Atelier Winsonli

I exchanged my Mighty Mouse as my previous copy was unable to scroll right. Not only the problem persisted, it got worse. I was able to scroll to the right while applying pressure on the scroll ball. Scrolling left was normal just like scrolling vertically. With the replacement, I am able to scroll left or right only when applying mild pressure to the scroll ball.

I guess I would settle with this one, as I believe the whole batch of mice are suffering from the problem. Not something shocking with Apple products. Besides, having the same problem on both sides is better than having it on only one due to symmetry.

The mouse is, however, less laggy than the previous one. I am not sure if I got used to the mighty mouse or if this one is better, but that is the first impression I had.

To be honest, I lost confidence in Apple already. My first Apple product, the iPod nano had a misaligned click wheel and could not power off properly. I had it replaced for something which I believed was a “brand new unit” as told by an Apple representative. In another phone conversation, they told me it was a “refurbished unit”, having a new exterior and battery with used internal parts. I had it refunded after a six week battle with the supervisor Mr Eric who never called back.

My second purchase is the MacBook Pro, which arrived with a dead pixel and a squeaking space bar. I didn’t even bother taking it for service as I predicted the hassle ahead. I chose to live with it and the squeaky space bar brought me a lot of attention in the library.

The iPod Touch is my third purchase which came with glue all over the frame. I believe the glue adhering the frame to the body was not so well applied and got all over the place. I chose to live with it as I got a case to cover the mess.

My fourth and recent purchase, the mighty mouse, had a scroll ball which won’t scroll to the right. The replacement I had won’t scroll to the left or right without applying mild pressure.

Problems are expected with Apple products, especially new ones. Famous ones include color discolorations on MacBooks, Random Shutdown Syndrome on MacBooks and the cracking of the brand new iPhone 3G.

Who to blame? I think the quality problem is what “Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China” translates to.

Heard so many good things about the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse from Hayashi, decided to get one myself.

Usual Apple quality. Well designed by Apple in California, not so good assembled in Malaysia (or China). Apart from a cosmetic flaw at the bottom, my copy also can’t scroll to the right and I’ll get it exchanged tomorrow.

Anyway, some reservations on Apple’s usual “form over function” philosophy, especially on this mouse. Five points are advertised on the packaging. Would do a short review on this Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse.

1. Click. You can left click with it (otherwise known as secondary click) by having your index finger not touching the shell and clicking with the middle finger. In other words, lift up your index finger, click with the middle finger. Otherwise a left click would be recorded.

   The good: Looks. Clean design.
   The bad: Need to get used to. Unable to left click and right click at the same time.

2. Roll. The scroll ball could also be clicked. Think of this as the middle click. You could define the what it does in the preferences pane (Dashboard, Exposé, etc.) or let your Applications decide (set it as Button 3).

   The good: Looks. Clean design. Functional.
   The bad: None.

3. Squeeze. Squeeze the mouse to activate a function of your preference. I assigned it to launch Dashboard. The first squeeze required some force. However, subsequent ones became better. You won’t accidentally activate Dashboard, but you can’t easily activate it as well. You have to hold the mouse between your thumb and middle finger to squeeze it.

   The good:Functional. Hard to accidentally trigger.
   The bad: Hard to trigger.

4. Scroll. Vertical scrolling works fine. Would comment later when I exchange the current one for a working one.
5. Laser. I was brainwashed that an optical mouse which utilizes laser can operate on all surfaces, but it can’t. Not on glass nor acrylic that the salesman claimed it would. The tracking speed of the mouse is slow even when set to the maximum in preferences, leaving me no option but to download MouseZoom to push the limits further. MouseZoom is written by Ben which adds a pane in the system preferences to set tracking speeds higher than the OS X default.

   The good: Supposed to be precise, although not compared to regular optical mice.
   The bad: Won’t operate on all surfaces. At least not on the glass tabletop I tried.

Would like to comment on the Bluetooth connection as well. The mouse is a bit laggy, but is expected from a wireless mouse. As for stableness, I paired my mouse once, and I can use the mouse right away when Leopard boots or wakes from sleep.

If you want to get a wireless bluetooth mouse which is designed for Macs by Apple, the Mighty Mouse would be a good purchase. I am unable to comment on the scroll ball yet as it is defective on mine. Would post a follow up when I get it replaced.