Apple’s never impressed me with a mouse. I join legions of others who feel like they’d never actually looked at someone using a mouse while they designed one. Most people I know ended up using a Logitech mouse with their Mac, because Logitech actually tried to design mice that people want to hold on to.

Today I went to the Apple Store near my home and tried the Magic Mouse ($69 MSRP). While first testing it out (for about 10 minutes), I felt like it was hard to figure out where to rest my hand, hard to scroll, and generally felt like the thing just wasn’t designed for humans to use it. Part of the problem I believe was Apple had a giant metal anti-theft button glued on to the middle of the mouse (where you would find the scroll wheel on any standard mouse), and it was making it really difficult to find a good place to do the gestures and scrolling function on the Magic Mouse.

Later on I tried it again at a MicroCenter (the midwest’s version of Fry’s Electronics), without the annoying anti-theft device latched on to it, and it actually felt very nice to use, tracked better, and scrolled better than the one I tried at the Apple Store. Chalk it up to the other one being a demo unit with an annoying cord on it, but it actually made me want to buy it. Back I went to the Apple Store and bought one.

The Mighty Mouse is Bluetooth (cordless) mouse, and as such, it uses two AA batteries. I am unsure how long they actually last, as Apple does not provide any battery life statistics, but it does say it has fairly aggressive battery-saving features. My current laptop mouse (A Logitech V270 Bluetooth) lasts several months on two AA batteries, time will tell how long the Magic Mouse lasts. It does have an on-off switch, similar to other “notebook” mice (although it is not billed specifically as a notebook mouse), which is a nice feature.

It has a “Multi-touch” surface, similar to the newer trackpads on the MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops, but more tailored to a mouse surface. It supports a regular old click (which does actually click down, something I was worried about with how the iPhone’s lack of tactile feedback rubs some people the wrong way) and can do “right-click” with the special Magic Mouse software loaded on the Mac (as of right now there is no special Windows driver).

Gesturing on the mouse surface gets you vertical and horizontal scrolling, screen zooming, and a two-finger horizontal swipe advances photos in iPhoto, for instance. It is an ambidextrous mouse as well, since it does not “lean” any particular direction and the button clicks can be reversed for lefties.

There’s not much else I can say about the Magic Mouse other than it will probably be another polarizing entry into Apple’s long history of mouse design. My suggestion is to try one for yourself in person before buying, but I was delightfully surprised that it actually felt like a mouse I’d use for a while.

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This review of the Logitech G7 Laser Cordless was born out of necessity… a need for a new mouse due to me going insane from the last one. My trusty Logitech MX1000, after about a million left-clicks, started having issues with the left mouse button randomly dropping out while I was in the middle of a drag operation in Windows, and was losing me files and email in the process into who-knows-which folder. It was time for something new before I ended up throwing it against a wall. It had a good run and will receive a proper burial.

Since Logitech no longer makes the MX1000, I had to find a newer mouse, my only real requirements were that it was wireless, laser (not optical) based, not insanely expensive, and that it had a rechargeable battery. I ended my search with the Logitech G7 Laser Cordless Mouse (amazon.com, ~$79 retail).

As far as design is concerned, the Logitech G7 is less like the MX1000 and more like the G5 and MX900 series, which are more form-fitting for larger hands. I have long fingers, so it seems to work pretty well for me. It’s black with a sort of pseudo-carbon fiber checkered pattern on the top. There is a battery door underneath with a quick-release eject button (more on why this is used a lot later).

The Logitech G7 has a few buttons more than a standard mouse, the scroll wheel, which can rock left or right to click things, and a side button that activates the “Back” button in most browsers (I’m unsure why there isn’t a “forward” button next to it like on most of these mice, but I’m sure a reason exists somewhere… Logitech?). Additionally, there are two buttons below the scroll wheel marked + and -. These adjust the DPI sensitivity of the mouse. The highest setting is 2000DPI, and a LED that doubles as a battery meter on the mouse shows you when you adjust it by denoting a little running man with a meter next to him. The other settings are 400DPI and 800DPI. I found leaving the mouse on the middle setting (800 DPI) was good enough for me. Not too fast, not too slow. I suppose if I were gaming a lot, I’d like the higher DPI setting.

The mouse also includes a very small USB RF receiver. The battery charger is separate, and takes up another USB port. You can plug the charger in via USB and plug the RF receiver into the on board USB port on the charger if you wish, also. Two batteries are included.

On to the battery itself: This mouse eats batteries for breakfast, lunch and a light snack before dinner. On average, my Logitech MX1000 lasted around a week on a single charge. I’m lucky if I get two days worth of average computer use out of the battery in the Logitech G7 Laser. Normally I’d be pretty ticked about this, but they include two batteries with the device just for this reason, I think. When the battery dies, you can swap the dead battery into the charger and be back up and running in a few seconds. It takes about 3 hours to charge properly, there’s also a “burst charge mode” on the charger if you want quicker charging for immediate use, which I’ve never tried.

