I just replaced my Apple hockey puck mouse with a Microsoft optical mouse because the former was picking up too much lint. However, I greatly prefer the feel of the hockey puck. I was wondering if anyone knew of an optical mouse that came in the same style/shape as the Apple hockey puck..

[Keda]

I also like the Puck. I think it is the most precise mouse I have ever used. The only thing that beats its precision is my graphics tablet. I tried to buy one for my moms iBook, but couldnt find any for sale.

Unfortunately, I seem to be in the minority. Because of the negative reaction, I dont think many other companies would follow Apples lead. Besides, the opticle devices might be hard to fit in such a asmall space.

The great thing about the puck mouse:
great to throw around the screen.
unlike the bulky MS mice which fills my entire hand, I can move the cursor by
tossing the puch between my fingers.

Kudos to Apples design team.

[Herr Newton]

Garrick's got it right---the problem most people have with the hockey puck mouse is that they wrap their whole hand around it. Whenenver I use one, only the very tips of my fingers and the bottom of my palm are on the mouse. It tracks fantastically.

My friend, who just dumped her Compaq and bought a G4, bitched about the mouse the first time she used it. Now, she bitches about using my ADB II mouse :-)

I still think the MS Intellimouse Explorer is the best mouse hands down. No trackball to get dirty, scroll wheel, right mouse button, forward and back buttons for surfing and it comes in silver. I don't feel the puck is terrible, I just prefer as many controls on the mouse as possible.

[Trapper]

I might be willing to sell my blueberry hockey puck mouse. How much are they worth for resale?

------------------
Travis Hreno
Department of Philosophy
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario
CANADA
[email protected]

[stetsows]

I personally don't care for the puck mouse. Quite frankly it has several problems. It's size for that matter is fine for those with small hands, but everyone else has difficulty manuevering it. Second, only one button. Apple needs a two button mouse, sorry folks but having to use modifier keys is more confusing to people used to wintel than right-clicking will ever be. Finally, the way cool wheel feature isn't there. This should be standard, I am completely sold on the intellimouse explorer.

[MadMacs]

I have 2 hockey pucks for sale. They have only been used for a couple seconds each. I like the Logitech wheel mouse (that may not be it's exact name).

[Michelle Steiner]

I like the puck mouse very much; I never had any problem with it at all. However, I switched to the Intellimouse Explorer both at work and at home. I use contextual menus a lot, so the right button is very useful, and it took me no time at all to appreciate the thumb buttons; I even customized them for my email and newsgroup readers. Ditto, the scroll wheel quickly became second nature.

And of course, the fact that there's no roller to get dirty. Interestingly enough, though, it doesn't work well on the woodgrained (vinyl) surface of my desktop, so I use it with a mousepad anyway.

On the downside, it arches a bit too high for my hand, which meant that I had to get rid of the wrist rest to keep my wrist from bending at an unnatural angle.

--Michelle

[strepidus]

peido, if your hockey puck's picking up too much lint but you like its shape, why not just get a better mousepad for like $15? Although I have never tried any of those premium mouse pads, they claim to be much less dirtying to the mouse.

[Fran441]

mac.computertown.com

You can pick up Apple USB mice here for $8.

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--------------------------
Its time for Apple to release a new PDA, but until it does, long live the Newton!

". It's size for that matter is fine for those with small hands, but everyone else has difficulty manuevering it. "

I disagree. I am 6'2" weigh about 235lbs. and my hands are not exactly puny. It's all in the technique for me. So it is not EVERYONE is it?

"sorry folks but having to use modifier keys is more confusing to people used to wintel than right-clicking will ever be."

But not to people used to using a Macintosh, or I suspect to someone who has never used any computer. Only about 15 percent of those buying iMacs, for example, were wintel converts.

Besides, I have two hands, with my right on the mouse, my left naturally falls to left of the keyboard. May as well put it to work over there.

But, hey, to each their own,I say! Vive la Differance!

[wlonh]

and if you use FinderPop it takes some of the 'sting' outta using a onebutton

i too have largish hands and find the iPuck to be the most graceful i have ever used, when held properly between the thumb and middle finger

i have one i use with my iBook

I'm sold on trackballs, my Kensington TurboBall is one of the best upgrades I've ever purchased for my computer. 4 buttons and a scroll wheel baby! Too bad I didn't know that USB was going to give me pains when I added an Adesso Nu�Form keyboard to the mix...

