[turbulentfurball]

My 10 year old Microsoft mouse is on its last legs (or scroll wheel as is actually the case).

I want to get a multi touch apple device as OS X really takes advantage of it now.

So, Magic Mouse, or Magic Trackpad. Which should I get? I'm a bit dubious about a trackpad with a desktop computer, but They seem pretty slick. I've tried the Magic Mouse, and I like it, but the gestures seem to be a little more difficult than on a trackpad.

[psmith2.0]

Probably the trackpad. I love the Magic Mouse, and if I didn't draw I'd have the trackpad.

[turtle]

Apple mice have always hurt my hand. I'm very partial to the trackpad though. I use one at work on my desktop and love it. It's rare I actually use a mouse now really.

[thegeriatric]

Since buying a trackpad (must be at least 2 years now) I haven't used a mouse.

The only thing I would suggest is to get rechargeable batteries for it.

[psmith2.0]

I have that Apple six-battery set. It's nice. Two in the mouse, four always charged and ready to go. I marked two with a green Sharpie, two with a red. They're always paired and cycled/ charged as a set.

[PB PM]

The Magic Mouse is simply terrible, way too small. The trackpad on the other hand is a thing of beauty. If you like the trackpad on Apple notebooks, you will love the Magic Trackpad.

[turbulentfurball]

The consensus seems to be with the Track Pad. I'll go with that! Thanks.

[psmith2.0]

I noticed during the keynote last week, that's what they used with the demo iMac. Was that a first? I recall always seeing a mouse.

[Maciej]

Does anyone know if the Trackpad works with windows?

[turtle]

Originally Posted by Maciej Does anyone know if the Trackpad works with windows?

It does but not fully functional the same as it does in Mac OS, at least the last time I tired with Windows 7. It's pretty frustrating if you asked me. I'm sure one of the Belkin/Logitec ones are a better option for Windows.

[turbulentfurball]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I noticed during the keynote last week, that's what they used with the demo iMac. Was that a first? I recall always seeing a mouse.

I imagine pinching and rotating the maps app is difficult with the mouse!

[chucker]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I noticed during the keynote last week, that's what they used with the demo iMac. Was that a first? I recall always seeing a mouse.

I thought Craig used a Magic Trackpad when he introduced Lion's gestures, but apparently, that was on a Magic Mouse.

[Nogs]

The few times I've tried using my trackpad and my wrist hurt after a while. Possibly because the trackpad is slightly angled, when the one built in to the laptops is flat.

Might try it again as I've moved my setup around, but I do like using a mouse for general stuff.

[Dorian Gray]

I have both a Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. The latter works well, but like Nogs I wish it wasn’t angled upwards as steeply as it is. More to the point, I find the Magic Mouse bloody brilliant, so I prefer it nearly all the time. Best mouse I’ve ever used, and I’ve used a few over the years - including a normal-looking Dell at work that nearly ruined me.

The Magic Mouse did take some getting used to though. I move it around with my thumb and ring finger only (placed halfway down the sculpted underbody of the mouse), drag my little finger on the desk for resistance to motion, and use my remaining two fingers for clicking and gestures. Works great, and because my wrist lies flat on the table, it’s the only mouse I can use for long periods without getting twitches of carpal- and cubital-tunnel syndrome. That’s the most important thing for me.

The only thing I really dislike is having to replace the batteries every couple of weeks. I use eneloops, so it doesn’t cost me much, but the batteries always go flat at the worst moment – such as when you just want to finish reading an article before going to bed, or you’re trying to put a last-minute bid on an eBay auction!

[Matsu]

I thought to bump this thread because the battery life of the magic mouse has become really annoying to me. It just dies so quickly, neither of my bluetooth Keyboard or Magic Trackpad devour batteries quite so voraciously. I can't figure it out. I know the mouse is a bit on the power hungry side, but there has to be more to it than that. I have three bluetooth devices connected. I'm trying to turn off my trackpad to see if the devices somehow just compete with each other for connection signals - though this wouldn't explain why the trackpad (or keyboard) aren't effected. That'd be annoying since I like being able to switch between input devices depending on what I'm doing. Trackpad is great for flicking through libraries, mouse is really quite good for editing.

I also read somewhere than a dark desk surface hurts optical mouse battery life. Not sure if there's any truth to this theory, but my desk surface probably doesn't help, it's a very dark espresso colour topped with a black leather deskpad. Time to find a lightly coloured mouse pad and see if that helps.

How are people liking their magic mice so many years later?

[Eugene]

I love the Magic Trackpad.

I never liked the Magic Mouse. Each of Apple's mice since the hockey puck has gotten even worse ergonomically. I've been using descendents of the Logitech MX500 for over a decade now. Sadly the body shape has been discontinued and eventually I'll have to move on.

[Matsu]

I didn't care for the Mighty Mouse; didn't mind the Pro mouse or puck too much in retrospect, but maybe that's just nostalgia for the old gumdrops... I have a logitech m700 I got from Costco around here somewhere, but the receiver fell apart and eventually stopped working. Is battery drain just a consequence of all Bluetooth mice? Maybe IR is just a better a technology for wireless input devices?

Didn't have time to get myself a mousepad, so I just put a white piece of paper under the mouse late yesterday. Battery has fallen from 15% to 11% since last night. hmmm...

[turtle]

That is some rapid battery loss. I assume you're using disposable batteries for it? Have you tried using rechargeable batteries instead? I've personally never had an Apple Mouse of any kind. They all feel like crap in my hand and make them ache. The Magic Trackpad on the other hand is fantastic. I use Apple's rechargeable for that so I don't notice how fast it goes through batteries.

[Mugge]

Originally Posted by Dorian Gray The Magic Mouse did take some getting used to though. I move it around with my thumb and ring finger only (placed halfway down the sculpted underbody of the mouse), drag my little finger on the desk for resistance to motion, and use my remaining two fingers for clicking and gestures. Works great, and because my wrist lies flat on the table, it’s the only mouse I can use for long periods without getting twitches of carpal- and cubital-tunnel syndrome. That’s the most important thing for me. The only thing I really dislike is having to replace the batteries every couple of weeks. I use eneloops, so it doesn’t cost me much, but the batteries always go flat at the worst moment – such as when you just want to finish reading an article before going to bed, or you’re trying to put a last-minute bid on an eBay auction!

+1

The Magic Mouse takes some getting used to. But now I think it's the best mouse I've ever used, despite it's thirst for batteries. I just keep a pair always charged and ready to swap in.

[Eugene]

Originally Posted by Matsu I didn't care for the Mighty Mouse; didn't mind the Pro mouse or puck too much in retrospect, but maybe that's just nostalgia for the old gumdrops...

I liked the puck a lot more than the pro mouse. It was fine to use aif you just pinched it between your thumb and middle finger since it didn't have a right button anyway.

[Megan Mcguire]

Hi, honestly, I haven't tried both but I asked my daughter's opinion about it and what she said was She tried for both the magic mouse and trackpad and she only used her trackpad occasionally. She prefers to choose the magic mouse for her convenience.