Overall, this is a pretty darn good mouse that I’d recommend for anyone looking for a better-than-average mouse with great tracking, especially for a wireless model. It works on many different types of surfaces due to the laser sensor, even glossier stuff that optical mice can’t track on. Don’t hesitate to buy one if you’re looking for a mouse in this price range.

Apple released new iMacs at a media event on August 7th, 2007. With them came a new keyboard. Since I didn’t have a grand laying around to buy a new iMac, and my PC suits me well, I decided to purchase this new, “revolutionary” keyboard that Apple included with the iMac for myself so I could use it on my PC.

The keyboard retails at $49 from any Apple store by itself. There is also a bluetooth wireless version available, which for some reason does not include a number pad. If I find a use for the wireless model I will be purchasing one of them as well to review. This review will focus on the wired model.

As I said a bit earlier, I purchased this keyboard not to use with my MacBook (or any other mac), but instead for use with my 3 year old Windows XP PC. Previously I had been using an Apple Pro keyboard, which is the keyboard that came with old G4 PowerMacs, and was quite happy with that keyboard. Apple does not officially state that this keyboard works with Windows XP/Vista, but I knew from previously using a Mac keyboard with my XP machine that they do work, with a bit of tweaking. This is done with a program called SharpKeys, which allows you to re-map any key on your Windows keyboard to do something else. An example: since the Mac keyboards don’t have a PrintScreen key, I used SharpKeys to map F15 to use as PrintScreen.

The keyboard itself is a very svelte, all aluminum design with chiclet-style keys similar to the MacBook laptops. It takes up a very minimal amount of space on a desk, almost the smallest you could possibly get a full-size keyboard while still retaining the number pad keys. The angle the keyboard uses is a bit less than most keyboards that have legs to prop themselves up on, and it isn’t a height that you can configure. This is a minor nuisance for me, but it may be a big deal for people with carpal tunnel issues.

The feel of the keys is very nice. I’ve been using the MacBook’s keyboard for a while and I enjoy typing on it. The keys bottom out with much less work than a regular keyboard, which I find makes it a lot easier to type faster. The extended keyboard layout has special function keys for Mac features like screen brightness, volume, eject, play/pause, and Exposé. It requires an update on Mac OS X to get them to work, as some of them have changed locations from the earlier Mac keyboards. None of them work properly on Windows, until you throw SharpKeys into the mix. I was able to program other keys for Volume Up/Down/Mute and Stop. You can get a lot crazier with this if you wish.

There are two USB 2.0 ports, one on each side of the keyboard, which are an upgrade from the USB 1.1 ports in the old Apple Pro Keyboard. However, they are still unpowered and won’t work with your iPod, which is something apple claims works (?). You can plug your mouse or other less-demanding (or self-powered) USB1/2 devices into these ports.

Overall, I really like this keyboard, and at $49 retail, it’s well worth the price if you’re looking for something new to type on. As I’ve stated in my review, the Apple Keyboard (2007) works with Windows XP and Vista with some tweaking with SharpKeys.

I definitely recommend buying one, but try it in the store first.

Key Positives:
+ Sturdy aluminum casing
+ Thin, small profile
+ Volume/Media controls
+ Has two USB 2.0 ports

Key Negatives:

- May put off people who like keys that are more tactile.
- USB 2.0 ports are un-powered and located under the keyboard, so you have to lift up to plug anything in.
- Keyboard height is non-configurable

I decided I’d follow up the V450 review with a mouse I’ve had a bit longer but use for my home laptop, the Logitech V270 Bluetooth.

The V270 looks a lot like some of Logitech’s earlier wireless notebook mice. It is almost a dead-ringer for the earlier “Logitech Wireless Notebook Mouse” that debuted several years ago. The difference is that this model uses Bluetooth and has a new color scheme, other than that they are identical in operation (as far as I can tell) and looks.

The V270 Bluetooth, for those unfamiliar with this style of Logtech notebook mouse, is larger than the V450 model, but much easier to hold. The mouse is neither right nor left-handed, and is very comfortable.

The mouse uses 2 AA batteries. It has an ON-OFF switch on the underside, which is vital for battery saving.

I use the V270 with my MacBook. Setup and configuration are nearly automatic with the Mac’s Bluetooth setup program.

This is a pretty simple mouse, simple setup, and no extra receiver sticking out of your laptop’s USB ports to snag on. I’m happy.

Pros:
+ True cordless, Bluetooth
+ Comfortable for larger hands

Cons:
- Not as good tracking as Laser
- Less compatible than RF notebook mice
- Presumably less battery life than RF notebook mice