[Burchell]

My G4 was my first long term use of the new puck mouse. I hadn't had any long term use of an Imac, etc. I knew in advance evryone was complaining about them and had already research the optical mice. I do wish it used optical technology - mine des seem to track up a bunch of stuff and needs to be cleaned, but I have to say I think I prefer the new puck mouse over traditional designs. I think its size let you control the mouse with less effort. As a result I think my hand is less tired because I find myself 'guiding' it rather than grasping firmly like a standard mouse. I was skeptical and thought the design was form over function but now I'm appreciating it.

[mike one]

as a 6'5" lanky mac user i find that the puck fits quite nicely in my hand. i recently added a PM7200 to my mac collection to use as a linux box and find that i DISLIKE the adb mouse and keyboard. i like the small&slick mac keyboard and mouse.
in terms of a multi button mouse, i think the time has come for apple to make one and have the OS support it nativly. i've grown used to using my left hand and modifier keys but more buttons occasionally would be nice.
the problem arises though, that 3 buttons isn't always enough. ever use photoshop? 4-5 buttons would be about what you need with all the shift-click-ing.
anyway it is all a matter of preference.
the argument that the puck is too small is silly. maybe you don't like it, that is ok, but too small, or designed for children, nope.
plus i've put a blue LED in my mouse and it lights up, apple should've done that to start with like it was originally rumored.

one last devive to mention is the kensington ORBIT trackball. i personally love it, except that there is/was some conflict with it and certain programs where the program you were using with it would unexpectedly quit(IE4.5) and the buttons on the trackball would not work without a restart. so i've got a really nice trackball to look at that i hardly use.


want a puck, check that link above, but you can usually find one or two on ebay for about $10.00

I cna't throw our new pucks away fast enough! I think it looks nice, and tracks fine, but the perfectly round design is horrible. Every first time user I know constantly gets the thing tilted slightly so their next motion moves at an odd angle. The only work around is to detach the two side color pieces so your hand knows the position of the mouse (without having to look at it everytime).

The Intellimouse is best mouse I have ever used. I do not personally like the large one. I prefer the smaller white one which I can easily use with three fingers; I never have to "palm" it. Nothing glides as smoothly and the extra features should become standard in the industry (the wheel and the right mouse button are fantastic).

[Forbodium]

I don't know about the iMac mouse, but the round mouse that comes with the G4 (model #M4848) can be moved easily and accurately, it just requires holding it differently. There is a wide indentation on the button. I put my index and middle finger at each edge of this and now have no problems keeping the mouse lined up with my hand. I use it with a Fellowes mouse pad that has a sliding wrist rest. I still might get an intellimouse because of the optical tracker it has, but I'm having a hard time finding the ambidextrous shaped one in stock at computer stores.

You guys who like the hockey puc are nuts. Great design? It's great looking, but unless you have the hand of a five year old, its not great working. Why do you think there are so many third parties making clip-ons for those things. Apple has always mixed form and function very well. But now form is taking over. Even parts to the OS are being sacrificed for looks. Like the new sherlock and quicktime. They sure are pretty but not as easy to use as before.

Apple introduced it's one-button mouse 17 years ago and to-date, the only change has been to make it round. I'm not crazy about it, I constantly needed to re-align or justify where the thing was, and while it tracked ok, it was way too small for my hands (like this kiddie keyboard they shipped with the G4). While I really like this new optical mouse, I am bummed that I had to give Microsoft my money to get a mouse that has two buttons. There is no reason on earth why it should take two hands to do on a Mac what it takes one finger to do on Windows. Why won't Apple just give us really cool, optical, pinpoint precise three button mouse? Click, contextual menus and... application menu! Now that would be an input device worth owning. 17 years is a long time to go with not much innovation.

Im curious to know how many people who don't like the new mouse actually own an iMac/G4.

It's just that I when i first bought my G4 hated the mouse .. however after a 'learning curve' if you like .. I find other mice cumbersome.

I say give it a few weeks with it .. and you'll never look back.

