[Ruahrc]

Now that it has been released I am curious if anyone has recieved one yet that they had pre-ordered? What do you guys think of it? I was a little concerned at first reading the product page and also the "dubious" history behind the company's CEO (?) but I looked at a couple of reviews and a few things caught my eye:

1- The scroll wheel is completely smooth, i.e. it is not notched. I tried a friend's MS mouse with the smooth scroll wheel and found that I liked it. This is a nice feature in my eyes.

2- One review mentioned that the mouse looked better in person than the photos on MacMice's website. This was a relief too as I thought the photo on MacMice made it look kinda cheap and tacky. If it does look good in person and the metal perfectly matches the PB's exterior (I saw one photo in the review that had the two side-by-side) then maybe it's not as bad as I had feared...

The only issues I have with it now are 1) I wish it had more buttons 2) how is the battery life, and 3) can I fix the tracking somehow?

I don't know if it is just me or what but I CANNOT STAND the default Apple mouse driver. The tracking is ABOLUTELY HORRIBLE. Even at the fastest setting the mouse movement is slow as molasses and the acceleration is way to exaggerated. If you move the mouse slowly then the pointer hardly moves at all, so you move the mouse a little quicker to speed up the pointer, and suddenly the pointer zips way past where you wanted to mouse to. It just doesn't feel "crisp" or controlled in any way whatsoever. Sluggish and laggy would be more accurate descriptions. I currently use a wired USB Mouse and so I'm using USB Overdrive to fix the tracking. I have it set at 30% acceleration if anybody is curious. This closely matches the mouse cursor behavior I have on my windows desktop.

The problem is that USB Overdrive won't detect a BT mouse right? So it'd be back to using the terrible apple mouse control. And I am not holding any hopes for a new version of USB Overdrive, as version 1.3 is nearly a year old now and it seems like he has moved on to other things (including his new family). So the whole apple mouse situation looks grim to me.

Anyways I'd love to hear from anyone who has a TheMouse BT, how do you like it?

Ruahrc

[Luca Rescigno]

Go for a Kensington bluetooth PilotMouse instead. It's cheaper, at $53 from NewEgg.com vs. $70 for The Mouse BT, which is not sold on NewEgg. My brother has the corded version of the Kensington and it's very nice. Plus, if you hate Apple's default mouse tracking, you can adjust the mouse acceleration curve using Kensington's software. It's really, really nice.

[iomatic]

I have it. I've already shelved it. It's pissed me off -- it doesn't connect anymore, after not connecting after PowerBook sleep, and then connecting after sleep once. The Apple Bluetooth Mouse works great; I wish this one did.

Support has never emailed me back, nor has even an automated remailer acknowledging my support request after two days. I'm going to have to hope I can contact them to get my money back, or just eat it.

My own fault for being an earlier adopter. Generally, the mouse works well. When it did work, that is.


US$.02

[drainyoo]

Im also interested in comments from people who bought it. Anyone else out there?

[psk-ele]

I happen to have had nothing but excellent experiences with MacMice. I have purchased a few of their products, but am currently using their iBreeze laptop stand and The Mouse BT.

The Mouse BT delivers as promised. Both asthetically pleasing and functional, I'm thoroughly impressed by this late-comer to the BT game. I have not had any connection issues what-so-ever and the tracking is wonderful. My favorite part is the scroll wheel, which has much finer tuning than my Kensington, extremely smooth scrolling on the click wheel.

I have restarted my mac, and rewoken from sleep and have yet to encounter a connection issue. No random dropped connections either. Solid all the way. I like MacMice because they are a small company tailoring their wares to the Mac crowd, and I like to run with the little guy as often as I can. Yeah, the price may be high, but who cares, everyone has a Microsoft BT mouse, but not very many people will have The Mouse BT. I have the AL one to match my powerbook.

So, in short, just like Apple's BT offerings, but with two buttons and a scroll cllick wheel. The best of both worlds, good looks and solid performance. Knock 'em all you want, but I'm a big MacMice fan, and The Mouse BT is just another reason why....

[iREZ]

Originally posted by psk-ele:
Knock 'em all you want, but I'm a big MacMice fan, and The Mouse BT is just another reason why....

I'm interested in non biased opinions for this mouse. I don't have a wireless mouse but this one looks promising.

[fisherKing]

it does look nice, but i didnt wait for it, and got a kensington pocketmouse bluetooth (which i love; and works with their mouseworks pref.pane).

still, also want to hear user views...

