A Tale of Two Mice

For a couple of years now, I have used a Logitech V470 mouse. It is a laser mouse that uses bluetooth. I've used it with a black MacBook and two MacBook Pros and it has always worked perfectly. The only negative I could ever give it is that it is a little small for my hand (but I have large hands, I wear x-large gloves.) However, years of heavy use have taken their toll on the mouse, and I decided it was time to replace it.

This picture shows the V470 in the front, and its replacement a Targus AMB09US which they call "Comfort Laser Mouse." Why did I pick the Targus? Well it is also a laser mouse that uses bluetooth. I read many a rave review, so I figured it was just as good of a mouse as my V470. It is a bigger mouse, as manufacturers have started realizing that just because I want a bluetooth mouse does not mean that I want a "travel" (small) mouse. However, after several weeks of use, here is what my desk looks like:

Yep, the old V470 is back, despite being chipped and have plastic peeling off of it. The Targus mouse is just not as good for several reasons. Its interaction with my MacBook Pro is buggy. Often the cursor on the screen does not change as it should (imagine web pages where you don't get the little hand to indicate a link). The sensitivity of its sensitivity is way too high. What I mean is that a slight adjustment in sensitivity has huge effects. It is either sluggish or spastic. I've tried adding a mousepad to the mix, but it only helped a little. Finally, it does weird things when interacting with OSX. I hide my Dock on the left of the screen. If I put the cursor over there, then the Dock appears as it should. However, if I roll over items in the Dock, they are not magnified as they should be. I can still click on them, but this messes with me and makes me think too much when I just want to launch something from the Dock. Also, I actually missed horizontal scrolling with the V470. Its wheel could move left/right to allow for horizontal scrolling. The Targus mouse does not have this feature, and I didn't think I'd miss it. However, I did not realize how often I actually used this, especially in Aperture and OmniGraffle.

Now I know that many/most of these problems may have as much to do with OSX as with the Targus mouse. But I don't care. I'm not going to switch operating systems. Instead I will switch mice. I'd really like to get a larger version of the V470, which is why I have not just bought a new V470 and continue to use my old beat-up one. At some point I will probably give in and just buy a new V470.