[Satchmo]

When Apple first introduced it's round puck shaped mouse along with the original iMac, I hated it. Well, five years later, I can't work with anything else. I love the small size and ease of use needing only to use my fingers to navigate around.

Problem is, this old mouse is on older technology...in that it's not optically tracked and has the mechanical ball and wheels.
Anyone know if there's anything out there with the same feel and shape as the old puck mouse, but perhaps with optical sensors?

[ast3r3x]

Originally Posted by Satchmo When Apple first introduced it's round puck shaped mouse along with the original iMac, I hated it. Well, five years later, I can't work with anything else. I love the small size and ease of use needing only to use my fingers to navigate around. Problem is, this old mouse is on older technology...in that it's not optically tracked and has the mechanical ball and wheels. Anyone know if there's anything out there with the same feel and shape as the old puck mouse, but perhaps with optical sensors?

worse mouse ever

[Luca]

I hear ya. Once I learned how to use the puck, I kind of liked it. I still prefer normal mice though. I don't think there's an optical puck mouse, but I don't see what's bad about a ball mouse. Razer, a company that makes speciality gaming mice, didn't switch to optical until after most of the industry had. The only real disadvantage to ball mice is that they require periodic cleaning... as long as they're clean they should track perfectly fine.

[NosferaDrew]

I always grab that thing off axis and it makes it really difficult to navigate.
We have one on a dedicated backup/restore machine at work and it always takes me a few seconds to orient it properly!

There's the Super Mini Optical Mouse:


There's also the Targus Ultra Mini Retractable Optical Mouse:

[johnq]

Funny, because the wire was really the only/best way to determine "north" to make sure it was situated correctly. Minus the wire would be insane.

But I did like it as far as only needing fingertips and holding it lightly.

Now, a super modern puck mouse would sense the thumb and other finger positions and dynamically center the mouse. Imagine the entire mouse being solid and no "wrong" way to hold it.

Where's my patent lawyer....

[Eugene]

The puck mouse was the best. it was the most comfortable because it forced you not to drag your palm...

[scratt]

If you had an old puck mouse case, couldn't you buy a small Bluetooth or optical mouse and rip it's guts out and mount them inside the puck mouse case?

It couldn't be that hard could it?

[pscates2.0]

Later versions of the puck mouse (my iMac DV had it) came with a small dimple on the front, above the wire, so you could orient the thing by touch, feeling that recessed groove.

Personally, I loved the hockey puck and used it for years, with no complaints. It was only Mac forums like these where I became aware of this freaky, over-the-top hatred that existed towards it by some.