[Ruahrc]

Thanks for the reviews but do please add more detailed comments about the tracking! Like are you using the default Apple prefpane, and what settings you have on it. Also what about battery life? I guess its fairly early yet but i'd like to know how the usage has been so far. Does the mouse show up in the BT pane of the mouse.prefpane? It has a battery meter there, can you tell if it is accurate or not?

Also, I read that in order to connect the mouse you need to press the connect button for 10 seconds, is that true? And what about if you are just waking the PB from sleep, does it take another 10-second buttonpress again? Or what about if you turned the mouse off, (to put it in your bag for travel), and then turned it again to reconnect, would you need to hold the button for 10 seconds again?

Ruahrc

[iomatic]

Well, it started working again as normal after a restart. Although there is a bit of rattling in there, like a loose tiny screw or something.

Tracking seems fine, using built-in Apple prefs, 3 notches from the fastest. I'm bummed I can't assign the scroll button to anything except Expos�.

The wake up is within seconds.

Overall good, but the beta feeling with these experiences so far I get is not good.

[OAW]

Originally posted by iomatic:
I have it. I've already shelved it. It's pissed me off -- it doesn't connect anymore, after not connecting after PowerBook sleep, and then connecting after sleep once. The Apple Bluetooth Mouse works great; I wish this one did.

Support has never emailed me back, nor has even an automated remailer acknowledging my support request after two days. I'm going to have to hope I can contact them to get my money back, or just eat it.

My own fault for being an earlier adopter. Generally, the mouse works well. When it did work, that is.


US$.02

I found that I had to uncheck the "Allow Bluetooth devices to wake this computer" Mouse preference in order to get the PilotMouse Bluetooth to not connect after sleeping the PowerBook. Once I did that the mouse worked with the PB just fine (other than erroneous "low battery" messages about once a day).

OAW

[boysss]

I would like to hear review from other owners as well. Esp, about battery life. I am using bluetake bt500. I like it in everyway but the battery conks out in just 4 days :-/. I am looking for another reliable BT mouse. Please keep me updated. Cheers

[meatyocre]

I have been using the Macally BTMini for 1/2 a year. It is compact, sleek, and I get 2 months of battery life from 2AA batteries! No major complaints.

Pros:
Great Feel
Exceptional Battery Life
Matches the PB Alum. Finish

Cons:
No Custom Driver or Controls
No On/Off Switch (has auto-off, but turns on when moved)

[Squidgy]

See also this thread.

I have only been using it for a week, so I cannot comment on battery life. This is my first BT mouse and I have no manufacturer biases. I am not sure if I like the smooth scroll wheel, I probably just have to get used to it. I have never had a problem with it not being able to wake the computer from sleep, however on one occasion I then had to manually "rediscover" the mouse after sleep. Otherwise it consistently reconnects after a few seconds. I plan to keep it.

[az_matt]

Any more feedback? I have have the Apple bluetooth mouse, but I'm getting really tired of the single button. I love the look of The Mouse BT, but the seemingly take-it-or-leave-it reviews here have me wondering about it... The Apple mouse performs flawlessly, I'm just really jonesing for the extra buttons and scrollwheel.

Anyone else with any first-hand experiences with The Mouse BT? I'd really rather not waste another $70 on another mouse that I won't be 100% satisfied with.

Matthew

[vasu]

I came close to getting the MouseBT, but i read about a skipping issue it had in a review. So I broke down and got an apple BT mouse on the way home ... ahh instant gratification

Although it's not bluetooth, i'm really looking at the upcoming Logitech V500. It's got a wireless usb receiver that pops out of the mouse body, and has vertical and horizontal scrolling througha touch sesor. And a compact design.

Really tempted to get one...

-vasu

[Ruahrc]

That V500 looks to be pretty nice! If only it were bluetooth.... Aaagh why can't there be a perfect mouse!

Ruahrc

[cSurfr]

Originally posted by psk-ele:
I happen to have had nothing but excellent experiences with MacMice. I have purchased a few of their products, but am currently using their iBreeze laptop stand and The Mouse BT.

The Mouse BT delivers as promised. Both asthetically pleasing and functional, I'm thoroughly impressed by this late-comer to the BT game. I have not had any connection issues what-so-ever and the tracking is wonderful. My favorite part is the scroll wheel, which has much finer tuning than my Kensington, extremely smooth scrolling on the click wheel.

