Apple’s new Magic Mouse. To some, it’s boring and nothing to look at. To others, it’s a technological marvel. Me? Well, I love it.

That wasn’t my first impression though. My first encounter with the new Magic Mouse was in the Apple Store in Kenwood. It didn’t seem very useful to me, nor did it feel very good in my hands. Maybe it was the height of the tables in the store, my sweaty hands, or the hype I had been reading.

After several days of use though, I’ve been able to form a true opinion on the product:

1. Comfort.
   Coming from a bulky Logitech MX1000, I didn’t think it would fit very well in my hand. The new Magic Mouse was so comfortable that I hadn’t even realized that I was using a new mouse. Of course, the feel is different, but it really does sit quite nicely in my hand.
2. Tracking.
   Probably not the Magic Mouse’s strong point, but it does track nicely…most of the time. I had to increase the tracking speed because it felt pretty slow (but I usually feel like Apple’s standard settings are a bit slow). I have had a bit of trouble getting it to track uniformly on my uncoated MDF (compressed wood dust) desk, but it might just need a good cleaning. Also, I’ve heard that it doesn’t track on glass. So beware, you’ll probably need a good surface to use it on.
3. Multi-touch.
   I wasn’t sure how I would like using a mouse without a scroll wheel, but it’s actually really nice. Again, it feels really natural to just drag your finger on the surface to scroll. Honestly, the first few times I didn’t even notice that I was doing it. A big feature for designers is the 360-degree scrolling! I was putzing around in Adobe Illustrator and that was indispensable. The two-finger swiping still seems a bit unnatural to me, however it’s just a matter of training my fingers.

Conclusion
I think it’s a great piece of technology. It also makes your desk look a lot schnazzier. I dig the look, feel, and use of it. However, I don’t think I’d go and spend $70 on this mouse though. The added features are really nice, but I have a hard time dropping that much on a mouse. Remember, it’s just a mouse. Luckily, mine came free.

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