. For those of you that have a Bluetooth mouse, change your mouse speed to the slowest, then move the mouse around the screen. You'll see it jump around, then try the same with a USB mouse (MX 700 in my case) and it'll be smooth as glass. Slowing the mouse speed down in the System Preferences is the key to seeing this.

This lag is the same with my Belkin Bluetooth mouse (F8T041). I didn't see the lag on the XP machine at work but I'll do the same thing tomorrow, compare the MX 900 to a PS2 mouse on the slowest setting and let you guys know.

If XP doesn't do this then it's probably either the Bluetooth transceiver or Apple's drivers. I'll be doing the OS X feedback page if it is.

Brad
     
todrain
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Nov 25, 2003, 02:39 AM
 
I would think that if Apple's mouse works fine then the delay in the logitech would just be software
     
capetown
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Nov 25, 2003, 05:44 AM
 
I will run the lag test on the Apple BT mouse tonight.

Cheers
     
nerd
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Nov 25, 2003, 11:18 AM
 
I should have posted this in my earlier post but it isn't really lag as more as it's choppy. I would classify lag as the pointer not keeping up, this is more say, choppy to keep up. If that makes sense. Have any of you used the Microsoft Optical Blue? That is a mouse that I think lags bad, the Bluetooth ones aren't doing this. They're almost skipping some pixels, like the RF drops out for a second then the computer sees the new signal and puts the pointer where the mouse says it has moved.

Brad
     
nerd
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Nov 25, 2003, 04:25 PM
 
I tried out the slow movement on the XP machine here at work. I think I can see more of a choppy movement from the MX 900 then the other Logitech RF mouse I have. If not near as noticeable as it is in X. On X I would say it's night and day difference.

I'm off to Apple to give feedback. I really don't care whose problem it is I just want some smooth Bluetooth mouse movement. I really don't think it's a problem with bandwith/datarate for the simple fact that Bluetooth can handle 2-way audio with headsets and other things. I also don't understand why Logitech can't provide Bluetooth support when a lot of Macs have it built in these days. If they don't want to write a driver for their Bluetooth adapter then all they would have to say is it works with built-in Bluetooth on the Mac. It can't take much to update their software.

I'm kind of bummed about all this. If the Apple mouse apparently works so well why not the Belkin and Logitech? I'm going to leave the MX900 here at work and keep using the MX700 at home until we see a Bluetooth update or something.

Brad
     
cornydog
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Nov 26, 2003, 01:24 PM
 
I'm still not seeing any specific lag with my MX900.

Even when using an external monitor, with the powerbook closed.

However, it could just be that I'm normally a pc-user and almost all of the mouse movement in OS X is less precise than I would like. Also, the acceleration of all three mice I use (old MS optical explorer, MX900, and new Wireless Intellimouse 2.00) as well as the trackpad seem woefully slow to me.

I did read this mouse-related,although not MX900, commentary, if anyone is interested: http://www.livejournal.com/users/jbq/24902.html
     
richc
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Nov 26, 2003, 03:27 PM
 
Originally posted by cornydog:
I'm still not seeing any specific lag with my MX900.

Even when using an external monitor, with the powerbook closed.

However, it could just be that I'm normally a pc-user and almost all of the mouse movement in OS X is less precise than I would like. Also, the acceleration of all three mice I use (old MS optical explorer, MX900, and new Wireless Intellimouse 2.00) as well as the trackpad seem woefully slow to me.

I did read this mouse-related,although not MX900, commentary, if anyone is interested: http://www.livejournal.com/users/jbq/24902.html
Interesting cornydog, I wonder what's different. Maybe it is the perception from PC to Mac like you said. I even tried the tip listed below:

http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/ma.../wireless.html

It's about speeding up the pointer(approx halfway down the page), but even at the max speed suggested and even above that(10) the MX900 still just doesn't "feel" right. Weird. Everyone reading this please keep writing Logitech, Am I sounding like a broken record yet:

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?co...port/contactcs
( Last edited by richc; Nov 26, 2003 at 05:03 PM. )
     
cornydog
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Nov 26, 2003, 10:52 PM
 
Try changing it to -0.8. That has worked better for me than the higher numbers.
     
mikebore
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Nov 27, 2003, 03:17 AM
 
I have only just found this thread, so felt it worth adding my experience.