Can you possibly take some pics of the mosue for me?


Thanks!

[badtz]

did anyone notice in that review, the reviewer was using the mouse ona wood-grained table?

In the past, I've noticed that when you use an optical mouse on a table like that, the lines in the wood makes the mouse skip.... maybe that's why it was 'skipping'?



does anyone have the mouse already? can you verify if it skips? can the mouse be used to wake up your computer from sleep? any photos?

[badtz]

any new user reviews about the mouse?

[PurpleGiant]

I can comment. Bought one about a month ago. It works 100% flawlessly, all the time. Upon waking up from sleep I simply need to click the button once to connect it to the computer.

I haven't experienced any skipping at all, and the batteries are still going. I only turn it off at night time.

I can't think of much else to say really. Looks great, feels solid, works well. Before this I also owned the non-BT version and it performed equally well for me.

[Skip Breakfast]

This must be really subjective. In my experience the MacMice products seem to have inconsistent quality.

[PurpleGiant]

Originally posted by Skip Breakfast:
This must be really subjective. In my experience the MacMice products seem to have inconsistent quality.

Curious: Do you mean that, say, out of 4 mice, two will be great, and two will be poor? Or when testing a single mouse, it is sometimes working great, and sometimes poorly?

If the first option, I would simply return the mouse if I got a poorly working one, at this stage though I must have been lucky

[iluvmymactoo]

I just received mine a few days ago. When I used the batteries that came with the mouse it was rather bad. The curser did skip etc.

I replaced those batteries with rechargeable ones and I have had no further incidences. Now it is working really well. No skipping or anything like that.

I got the white one and it matches my iBook beautifully.

If only Apple would release their own version I'd get it in a heart beat. Fingers crossed for next year maybe?

[dennisbolt]

I ordered mine on Monday and it arrived Thursday!!! Cool! It looks eally good with my PB!

BUT NOT COOL: I hope that I got a defective one, because I have not gotten it to work on my 6-month-old 17" PB, with all updated software and BT software and firmware.

It "says" it sees the mouse after a bit of jiggering with the BT control panel like the instructions say. But it does not respond (unless the single jerk and then nothing is a response) It acts like the tracking setting is on hyper speed or super slow. I can't actually move the mouse and have the curser appear to move except in along jump.

Then when I put the PB to sleep the connection is lost.

I was really hoping this was going to be good. I have the Logitech and MS mouses, but they all require a dongle or cradle of other plugged in devices. I want a reliable 2-button mouse that needs nothing plugged in and looks good. This has promise and I hope I can get it fixed or a new one. I may have to uninstall the MS and Logitech drivers? to make the Macmice work??

I am going to try the further recomendations on the Macmice FAQ page. There seem to be many complaints that they have listed. Hopefully this will help.

[badtz]

^ please let us know how this works out!


also, did you get the white or the aluminum one? How's the build quality? [similar to the Apple mouses?]

is the "click" loud when you press on the mouse key? Does it look cheap when the scroll lights up red from the LED on the bottom?

[dennisbolt]

The look and feel of this mosue is nice-not quite as solid as the Apple clear wired mouse (I have never handled the Aplle BT) The click is the same sound as the Apple mouse, but the clear shell is not as "tight" as on the Apple, becasue the Macmice does not ahev the 2 anchor points on the side. It is just loose so when you pick it up it jiggles in your hand.

I downloaded and installed the newst Bluetooth firmware last night and folloed all the instructions on the Macmice FAQ page, but still no luck.

I would think that when you use software update, it would update firmware, but I guess not?? It seems like a rather out of the way process to get it to work. I also restarted and multiple times and have "reaquirred" the mouse. It seems to see it and the red led blinks and stuff, but when I move the mouse it takes about 3-4 seconds to respond and when it does, it jumps across the screen. Not exactly what I was looking for!! The scroll wheel sometimes goes in teh direction I want and soemtimes not.

I am going to call/email macmice during their business hours when I get a chance.

[az_matt]

dennisbolt: Ugh! Please keep us all updated... And to think, I was ready to buy one to replace my Apple BlueTooth mouse... Still might if you can get the problems sorted.

Matthew

[badtz]

dennisbolt:

good thing you pointed out about the two grip points on the sides of the mouse!


Does the mouse feel different without the two points on the side like Apple's mouse?


is it necessary in this case to have them [now that there's two buttons/scroll]?

