best mouse for panther?

[punter]

It's time for me to get a mouse and keyboard setup for my laptop at home, especially for exposé. What do you recommend?

Please keep your comments constructive so you can help me decide. People have different opinions remember.

I'm looking at the Logitech Cordless MX duo (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm?p...D=658&CONTENTID=6831&countryid=1&languageid=1). Not bluetooth, but so much cheaper!

The MS Bluetooth combo looks good (http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/mouseandkeyboard/productdetails.aspx?pid=013) but it's not available to me yet. Probably expensive.

For me 5 buttons and a scrollwheel is essential (HAHAHA I've never been so demanding of a mouse). And I'd prefer a less clunky keyboard (not like the M$ one).

 

[Bear]

Re: best mouse for panther?

I am using a logitech MX-300. I have not loaded the Logitech drivers so the 4th button doesn't work. But for me, it's in an awkward place and I probablu wouldn't use it anyway.

For a mouse, get what feels good in your hand. For everyone, this is different.

As for the keyboard, make sure it is a Mac specific keyboard or you will have issues wit Optical eject and volume control (and who knows what else).

Good luck.

 

[soakwashrinse]

Logitech is releasing a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse very soon (if not already), so you might want to consider that too. I've heard many good words about their current wireless offerings though. If your laptop has built-in Bluetooth, a Bluetooth set is probably your best bet since you won't need any dongles.

I use the MS Bluetooth mouse with my PowerBook (w/ built-in Bluetooth), and except for the fact it eats through batteries, it's near perfect. A word of warning though -- the two side buttons don't work at all in Jaguar (I'm still waiting on my Panther shipment to arrive) because Microsoft hasn't released a driver for OS X.

*However*, I've heard reports that Panther supports these buttons now... so, I pose a question to anyone who might happen to read this -- Do the extra buttons on the MS Bluetooth mouse work in Panther?

 

[beez7777]

i have the M$ bluetooth mouse, and aside from the fact that te connection gets lost every now and then for no reason at all, i think its a pretty solid mouse. it's comfortably fitting, and the two buttons on the side plus the scroll wheel button make exposé awesome. i didn't have to install any drivers or anything in panther, but i think i did in jaguar.

 

[soakwashrinse]

Thanks for the confirmation beez7777, looks like the buttons work in Panther then.

Strange though, I don't have any problems with lost connections on mine, except when the batteries are running low -- sure that isn't the problem?

 

[Bear]

Originally posted by beez7777
i have the M$ bluetooth mouse, and aside from the fact that te connection gets lost every now and then for no reason at all, i think its a pretty solid mouse. it's comfortably fitting, and the two buttons on the side plus the scroll wheel button make exposé awesome. i didn't have to install any drivers or anything in panther, but i think i did in jaguar.

Do you do an erase/install or an upgrade? If you did an upgrade, you old mouse drivers are still there.

 

[snickelfritz]

The Logitech MX500 is excellent.
(it's the best optical mouse for FPS gaming IMO; very fast response and accurate tracking)
I like the option to map "shutdown" and Expose functions to the extra buttons.

 

[Makosuke]

I concurr with snickelfritz; I got Logitech MX500 with using it for Panther in mind, and I have not been disappointed.

Being able to set some of the extra buttons (like the app switcher one or the cruise-scroll ones) to Expose commands is amazingly useful. Plus, the optical sensor is very good (much less twichy than Apple's mice, which are in turn better than most, such as MS and IBM, that I've used), it feels good in the hand, and the price is relatively reasonable. Combine it with Cocoa Gestures and you may never touch your keyboard again!

The mouse is essentially the same as the MX700 if you must have wireless, though I personally don't see the point.

I like Apple's keyboards, so I have no recommendations there.

By the way, surprisingly enough the Logitech software installs just fine under Panther, and it provides a pretty good level of control over button functions. The only thing it's missing is per-application commands.

 

[Zero21xx]

I don't know about you guys, but I like my Apple Wireless Mouse. I don't need a boatload of buttons to be productive. I did have to get a D-Link Adapter to use it, however. The best part was that I got the adapter and the mouse as a birthday present from my parents. I know people badmouth Apple's mice for only having one button but I can do just fine with it. The main reason I like it is that it's very comfortable IMO. And I can't count how many oohs and aahs I've got because it's so nicely designed. People can't believe it when they see it. It may only have one button but I prefer Apple's keyboards and mice to third parties. I guess it's my love of all things Apple.

-Z

 

[beez7777]

Originally posted by Bear
Do you do an erase/install or an upgrade? If you did an upgrade, you old mouse drivers are still there.

it was a clean install, which is why i was surprised.

 

[Bear]

Originally posted by beez7777
it was a clean install, which is why i was surprised.

Mac OS supports two buttons and a scroll wheel and has since 10.1 or 10.2. If you have more buttons than that, let me know how you are mapping them, I haven't found anything for extra buttons in system prefs.

 

[Makosuke]

Originally posted by Bear
Mac OS supports two buttons and a scroll wheel and has since 10.1 or 10.2. If you have more buttons than that, let me know how you are mapping them, I haven't found anything for extra buttons in system prefs.

Panther, at least, includes native support for a whole heap of mouse buttons. If you go to the Expose PrefPane, you can map anything up to button 8 to Expose actions. That's how I got my MX500 to work with it using the Logitech utility; I set the buttons (under "Advanced") to mouse buttons 6, 7, and 8, then set Expose to recognize those buttons. Bingo!

Although it's not an Apple-supplied utility, Cocoa Gestures also recognizes through Mouse Button 5 without any additional mouse software running--I've got the third button on an IBM mouse running on 10.2 mapped to the Gesture action without any mouse drivers whatsoever.

 

[fuge]

Originally posted by snickelfritz
The Logitech MX500 is excellent.
(it's the best optical mouse for FPS gaming IMO; very fast response and accurate tracking)
I like the option to map "shutdown" and Expose functions to the extra buttons.

I agree. Love the MX500. MX700 is the wireless. Logitech is solid.

 

[beez7777]

Originally posted by Bear
Mac OS supports two buttons and a scroll wheel and has since 10.1 or 10.2. If you have more buttons than that, let me know how you are mapping them, I haven't found anything for extra buttons in system prefs.

i just went into expose in system prefs and assigned the specific expose actions to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th buttons on the mouse and it worked.

btw its a bluetooth wireless explorer for anyone wondering