I am using the MX 900 with the Dlink DBT 120 M3 module (with Apple latest firmware) on a Tibook 550, running 10.3.1.

Connection behaviour has been impeccable from day one. Found and set up straightaway and stays connected, reconnects after restarts, but I never use sleep function (except display sleep)

I am not using the base station at all, but charging the batteries independently. I started with a fully charged set of 1800 mah NiMH (same spec as supplied) which lasted a week of modest use with m/c on 24/7 (if relevant). I have just fitted some 2300 mah NiMH and if these last the expected 10 days I shall be happy.

Logitech support UK said it was ok to use Lithium or alkaline as long I don't use them with the charger (obviously).

I am using it with Mousezoom to speed it up and find it completely useable. I have an Apple BT mouse as well and can tell no difference. If I really try and look for it I might concede a very slight sponginess in response, compared to a direct connection, but I do not notice this in normal use or before I read this thread.

Not all the buttons work, but all the ones I want do (left, right, wheel, single up and down).

In summary I am very happy with it!

Mike
( Last edited by mikebore; Nov 27, 2003 at 04:18 AM. )
     
William_F_House
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Dec 30, 2003, 08:41 PM
 
Have you (or anyone here) found a way to get the thing to stay "connected" after you close the Powerbook and/or shutdown and then try to reuse the mouse?

It seems that every single time I close the lid to my Powerbook, I have to "re-discover" the device. (I'm using a 17" Powerbook with 10.3.2, by the way.)

Originally posted by bernt:
I got nearly two days of light use before the battery light started to blink... But in the manual it says that you need three full charges before you reach max capacity. I have just charged them once...

Haven't used it in a bag yet, but there is a connect button that lets you "disconnect" the mouse from the computer. But to connect again you need to open the bluetooth setup assistant, which isn't very user-friendly...

erlend
- William F. House

Boulder, Colorado
Pre-med student, Radiology Assistant
& sometimes writer
     
iDORK
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Dec 31, 2003, 03:33 AM
 
Originally posted by William_F_House:
Have you (or anyone here) found a way to get the thing to stay "connected" after you close the Powerbook and/or shutdown and then try to reuse the mouse?

It seems that every single time I close the lid to my Powerbook, I have to "re-discover" the device. (I'm using a 17" Powerbook with 10.3.2, by the way.)
Are you using the latest Bluetooth update from Apple?
     
ruttopia
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Jan 16, 2004, 09:05 AM
 
Well, I'm taking the plunge. Amazon.com has the MX900 IN STOCK at $79.99 on sale with free shipping (if you're trying to save as much as possible).

Based on the many different opinions, the need for a multi-button scroll wheel wireless mouse (with no required basestations for my Powerbook), and the sale price at Amazon - I took the plunge. I'll post impressions when it arrives.

In the meantime, just wanted to make folks aware of this great price in case anyone is considering purchasing this mouse.
     
CatOne
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Jan 16, 2004, 03:23 PM
 
Originally posted by ruttopia:
Well, I'm taking the plunge. Amazon.com has the MX900 IN STOCK at $79.99 on sale with free shipping (if you're trying to save as much as possible).

Based on the many different opinions, the need for a multi-button scroll wheel wireless mouse (with no required basestations for my Powerbook), and the sale price at Amazon - I took the plunge. I'll post impressions when it arrives.

In the meantime, just wanted to make folks aware of this great price in case anyone is considering purchasing this mouse.
I bought one and used it for about 20 minutes. It sucked balls. Skipped all over the place. I have the latest bluetooth updates, but it was no good.

I returned it and exchanged it for an MX700 (which I have on another computer as well). The MX700 is outstanding.
     
 
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