I stopped by the Apple store tonight to try the Apple Magic mouse. I just wanted to try the mousetop gestures. I really wasn't expecting to like it enough to buy it, but I ended up doing just that. It's a pretty cool device, but it's not a total love affair here.
First, here are the things that I find apealing about it. The scroll gestures is cool and if I dare channel my inner New Englander, it is wicked cool. The scroll gestures alone made it worth my while to try it because I spend so much of my time scrolling around windows trying to figure out exactly where some piece of code went. The result of all this scrolling is a chronically sore knuckle joint in my middle finger that I use for the scroll wheel.
Why is this one feature so cool? It's because you can use the entire surface of the mouse to scroll. The problem I have with scroll wheels is that it takes too many scrolls to get to where you want and if you increase the sensitivity, you often end up overshooting. With the Magic Mouse you can cover several screens with one swipe and you can cover that distance at varying speeds because it senses momentum similar to the way the iPhone interface works.
It's 360 degree scroll and unlike the funky scroll ball that Apple had on their Mighty Mouse, this one scrolls smoothly.
I initially thought the sideways scrolling would be awkward, but the one finger side to side swiping is actually very easy to do. The two finger side to side swiping is another story though. I find that to be awkward, impractical, and physically a little uncomfortable to do repeatedly.
I also like that it's a low profile mouse so it can be moved with either a palm hand grip or a claw hand grip, but it feels like it was meant to be used with a palm hand grip. It's not the most comfortable claw grip mouse because it's so long and I either have to click far way enough from the front of the mouse that it takes more force to register a click or I have to grip up high so I'm dragging the heaviest part of the mouse around. I'll have a more refined opinion on this in a week or two.
It does take a fair amount of force to click it and I imagine it was intentional to give it a stiff feel so that gestures don't result in accidental clicks. I'm hoping that it breaks in a little. Like the Apple Pro Mouse and the Mighty Mouse that preceeded it, the entire surface clicks, but unlike those mice, it's not the base of the mouse that clicks down, only the top clicks in. The entire top is essentially one thin button. I like this a lot better this way. I always found it awkward to have a mouse that sank in when you clicked it.
Now here are some negatives in my book.
It is heavy. I'm sure it couldn't be too light or the gestures would be hard to do, but I don't know how a heavy mouse will work with my mousing style.
The tracking speed is too slow for me. I haven't rebooted yet so it's possible my Razer drivers are still messing with the mousing interface, but I maxed out the tracking sensitivity once I turned it on and it's still way too slow for me. It may not be a problem for a lot of people. I happen to like having high gain movements with my mouse.
I miss having more than two buttons. I hope they release some firmware later that will give me more gestures or some way of simulating a third, fourth, and fifth button.
I'm not sure if this will permanently replace my Razer Diamondback, but it'll definitely be a preferred mouse for laptop use. I'll need some time getting used to it to have a firmer opinion. All I can say for certain now is that the scrolling is a lot easier to do and more useful than I expected it to be.
