Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad? New iMacs let you choose

#1 Macworld

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 04:29 PM

Post your comments for Magic Mouse or Magic Trackpad? New iMacs let you choose here

#2 rhess55

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 05:01 PM

A few weeks ago I picked up a Magic Trackpad for my wife's iMac. Took a little getting used to, but now we both really like it. Works wonderfully. As with the reviewer, I still like our Magic Mouse, but the Trackpad has a definite coolness quotient and has become our device of choice.

#3 dbutenhof

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 05:09 PM

I have a Magic Mouse and a Magic Trackpad on my iMac. I bought the latter partly out of curiosity and party because to use up a Best Buy gift card that had been taking up space in my wallet.

I used the Magic Trackpad "now and then"; but as I got used to it started to prefer it for nearly everything except games, when the mouse would crawl back out from the dark spaces at the back of the keyboard tray.

But, gradually... the mouse has been coming out less and less. The more I use gestures for scrolling or anything else, the more I like the trackpad. The early blurbs about Lion suggest a lot more gesture support built into the OS and apps, and I can see Lion and the Magic Trackpad really liking each other a lot if the teasers are to be believed...

#4 spinoza2

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 06:18 PM

There are some things I still prefer the mouse, like doing heavy-duty file work in Finder (moving, copying, etc etc). As with others I have both connected as use one or the other, depending on the situation.

#5 zarmanto

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 07:18 PM

Back in the bad-ol-days of ADB, I actually bought an itty-bitty trackpad for my desktop Mac, after having played around with the Windows/PS2 version of the same device on a relative's PC... I actually decided that I wasn't that impressed with it in the long run, and not just because of games. I held on to that opinion with respect to pretty much all trackpads throughout my stint working in tech support; dealing with laptops and desktops of all varieties. Now, however, I'm a little over a week into my new iPhone purchase, and I have to admit that the advent of gestures does indeed add a whole new dimension to track-based interfaces.

In fact, after playing with the demo of Modern Combat 2 on my iPhone for a few minutes, I'd have to say that if the geniuses over at Apple can just find a way to translate the experience of the accelerometer interface over to the iMac, I'm sure I'd be totally sold...

- 24" iMac: 2.33GHz Core2 Duo/3GB RAM/2TB HD/GeForce 7600 w/256MB VRAM
- Hackintosh: 2.3GHz AMD Quad-Core/4GB RAM/multiple HDs/GeForce 8600 GTS w/256MB
- Verizon iPhone 4
- AppleTV (2nd Gen)
- 1TB Time Capsule
- 80GB iPod Classic

#6 mc4o1993

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 08:19 PM

if any of you have spent any time with Lion.. you knew this was coming.

I have lion installed on my 11" MBA. the trackpad was the first thing i checked when I looked at the BTO options.

multitouch trackpads will be the best for Lion.

#7 clh126

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 08:25 PM

Like most of the above, got the magic pad and took a few days to get used to but now prefer it over my magic mouse. I love the touch aspect as opposed to having to press down and click. BTW you can still do the click if you want to. Just brilliant on Apple's part.

PS. Just like the "chick-let" keyboard without the numeric pad, Apple got it right even though it took a little time to "like" it. Couldn't go back to the old style keyboards!

Seems like with the popularity of Laptops, Apple is emulating them on the desktop so users don't feel a difference from laptop to desktop. I love it.

#8 pitashen

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 08:42 PM

As long as trackball is still alive (even if just barely), there is nil chance for a mouse to go away.

#9 Amerist

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Posted 03 May 2011 - 11:09 PM

dbutenhof, on 03 May 2011 - 05:09 PM, said:

I too got a Magic Trackpad at Best Buy out of curiosity. I was using a Logitech MX Revolution previously which now sits idly by in its charging dock. Like you I only pull it out for games. I have a Magic Mouse as well but I don't use it because I hate the way it scrolls accidentally and it doesn't move very smoothly across my desk in comparison to my Logitech mouse. I'm really growing fond of my Magic Touchpad.

#10 palane

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 03:29 AM

I would be inclined to get the trackpad and pick up a cheap wireless mouse on the side. The trackpad on my MBP has changed my experience of laptop computing, but I'd still like a mouse for occasional use.

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#11 Jarmo

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 04:20 AM

Neat!

Trackpad might potentially be a useful addition, but it DOESN'T REALLY MATTER. After 10 yrs of frustration I'd take a bag of M&M's over an Apple mouse!! They've been useless baggage ever since the hockey puck. Is it really so hard to admit the wheel is a good thing?

Admittedly I haven't used the newest magic one yet, but the nipple mouse before it was the lowest, clogging up after an hour of work.

#12 MrLizard

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 04:33 AM

Agreed. I don't think the mouse has to die for the trackpad to win.

I'm a huge fan of the magic trackpad. Using gestures to navigate is great- the main issue though is making them discoverable.

#13 flybynight

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:04 AM

I love the chicklet keyboard, but I still need my 10-key. I wish someone made an accessory that screwed into the battery compartment of the trackpad and let it "dock" into the side USB port of the wired keyboards.

#14 palane

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Posted 04 May 2011 - 06:32 AM

The hockey puck stunk, but it's hardly accurate to characterize the rest of them as useless. You want a wheel? Get a mouse with a wheel. It's $20.

Personally, I'm fond of several different Logitech mice. A good fit and feel in the hand and, yes, I can do wheelies.

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Jarmo, on 04 May 2011 - 04:20 AM, said: