Every so often I try to use the mouse that came with my computer. I like the idea of the Mighty Mouse, but for whatever reason, it just frustrates me. I can never seem to click it properly, especially the “secondary button”, as Apple calls it.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some things I really like about it. The scroll ball is pretty cool, and surprisingly usable for me. I even like the side buttons. There is just something about it that bugs me, but I just can’t pinpoint it.
Do any of you use this mouse? Are there any tricks to using it? Should I just not use it, and go back to the MS Mouse that I have been using?
yes I’am using this mouse… the wired and the wireless mouse.
I had the same problems with the secundary click at the begining: you have to learn to keep your primary finger at a higher position while clicking the secundary button (and of course you have to enable the click at the mouse preferences)
My experience has shown that in order to get the right click to work, I can’t be touching any other part of the mouse.
I haven’t even tried using the side buttons really yet.
I bought a Mighty Mouse and spent a few months trying to get used to it. I never did. I specifically wanted it for Final Cut Pro editing – I thought the extra button functions – sideways scroll, scroll-ball click – would be great.
But there is no physical click sensation as you roll the ball, and the ball is tiny, making it impossible to avoid slipping to the side when trying to scroll up, so I had to disable sideways scrolling. It was also impossible to click-hold-scroll without it registering as a regular scrollball click. So that had to be disabled. It was also quite tricky to scroll up and down without accidentally pressing too much and triggering the click function, so that had to go as well.
So I was basically left with a two button scroll wheel mouse that was poorly shaped compared to more dome-like regular mice, and had a tiny annoying ball that didn’t have a physical forward/backward click feel (which is great for moving one frame forward/one frame backward in Final Cut Pro).
It was also immensely difficult to click – it kept kind of “jamming” – I don’t know if my device was faulty but I have read other complaints along this line, so I don’t think so.
So I chucked it somewhere and went back to my extremely nice five-year-old wired optical Logitech. USB Overdrive gives me all the customisation and more that Mighty Mouse’s control panel ever did.
The problem your having with the clicks is because of the touchpad design under the hook oof the Mighty Mouse. When you use a regular mouse the clicks are mechcanical so usually your fingers rest on the mouse. Like if your right mouse clicking most likely your other finger is also resting on the mouse. If your left clicking its vice versa. I think thats where the problems come in for the mighty mouse. It uses a large touch sensor underneath. Your finger completes the circuit. Having 2 fingers on the sensor confuses it. I had much better luck if i had did not rest my fingers on it but its very annoying to do that. Get the Logitech G7!
I use neither the mouse nor keyboard that came with my Mac. I don’t believe Apple has had a decent mouse in over 15 years, and I don’t believe ANYONE makes keyboards like the Apple Extended Keyboard II or the IBM Models M and M2.
I mouse with a Microsoft Wheel Optical, and type on a Matais Tactile Pro.
@ Comment #4. Actually the Mighty Mouse always interprets a two-fingered click as a left-fingered click. So you only have to worry about lifting a finger when you do a right-click.
I don’t enable the right-click on my Mighty Mouse because I’m a graphic designer and accidental right-clicks are a real nuisance that can force you to redo a lot of very careful selection work. Those who don’t understand why Apple took so long to bring us right-click — this is why. Fortunately, they did it in such a way that I can turn it off. Can’t do that with a ‘physical’ button 2.
Comment #1 has it right, BTW. You’ve got to lift your index finger up high to get a consistent right click. If you lift it up only a little bit then there’s a chance that the Might Mouse will still “sense” it.
I love the scroll pea, but I have found that, like all scroll wheels I have used, it malfunctions rather quickly. (I consider anything inside of 2 years a very quick malfunction for a mouse.) I don’t like mice with moving parts. I always end up replacing them because the parts stopped moving correctly. And the only worse thing than not having a scroll wheel is having a scroll wheel that is useless and you have to be careful not to touch because it causes your whole window to jitter around maniacally for a few seconds. Scroll wheels do this when they inevitably mess up. The Mighty Mouse’s scroll pea just sort of gets stuck after a while.
I swear the whole scroll wheel concept is the biggest boon to the replacement mouse industry since before lasers when people would replace their mice because they didn’t realise that they could clean out the rollers. (Most scroll wheel malfunctions by contrast I have found cannot be fixed by cleaning.)
I am slowly getting used to how this mouse works. I am learning to keep my finger near the top of the mouse to right click. Most of the time it works, but I forget sometimes, and the click doesn’t register. I then register a loud noise that often sounds like a word that should not be uttered in public.
On a more positive note, I still love the scroll ball, I set the side buttons to open the App Switcher, which is very cool.
I don’t know how long I will continue to use the mouse, but it will surely be longer than this poor developer: A Mighty Mistake!
The all Mickey -err- Mighty Mouse is also at my hand. I never touch that little round ball there. So I am safe.
Seriously: I had the joy of helping a friend over from the Wind’y side – I helped him pick an iMac! One of his first problems was the mouse. Not the Mighty Mous as such, but the Right Click. Before I arrived to help him «getting into» his new machine, he had allready called AppleCare about it. And they took care! So when I came, the System was configured for Right Click-ing.
Which made my «let me help you» experience quite frustrating. Especially because of that little Mickey …
Took me awhile to get to use it… but after that, it’s all fine. The little scroll thing works beautifully… I can’t go back to use the scroll bar anymore… however, I turn off the side buttons as well as the press action of the scroll thing.