[dennisbolt]

Update: I emailed consumer service, and they were fast and efficient. They emailed back directing me to their FAQ page and making sure I had downloaded and installed the newest firmware and BT software-which I did.

Still did not work and I replied back.

They sent me an email (which is same as one I read about on the apple discussionboards on this topic.)

QUOTING: "Hello,

Thank you for your response and we will refund you for your MouseBT purchase. Our customer service staff will begin the refund process today. The refund process may take 3-5 business days. Please check with your bank or credit card company to verify your refund. No need to return the MouseBT - no RMA's will be issued. We appreciate you going the "extra mile" and apologize for any inconvenience you might have experienced.

Kind regards,"

So it sounds like they must have a lot of problmes with this for them to refund and not have me send it back?? I appreciate them doing that and feel sorry for them to waste all these mice. Plus i feel dissapointed that a real nice product doesn't work right YET.

Without the grip points it feels less "tight and solid" as the Apple mouse. The plastic feels fractionably more thin and "snappy" rather than the rich and thick acrylic of the Apple product. But if it had worked I would have loved it.

[badtz]

^ yikes!!!!

maybe I should wait a bit so they can work out the kinks :X ......

[m@]

Had mine for about 6 weeks, basically when it works it works fine but when is jets jumpy and later disconnects it is a big fat waste of money. Still, it looks and feels great!

As stated on their FAQ the problem with jumpy cursor seams to be Mac OS X realted, plug it into a PC and it seams to work fine! Interference might a problem, but for me my PC is next to my 20" iMac on my desk, so unless the problem is located inside the imac I think I will rule this one out.

Worked fine for my Powerbook with an external USB bluetooth device, have only had problems with my iMac.

Lets hope there is an update in the pipeline!

[Fusion]

I bought this mouse a little while ago when I just happened to see it in a retail store. It was a little of an impulse buy.

I was severly unimpressed with the mouse. Owning an Apple, I expect quality when it comes to hardware, and the mouse BT is far from it.

The first thing that I noticed was the amount of play in the top plastic. The top surrounds the sides as well. It does not fit tight like the apple mouse, but rather just rests there and can actually life up about 1/8th of an inch. It feels very cheap and very plastic.

The second thing that I noticed was the cheap assembly with the battery compartment. One of the flimsiest things I have seen.

The clicking operation was very interesting, it was really hard to push the button. It got tireing after awhile. It was just not as smooth as the operation on other mice that I have.

The scroll wheel was awesome though I have to say. I loved how smooth it was. The only problem with it was the scroll button. Because the wheel's motion is so smooth, it was almost impossible press down and click without making the scroll wheel move. You can imagine how big of a problem this can be when trying to use the middle click to open up links in a new tab...

I ended up returning it. I hope it is not an indication of the company's quality in product. I give it a 1 out of 5.

[kevinosaurus]

Here are my thoughts (from a recent convert):

To get any perspective on someone's review, it is important to know his/her background and experience. I am a long-time experienced PC/Unix user who recently returned to Mac (just last week!). Therefore, I do not have extensive experience with other mac products including other mice...

I purchased The Mouse BT to be paired with my spiffy new 15" PB 1.33GHz. In short, I really like the mouse. Operationally, it is very smooth and responsive, and I have not had any skipping issues. The clicking is a bit loud, but more of a characteristic than a problem. Both buttons click easily, as long as you press near the top of the mosue (which I do naturally anyways). The smooth scroll wheel is fantastic...probably the feature I would have missed most in a single-button mouse. Asthetically, the aluminum colored mouse looks beautiful next to my PB.

The only problems I have had are reconnecting after sleep, as has been mentioned before. When I leave my desk and come back after awhile, there is never a problemwaking up the system by clicking our moving the mouse. However, after closing the lid, it has often been necessary to re-pair the mouse and PB to get it working again.

Overall I have been very happy with the mouse.

Hope this is helpful!

[badtz]

is the "clicking sound" as loud as apple's mouse? or louder?

[dennisbolt]

The click sound is similar to Apple and other "loud" mice. Not a problme to me.

It is funny how so many people have good experiences with this mouse and many have bad experiences...I don't know what makes my setup different than kevinosauruas. I have a new 17" PB, and don't have any weird programs or attached peripherals.

