Magic Mouse not so magic

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assagai

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I made a terrible impulse purchase - an apple magic mouse.
This has to be the worst mouse I've ever used.
Firstly, it doesn't work with my mac pro 2009 - terrible lag and cursor skipping, after googling (which i should have done before buying) i found tons of unresolved complaints about this on the apple support forums. Seems to be related to poor bluetooth performance or something, anyway no-one has a fix other than to buy an external bluetooth dongle.

Secondly, the software for the mouse doesn't install properly (see numerous more threads on apple support)

I tried it on my 2008 mac pro and while no skipping or lag occurs, the software still doesn't install properly (no options for gestures)

My girlfriend who is a film editor tried it out for a few minutes and she hated it too. (It didn't install properly on her mac either)

On top of that, this thing must've been designed to give physios more work, it is the most unergonomic mouse I've used (worse than the old g3 hockey puck)

Seriously, what was apple thinking?

I'll be returning this to istore for a refund. :mad:
 
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adsl3g

adsl3g

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Interesting... I also got the MM and it works perfectly on my iMac - no software needed to be installed as Snow Leopard picks it up and has all the options for the mouse under System Preferences. It even works fine under Windows 7 via Bootcamp. Connected via bluetooth -

I don't have a problem with the ergonomics - I find it a lot nicer than the old apple mouse.
 
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Synaesthesia

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I thin the bluetooth antenna in Mac Pro's has poor performance because it's completely covered with metal - a faraday cage.

I'm afraid you may need to get a bluetooth dongle.
 
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assagai

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Uh, considering the combined cost of a mac pro and a magic mouse, its an absolute travesty that these products do not work together.
Apple needs to place a warning on the magic mouse - "please sit inside mac pro when using the mouse"

No way am I shelling out more for a bluetooth dongle to get this piece of glitch working.

@adsl3g - there's a driver update for users of 10.6.2 (to enable advanced features) - didn't help though.
 
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Frankie

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I bought one with my new 17 Macbook and it would only work with the full features after an update which included a BT firmware update.

I'll give it a few days and decide if I'll return it.

New to Mac and cant even find how to increase the pointer size and style.
 
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hammell

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Synaesthesia said:
I thin the bluetooth antenna in Mac Pro's has poor performance because it's completely covered with metal - a faraday cage.

I'm afraid you may need to get a bluetooth dongle.
Click to expand...

No, the Macbook Pro is not a Faraday cage - I suggest doing some research on electrostatic fields before making a sweeping statement like that... I have a MM under Snow Leopard and it works perfectly - has from day one. I know this doesn't help, but perhaps you could take it to where you bought it from and ask them to have a look?
 
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assagai

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I've tried magic prefs, didn't help.
This problem seems to affect mainly the Mac Pro 2009, as i said, apple forums are replete with examples of users having the same issues.

The mouse actually works if i use it on the Mac Pro case or winin 500cm of the mac, any further and it starts stuttering and acting up.
Performance also improves if i take the door off the mac and the battery cover off the mouse, all terrible solutions. "please sit inside mac to use mouse"
So it seems that the problem is a combination of bad hardware design in the Mac Pro regarding bluetooth, and bad software for the mouse.

I have to take the mouse back, just can't bring myself to buy a bluetooth dongle for a mac pro!
Besides which, the mouse software is still not properly installed, but that's another issue with it's own tiresome troubleshooting routine,
Times like this it's really diffucult to like apple.
 
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broken1

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If they won't take your mouse back, I might buy it at a slightly reduced price. PM ME if you are interested.
 
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assagai

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cool, will let you know.

Edit: iStore clearwater refunded me. End of saga!
 
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PeterCH

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MM is a gimmick. End of story. Why people fall for hype - and hype comes from Ballmer and from Jobs - is beyond me.
 
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assagai

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PeterCH said:
MM is a gimmick. End of story. Why people fall for hype - and hype comes from Ballmer and from Jobs - is beyond me.
Click to expand...

well, what i also learned is that a R40000 Mac Pro (at the time it was 40k) has probably the worst bluetooth range of any bt equipped machine on the market. Nice going apple.
 
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Frankie

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I've installed an add-on which helped to increase the tracking speed, but it only really speeds up the acceleration. Looks like I'll go back to my Logitech MX510 and get a refund on the MM, but will be sad to go back to a wired mouse.
 
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Frankie

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Synaesthesia said:
Some high praise for the Magic Mouse here: http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8300945231/m/480000423041

People are saying it's better than a MX1000!

Although you do need software like BetterTouchTool or SteerMouse to get the most out of it, and/or a Bluetooth dongle it seems.
Click to expand...

I tried the latest Logitech Performance Mouse MX, but didn't like the fact that I had to charge it every three or four days, and if you don't pay attention you find yourself switching to a new web page or document while the wheel is still spinning and you need to scroll back to the start of the page or doc.

I don't need a BT dongle since doing the firmware update on my Macbook, but I'll give those app's a try before returning the MM.


Edit: After getting BetterTouchTool to work I decided to keep this mouse, but it will certainly not be top of the class for me.

Without this App it was a total no go.
 
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bwana

bwana

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Frankie said:
I tried the latest Logitech Performance Mouse MX, but didn't like the fact that I had to charge it every three or four days, and if you don't pay attention you find yourself switching to a new web page or document while the wheel is still spinning and you need to scroll back to the start of the page or doc.

I don't need a BT dongle since doing the firmware update on my Macbook, but I'll give those app's a try before returning the MM.
Click to expand...
Dont you like the trackpad on your MBP?
 
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assagai

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I just installed airmouse pro on the iphone, even that works better than the MM did, way more configurable too.
I'm now using a wireless ms mouse, MUCH better (but no horizontal scrolling)
 
bwana

bwana

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assagai said:
I just installed airmouse pro on the iphone, even that works better than the MM did, way more configurable too.
I'm now using a wireless ms mouse, MUCH better (but no horizontal scrolling)
Click to expand...

You should also try logitech's free touch mouse app. (it has the horizontal scrolling you seek. :))
 
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