It seems to me that everyone's talking around each other. There are those who say that the hockey-puck doesn't fit in the hand, and those who say you have to hold it differently. Those who don't like it keep holding up "it doesn't fit in the hand" as an argument, which really doesn't counter the pro-puck group's arguments.

I don't mind the puck. I used it for almost a year, tho' I needed to use VirtualPC from tiem to time, so now I have a contour UniMouse (I very much like the Logitech mousman wheel, but I'm a sucker for coordination ;> ). Those who like it are right - it just requires a different technique, and one I rather like. Makes using it feel more "light", yet with a great amount of control. It's not a chore to use.

Tho' there needs to be at /least/ a three-button Apple mouse. It's starting to get to be ridiculous how antiquated the one-button is.

Oh, and damnit, the possessive pronoun is "its", not "it's". Grr.

[arrlin]

I love the hockey puck mouse. Very easy to control. My 2 year old daughter uses it. I don't miss a second button.
To each their own.

Although the MS Mouse is VERY useful, when I first used it, I had to limit myself to thirty mins of use at a time, as the mouse caused ungodly ammounts of pain in my hand from the base of my thumb to my wrist.

I thought my husband would hate the round mouse that came with his G4, but, to my surprise, he loves it. He says because it's round, you need to re-think the way you hold it. At first he tried to grip it tightly and contorted his hand; now, he kind of glides it around with his fingers instead of his hand and he wouldn't go back to the ADB-type mouse, ever. Personally I have an Orbit and wouldn't use a mouse again if you paid me.

Small correction to one of the posts: There have been three shapes of Mac mice...the first Mac mouse was rectangular in shape, with a squarish mouse button set in from all edges of the mouse; the second is the snipped oval ADB mouse that shipped for *years*, and the third is the round puck mouse.

peace,
Linda

[ndpatel]

actually, there have been four kinds of mac mice, if you count the mouse the original mac through the Plus used. ADB was introduced on the SE and the mac II so apple could ship the same mouse with the mac and the IIGS.

nilay

[This message has been edited by ndpatel (edited 04-26-2000).]

Several points.
First, there were at least 4 Mac mice. The original brick angle down slightly from front to back, the ADB which was a quite a bit smaller shaped like a squat triangle, the ADB 2 (that people are most familiar with), and the new USB "puck" (which you might break into 2 generations as well).
All of the USB mice made since Rev. C iMacs and B&W G3's have the indentation to help align them.
The puck mouse is one of the toughest, best tracking mice you can get. Just pick it up and squeeze it hard to feel the strength. You can also lock in the substantial ball so that kids can't take it. Try throwing it hard against a wall. I did it as a demo once, and just clipped the plastic pieces back on.
My RSI has gone away SINCE getting my iMac. I had it terrible in my elbow from the other mouse. But, I suppose people who have problems in their finger may find the puck painful.
The puck is about the only mouse that you can rest your finger tips on top of to draw and doesn't tip. The finger tip control is near trackpad in quality. It shares features with both a mouse and trackball.
Finally, a lot of people don't get used to the mouse so much as break it in (there's a little of both). The alignment issue is often the most difficult initial problem. When you let go of a new puck mouse it rotates away from where you left it. This is annoying when you go to grab it again with no immediate cues to where it no is rotated. This occurs because the mouse cord is too stiff when it is new. Those of you who've become acustomed to your puck mouse try a new one. You will immediately see the difference. After only a week or so of use the cord become very supple and no longer automatically rotates the mouse from where it was left.
I love the weight, it provides terrific positive feedback.

[Trapper]

If I was a more dishonest person, I'd be willing to trade my hockey puck mouse for a burned copy of Norton Utilities 5. Of course, such a transaction would be unthinkable (wink, wink), so don't even bother e-mailing me to propose such a trade (wink, wink).

------------------
Travis Hreno
Department of Philosophy
University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario
CANADA
[email protected]

[wlonh]

Dept. of Philosophy, Adjunct Professor of Situational Ethics i presume

[bobsie]

To help alignment, I stuck a small piece of velcro sticky tape (the soft half) at the top of my mouse, right behind the cord. Best mouse I've ever tried.

[Keda]

As I said before, Im a fan of the Puck.

But, I would like a second button. Im not sure how they would do this and keep the form factor, but it would be helpful. More than two seems over-kill. I have an Intuous 4D mouse that camr w/my tablet, I never use it.

