The peak of minimalism for mice - at a price (Apple Mighty Mouse Wireless)

Member Name: TheRedTower

Product:	Apple Mighty Mouse Wireless
Date:	04/07/09 (12 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clever design, looks great, invisible laser

Disadvantages: poor battery life, scroll ball gets dirty, acquired taste

Apple's fondness of minimalism and styling has perhaps reached it's peak with the Mighty Mouse.

It does not have the typical two buttons and a scroll wheel, instead it has the scroll ball, two side buttons and the touch-sensitive top.

The genius of this design is also perhaps it's failing. To right click you have to ensure you lift your finger off the left side of the top and press on the right side. This takes some getting used to and I know people can be put off by it.

The scroll ball is the best bit about this mouse for me. It can scroll vertically as you would expect AND horizontally, I know this is probably nothing new, but it has always felt like it was the best implementation of this operation I've encountered.

The side buttons (used in unison) are squeezed to press, they can be assigned a certain command (via System Preferences) or disabled completely. I know some people turn these off as it can be quite easy to accidentally press them and invoke their assigned command without meaning to.

The bluetooth version of this mouse is powered by 2 AA batteries (it also runs off one battery if weight or lack of batteries is an issue.) I would recommend getting some rechargeable ones as it eats through them at a hefty rate (if you leave it switched on that is.)

This is probably one of Apple's most forgivably flawed designs but nowhere near as bad as the 'hockey puck' mouse from the days of the original iMac. The scroll ball tends to get dirty and needs cleaning occasionally (turning it upside down and rolling it vigorously on a piece of paper works for me), the battery life is not great especially if you forget to turn it off (a sliding cover over the laser switches this off, quite an efficient piece of design.) Speaking of the laser, this is one of those laser mice that doesn't shine a blinding red light into your eye, it's apparently invisible (and therefore magic). I would also argue that it is one the slightly expensive side.

I would recommend anyone thinking of getting one of these mice that hasn't got one already should go to their nearest Apple shop and try it out. It's great when you get used to it, but it is certainly an acquired taste.

Summary: Typical Apple minimalism with a dose of acquired taste

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