I downloaded the newest BT firmware update last week BUT my PB died right after I downloaded and installed. (ac power port problem and possible HD problem-it's at Apple right now, so I am not saying the BT firmware update caused my crash) I was/am hoping that this update will help the BT Mouse?? I will find out when it comes back from Apple.

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally posted by dennisbolt:
It is funny how so many people have good experiences with this mouse and many have bad experiences...I don't know what makes my setup different than kevinosauruas.

Partially because mice are one of the most subjective parts of your computer, and partially because The Mouse BT is probably not made very well or very consistently. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of variation in the manufacturing.

[iluvmymactoo]

Originally posted by iluvmymactoo:
I just received mine a few days ago. When I used the batteries that came with the mouse it was rather bad. The curser did skip etc.

I replaced those batteries with rechargeable ones and I have had no further incidences. Now it is working really well. No skipping or anything like that.

I got the white one and it matches my iBook beautifully.

If only Apple would release their own version I'd get it in a heart beat. Fingers crossed for next year maybe?

I take the above comments back. After battling with the constant skipping and struggling with it to actually point on the spot I want it to I got rid of it.

It was also very hard to left click as sometimes it would click both sides at the same time, I guess because the shell of the mouse is really just split into two sections.

I'm back to my Apple BT mouse until I find something else.

[prokrast]

After debating for a while, I just ordered this mouse from iogear. On paper, this mouse seems to beat the rest, I love that you can recharge the batteries through USB. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations . . .

[macintologist]

Originally posted by prokrast:
After debating for a while, I just ordered this mouse from iogear. On paper, this mouse seems to beat the rest, I love that you can recharge the batteries through USB. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations . . .

I'm liking that! Nice find!

Wow..I think we have a winner here. I'll probably get this for Xmas

[badtz]

Originally posted by prokrast:
After debating for a while, I just ordered this mouse from iogear. On paper, this mouse seems to beat the rest, I love that you can recharge the batteries through USB. Hopefully it lives up to my expectations . . .

it's kind of ugly though

[pyn]

I'm thinking -- why not implement the touch wheel type touch sensitive into a scroll "strip" on a the apple mouse. Then they can make two halves for left & right buttons.

[andretan]

Originally posted by pyn:
I'm thinking -- why not implement the touch wheel type touch sensitive into a scroll "strip" on a the apple mouse. Then they can make two halves for left & right buttons.

Microsoft already has one -- designed by Philip Stark...

[Fusion]

Originally posted by pyn:
I'm thinking -- why not implement the touch wheel type touch sensitive into a scroll "strip" on a the apple mouse. Then they can make two halves for left & right buttons.

Kensington also has this in their pro mouse and it never really caught on.

[Simon]

I'm thinking about this mouse in gray for my 12" PowerBook an another one in white for my 1GHz 17" iMac.

The PowerBook should be fine because it has internal BT, but the iMac needs a USB adapter. Is there anything special to keep in mind when buying a USB BT adapter to use with this mouse on the iMac? Will it work OK with any USB BT adapter for the Mac?

[andretan]

Originally posted by Simon:
I'm thinking about this mouse in gray for my 12" PowerBook an another one in white for my 1GHz 17" iMac.

The PowerBook should be fine because it has internal BT, but the iMac needs a USB adapter. Is there anything special to keep in mind when buying a USB BT adapter to use with this mouse on the iMac? Will it work OK with any USB BT adapter for the Mac?

Any normal one should work, but the Dlink one (that's sold on Apple Store) is the smallest. And that should work with the Jabra Bluetooth headset as well.

[danger_boy_13]

I have the MouseBT (for about a week) and have yet to have a problem. When you wake from sleep, you click the mouse button (after waking) and it takes a few seconds to connect, but I haven't had to manually connect it. I have heard that any BT mouse has to have a few seconds to re-connect. Make sure you have the newest BT firmware and software updates, that may be causing some people's problems.

[Macpilot]

I have the BT500 from Radtech. It rocks. Tiny, long battery life, accurate, and an ON/OFF switch. Too bad they don't offer it in colors besides white. A minor complaint.

Wish they made a desktop version (larger)!

[Macpilot]

Correction: they DO offer it other than white....a blue/silver combo.

[badtz]

any more reviews? [positive]?


the only thing I don't like is the fact that you can't check the power left in the battery like you can with the standard apple BT mouses.

[USNA91]

FWIW, I have an FYI for the noob's out there (like me)....

The Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer BT does NOT work with Mac.

Reckon I'll be visiting CompUSA again soon....