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Miscellaneous Ramblings

Is 'The Mouse' from DVForge the Multi-button Mouse Apple Should Have Built?

Charles Moore - 2005.01.31 - Tip Jar

DVForge calls The Mouse, their optical USB pointing device, "The Mouse Apple Should Have Built."

Apple's second USB mouse, the "buttonless" optical unit, is a major improvement over their original "hockey puck" USB mouse. It looks great, is ergonomically better, and its optical technology is superior. But its action is still too stiff, and it only has one button - and no scroll wheel.

I quit using the Apple USB optical mouse that came with my G4 Cube after few days and switched to a third-party mouse with a lighter action and multiple buttons.

There is indeed room for "a better mouse."

The Mouse from MacMice Workplace Products Co. of Hendersonville, TN, is one interpretation of what a better mouse should be. I've been using a The Mouse for the past several months as my main pointing device, I liked it from the get-go, and I like it better the longer I use it.

Appearance-wise, it pays more than a little homage to Apple's USB optical mouse, but in my estimation it's a nicer mouse to use. Like the Apple unit, The Mouse is a nearly symmetrical rectangular ovoid in shape and of about average size for computer mice, and the entire clear mouse housing cover (an aluminum-colored model is also available) serves as the button - or more accurately in this case two of the three buttons. The front half of the case is split and serves as left and right buttons.

This configuration does not provide the same sort of satisfyingly precise tactile feedback that a regular mouse button mounted on a mechanical switch mechanism does, but it's not bad at all once you get used to it. The mouse also incorporates a scroll wheel with a delightfully light and silky-smooth action and also a third button click function.

The left/right button click action is slightly lighter than with the Apple mouse, but still stiffer than I prefer. I find the scroll wheel button click uncomfortably stiff, but I hardly ever use it.

The Mouse itself is nicely balanced and weighted. It glides smoothly and almost effortlessly on my mousepad. It has 800 dpi tracking resolution, with a fast, responsive optical tracking mechanism for accurate pixel-level editing.

When you move the mouse, the red optical sensor lights up causing the entire skirt of the housing to glow - a very cool effect.

If you are using Mac OS X 10.1 or higher, no driver installation is necessary for basic support of mouse clicking and the scroll wheel. If you're still using Mac OS 8.5.1 through 9.2.2 - or you want more mouse functionality than the built-in OS X drivers provide - proprietary drivers are downloadable at the MacMice support page. MacMice's MouseCommand drivers are full featured to satisfy demanding multi-button mouse users, with assignable scroll button, left-handed operation, adjustable clicking and motion, built-in adjustable cursor acceleration, reversible horizontal scrolling.

MouseCommand v9 driver works with Mac OS 8.5.1 through 9.2.2, and the v10 version works with Mac OS 10.1 through 10.2.8. MouseCommand v11 has been specifically tweaked for Panther.

Aside from the button stiffness, my only real complaint about The Mouse pertains to its cord, which as with Apple mice is a tad on the short side at 31.5" (I'm a fan of six foot mouse cables). It is also very small diameter wire that MacMice says is purposely the most soft, supple materials they could find, which makes it nice to handle, but I'm wondering about long-term durability, especially with rough treatment.

Other than that, the quality of materials and standard of finish are first-rate.

The Mouse is available in both clear-over-white and an "aluminum" version to harmonize with aluminum PowerBooks and the G5 towers. The USB cable is silver-gray as well. The Mouse dimensions are 2.2" wide, 4.4" long, 1.2" high.

The Mouse sells for $39.99.

Charles Moore has been a freelance journalist since 1987 and began writing for Mac websites in May 1998. His The Road Warrior column is a regular feature on MacOpinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com. If you find his articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.

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