This argument is being driven by two different types of users (not big & small).

On one hand there are the people who value precision of the mouse-probably alot of graphics folks here. On the other, people who value maximum configurability-web surfers, gamers. I think the two have fundementaly different explectations.

As for alternate mice, Ill second the UniMouse (2button, logic scroll)

[fbroz]

I have to second the recomendation for the UniMouse, I have been using one for several months and the 2nd button and scroll button are nice. I do have an optical MS Intellimouse on order though... that scrolling wheel is to die for.
--
Frank

[bobsie]

I do like that round mouse for my G3, but I got a Macally iMouse Jr. for my daughter's iBook because it's even smaller, therefore easier to tote around. Besides, I didn't know how to get another puck.

Golly, I liked that little thing so well that I got another iMouse Jr. for my Powerbook.

[Forbodium]

Too small for an adult's hand? The puck mouse is _bigger_ than most mice actually when it comes to width. So, is it not _long_ enough then? What do you do with your mouse, Noonie, use it as an armrest? The puck mouse is excellent if you use it the way I explained in my previous message. The reason so many companies are making those clip-on attachments is because they know there are people out there such as yourself that will judge the mouse without having actually used it much.

[Elderloc]

You know if Apple made the Puck wireless that would add to the design. I find the cord takes away from the design. Maybe if they made it wireless and put one or to indents for the fingers to sit in the mouse would be better?? Are you listening Apple?? Not that is different

Personally, I LOVE my mouse and have never had any thoughts about replacing it! It's very precise and is very comfortable in my adult-size hand! It's too bad that so many people have problems with it, but everyone is different!

Before sitting down to a G4 for my graphic design course, I had respect for apple and apple users. The hockey puck mouse is one of the worst inventions I've ever come across. It doesn't work properly, it's soo hard to use! On top of everything it's painful. WHY couldn't a hand shaped mouse or a more ergonomic mouse have been created?? AND what's up with this puny toy keyboard?!?!? Home computers shouldn't have a laptop sized keyboard, my small hands are cramped for space using this keyboard the space between the letters isn't enough. After having read all of this replies from people about how they like the mouse and use even the keyboard I'm amazed yet again at the sheer stupidity of people. They can find praise even for clearly flawed inventions. Work with this equipment?? Nope, Mac has lost a customer for life.

[suprz]

i love the puck mouse. as stated in earlier posts. it is all how you handle the mouse. the puck doesnt need the whole hand to "muscle" it around the mouse pad, just the middle finger and the thumb to "glide" it around.

------------------
" I think,
therefore....IMAC

I liked the Hockey Puck Mouse too although I had to hold it differently between my fingers. I did trade up for the new optical mouse and actually, you have to hold it in a similar way as it's almost too skinny. I like it too however. To the person who commented about the Apple keyboard, you need to know that it's not the actual space between the keys that's the issue. It's the Height of each row that 's the problem. Apple raised the row increasing the distance between rows on their newer keyboard and now it has a better feel.

[AlbertWu]

Originally posted by Elderloc:
You know if Apple made the Puck wireless that would add to the design. I find the cord takes away from the design. Maybe if they made it wireless and put one or to indents for the fingers to sit in the mouse would be better?? Are you listening Apple?? Not that is different

A wireless puck mouse would probably be mistaken for a puck.



------------------
Albert Wu

have seen my posts since 01/17/2001!

[kbardin]

I am in total agreement with RockLord and mike one being another 6'5" oversized Mac user.

The puck looks good, but is simply too small. At first I thought the new pro mouse from Apple would have been a good thing, but again form over function still makes it horrible to hold.

I opted for the Intellimouse (Optical/Wheel/USB) from MS. Easy to install (G4 400/OS 9.1) and all buttons/wheel fully programmable.

Being a hybrid (PC/Mac) user, I found it much more comfortable and the added bonus of the wheel for scrolling and the second mouse button ie. right click and 'Send to Trash',Get Info etc.

Long live the Right Mouse Button!!

[IEEE1394]

If you like small mice, then I suggest the Contour MiniPro Mouse. It's rather eliptical, quite small, and has two buttons (a large one at the front and a smaller one just behind it.) it's optical. It may take some getting used to, but I prefer it over the current Apple Pro Mouse.