Apple's best so far, but could be better

Being an Apple user for many years, I have grown used to their beautifully designed hardware and software applications and simplicity in use. Unfortunately, Apple's mice and keyboards have never been their strong suit, mostly due to their stubborn attitude regarding those two pieces of hardware (remember the hockey puck mouse? And how darn long did it take Apple to get right-click functionality in their mice, even though the OS supported it since way back when? How hard would it be to put a PRINT SCREEN button on the keyboard? Shift Cmd 3 is really lame). While this USB optical mouse, is definitely Apple's best mouse ever, it still lacks the form that should naturally follow functionality... and it lacks some functionality as well.

I use this model of mouse on my Macs at work with which it shipped. And I will continue to use it rather than purchase different mice. However, if you are purchasing a Mac Mini which doesn't come with a mouse... do not consider this expensive design from Apple. At a hefty $49, there are many other options better than this mouse and for a lot cheaper (Microsoft Intellimouse Optical Mouse or Kensington 72213 Mouse-in-a-Box Optical USB Mouse (PC/Mac)). Apple's USB optical mouse really should be priced at about $19, not $49, to be competitive.

This USB optical Apple mighty mouse finally supports the long awaited "right click" after many years of resistance by Apple, which insisted the one button mouse was as good as it could ever get. Unfortunately, the primary and secondary buttons on this mouse are not delineated clearly. In other words, the left and right click buttons are activated more by touch and pressure in a general area on the mouse. This may confuse some people not familiar with the Apple way of doing things. On the plus side, it does make for a very clean appearance and there are no little cracks for dirt and debris to collect in. The mouse can be used for either right or left handed people and all the buttons are easily configured in Apple's system preferences pane. If you are really a die-hard one-button mouse fan, you can set it up with that configuration as well. You can also squeeze or click to activate Expose, Dashboard, Spotlight, or any other application of your choice.

Tracking is excellent as should be expected with an optical mouse. I have tried some of the wireless options out there, and as far as I'm concerned USB optical is still a great way to go.

The best feature by far is the scroll ball. The scroll ball is actually quite novel in that you can scroll up and down and side to side or 360 degrees. Additionally the scroll ball can be programed to do another function when clicked. I have mine programmed to replace the Application Switcher (normally Command Tab). Another interesting feature, which admittedly I don't use often is the screen zoom. By holding down a designated key or two in conjunction with using the scroll ball, one can zoom in or out of whatever is displayed on the screen at the time.

The shape of the mouse reminds me of just an elongated version of the much disdained hockey puck mouse debacle that Apple produced a few years back. Apple could really stand to humble itself and take a page out of Microsoft's book when it comes to mice design. Keep the scroll ball, change the shape even slightly and Apple would have a real winner.

Finally the bane of this mouse: the programmable 4th button that is located on both the lower right and left sides. It can be very temperamental. It is located right where I place my thumb and ring finger, and the least amount of pressure will activate whatever function it is programed to do (ie Expose'). I'm not sure how else you could hold the mouse to avoid this problem. Maybe the size of your hands makes the difference, but I simply cannot use the fourth button. I honestly don't know how apple could improve this without changing the shape of the entire mouse. Needless to say, I have opted to turn the fourth button off in the system preferences.

UPDATE: I have noticed that between my two mighty mice, the sensitivity of the 4th button is slightly different. On one mouse the button is completely unusable because it is too sensitive. Merely grabbing the mouse activates the 4th button. On the other mighty mouse, the button resistance is just right and works great. I am actually quite pleased with the 4th button on one of the mice and have moved it to my primary computer. It will be interesting to see how the sensitivity changes over time with "break in".

I have two macs with these mice at work. I haven't replaced them because I like the scroll ball vs. the typical scroll wheel and they came with the Macs. But if I had to actually purchase this mouse separately or as an upgrade to an older Apple mouse, I would strongly consider something else or something cheaper.

Pros:
- Scroll ball that scrolls up, down, right, and left.
- Despite not being very evident, the left and right click do work well
- The 4th button could be great
- Slick look and feel, cleans up well

Cons:
- Un-ergonomic shape
- Programmable 4th button on sides can be temperamental
- Priced out of consideration, when purchased alone