Review – Apple Magic Mouse
My Logitech Wireless Mouse started failing after about two years of constant use. I replaced it with Apple’s Magic Mouse and am glad I did.
First of all, like most Apple products, the Magic Mouse looks cool. Sleek and white with a clear, glass-like smooth top. Not a button or wheel anywhere. But of course, good looks is not a top requirement for a mouse. A mouse needs to be able to accurately track your hand movements so you can move the cursor quickly and easily on your screen. The Magic mouse can do that.
Another big requirement for a mouse is a scrolling wheel so you can move pages up and down using the wheel. This is an area where Magic Mouse shines. It scrolls smoothly up and down and right and left by sweeping your fingers. Very similar to an iPhone.
Another important feature of a mouse is the ability to program buttons to perform functions. You are limited to basic mouse features:
- Right or left click – You can program a right or left click, and this works surprisingly well considering there is no right or left button to click.
- Scroll
- Screen Zoom
- Two-Finger right and left navigate (for example, from a browser screen, you can sweep two fingers right or left to go to back or forward in your browser history for that page. This feature works in Safari AND Firefox.
- Tracking Speed
- Scrolling Speed
- Double Click Speed
Finally, the Magic Mouse is a Bluetooth device: it communicates with the computer using Bluetooth radio signals. I have read a lot of bad press about Bluetooth devices, but my experience so far is that the Magic Mouse Bluetooth works fine. The advantage of a Bluetooth mouse is that you don’t need to use one of your USB ports for a wireless mouse antenna and you don’t have to remember to bring the wireless mouse antenna when you travel.
