The Mac (Un)Mighty Mouse

Usually I can justify the “Mac Tax“. Sure, I pay a premium for Macintosh products, but nine times out of ten I find the difference to be justified. I get more work done on my Mac, so the fact it cost hundreds more doesn’t bother me. I type faster on my Apple keyboard, so the fact that it cost twice as much as a reasonable replacement is acceptable.

Though I seem to rag on them a pretty good deal, Apple actually has a strong history of releasing good products that justify at least some premium.

However, this makes me wonder what they were thinking when they released the Mighty Mouse. Though it was a Christmas gift from an absolutely wonderful pair of in-laws, it seems to come pre-packaged with a set of headaches and problems that have me wondering if this is really an Apple product I’m using.

It sure looks like one, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t act anything like one.

Some Background

I am admittedly a hard guy to buy Christmas presents for. If I see something that I want, I usually buy it for myself so, when November rolls around and people ask what I want, I usually have no answers. I’m a grown man with a checking account, if I can’t afford it I’m not going to ask for it as a gift and, if I can, I’ll buy it.

However, this year I suggested a wired Apple Mighty Mouse to my in-laws. I had purchased the keyboard and was in love with it (typing this post on it in fact) and thought the mouse could be a good compliment but had only toyed with the idea of buying it.

I opted specifically for the wired version since I have a long and ugly history with wireless mice and am quite used to the wired variety. Too many wireless ones have died at inopportune moments and were used to test the strength of my office drywall.

I knew the features of the mouse, the one-button design, the 360 degree scroll wheel and more. But what I didn’t know is that they would be quite so difficult to use. This mouse may look sleek and easy, but there is going to be some adjusting when you first set down to it.

The Good

Before I begin to go over my issues with it, I want to highlight what I like about the mouse as, shockingly enough, I actually think it’s a good product, just not up to Apple’s usual standards.

First, I like the overall size, shape and weight of the mouse. Though other reviewers said it seemed too big, it fit my hand nicely. It’s a lightweight mouse, but not so light that it feels like it goes sliding all over your mousepad, giving it a nice balance.

The scrollwheel is great, very sensitive and easy to use. Likewise, the mouse’s optical sensor works well and is very sensitive. In the time that I’ve used the mouse, I haven’t noticed any instances of it jumping or skipping. For the most part, it is a solid, perfectly-usable mouse. Though it’s low profile means that the grip is slightly different from other mice, it isn’t uncomfortable or a problem.

Still, as you probably have guessed, there are some pretty big issues with the mouse, just not ones you’d think of when you imagine a product by Apple.

The Issues

The biggest problem I have with the Mighty Mouse is what most call its greatest feature, the one-button design. Sure, it looks awesome and futuristic, but using it is a mess.

The reason is that the mouse seems to have a hard time distinguishing between left and right click. Though left click seems to work reasonably well, right click does not. If I don’t press the mouse down at the exact upper right corner, it responds with a left click, even if my press was well on the right hand side of the scroll ball. Furthermore, if I press too far back on the left hand side of the mouse, it ends up producing a right click, though that is far more rare and far less annoying.

Though this problem has become less of an issue as I’ve used the mouse, I’ve both grown adept at finding the correct spot and the mouse seems to have loosened up some, it’s still annoying as, every once in a while, I find myself getting the wrong click out of the mouse, usually at the worst possible times.

Second, the side buttons on the mice are useless. When I had them switched on, I kept activating them on accident but never when I wanted to. Their position is horrible for me and I had to switch it off to save my sanity. You can pretty much forget about ever using those unless you have mutant hands.

Third, the 360 scrolling, while a neat feature, is almost never used. When was the last time you were on a page that needed to scroll horizontally? If you don’t work with spreadsheets or office files that scroll left to right, you’ll probably never see it in action.

Finally, the cord. Most corded mice come with fairly thick cords that have a little weight. Though this can lead to the cord pulling the mouse, it prevents the cord from bunching, catching and otherwise interfering. The Mighty Mouse cord is thin and it seems to be like memory wire, always staying in the last shape it was in, which is unfortunately rolled up.

My efforts to straighten it have had mixed results. There are still noticeable kinks in the line, the image above showing how the cord looks when you lay it out, but it is at least usable if I don’t plug it directly into my keyboard.

All in all, none of these problems are “deal breakers” for me but it has shown me clearly that this mouse is more than a little fallible. For a product that costs over twice as much as reasonable competitors, these types of mistakes are not forgivable.

Bottom Line

I would stop short of saying that the Mighty Mouse is a “bad” mouse. However, I wouldn’t say that it is a $50 mouse either.

If this mouse were about half the price, it would be a pretty good buy. It has some pretty unique features, a great look/feel and its drawbacks can be easily overcome. However, as it sits, it is way overpriced and not worth the cash. There are simply too many other great USB mice out there that don’t come with the headaches of the Mighty Mouse and offer a much lighter price tag.

As it sits right now, I say get the Mac keyboard, but forget about the Mighty Mouse. Clearly, two different teams worked on each product and I now know which I think deserves the bigger raise.