What kinds of pointing devices do you prefer?

[paulr]

For the first time ever I've been experimenting. I loved the standard Mac mouse (called the Mighty Mouse before Disney sued). The design was brilliant, except for where it sucked: the scroll ball would get gunked up and useless, and there was ultimately no way to clean it short of doing surgery (many Youtube videos describe the procedure. It involves tweezers, a tiny crowbar, and glue). After doing it once, I concluded: F**k This.

I wanted to try a tablet, which seems to be the first choice of most computer graphics people. I also wanted to have access to multi-touch gestures, since this seems like the direction of the Mac OS (and user interfaces in general).

Oddly, the only devices I could find that combined both a tablet stylus and a track pad are the Wacom Bamboo pads. I got the Bamboo Capture and have been using it for about three weeks.

I almost love it. Some of my hesitation comes from unfamiliarity. I have years of habits to remake. Some comes from software bugs and shortcomings. Wacom's tech support has been very responsive, but they haven't solved anything. A good software update would make this thing killer.

I still don't know if I will be 100% happy using in place of a mouse all the time. I hope this happens; it would be nice to keep things simple and not have to have a mouse in addition.

The Magic Mouse is pretty cool, but I find the button kind of stiff and fatiguing to use for long stretches. I'd consider other mice too … preferably bluetooth, since the tablet already occupies my closest USB port.

[BradS]

I want everything to have a touch screen like the Apple iPad and to understand the same finger gestures as the iPhone and iPod touch. (yeah, i drink the apple flavored kool-aid and sometimes drool)

EDIT: for those machines that don't have a touch screen I am satisfied with the standard 3 button desk top rodent that shipped with Dell Desktop machines circa 2006. Yes, I even use this on the Apple mini mac at home.

[Richard Wasserman]

I like Apple's Magic Mouse. http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

[BradS]

I like Apple's Magic Mouse. http://www.apple.com/magicmouse/

oooooaaaahhhh......I think I just soiled myself......!!!!


I like Apple's Magic Mouse.
I like Apple's Magic Mouse.
I like Apple's Magic Mouse.
I like Apple's Magic Mouse.


(thanks Richard!)

[Ben Hopson]

I use a Logitech M570 TrackBall for a mouse and Wacom Intuos4 Tablet for most of my photo editing. I recently bought the Bluetooth Logitech M570 to see how it would work for my needs and it is, for me anyway, much more comfortable to use than the typical mouse you have to move around on the desktop. I use it with a MacPro and MackBook Pro.

Ben

[Daniel Stone]

one of these:

http://www.infogrip.com/product_view...ecordNumber=98

found it on ebay for $50 shipped(slightly used). Looks like a kids toy IMO, and receives snide remarks from family and friends , but totally worth it IMO. My (former) mouse-wielding hand has less fatigue if I'm at the computer for a while, and its totally worth the ridicule.

-Dan

[Larry Gebhardt]

I use this: http://www.kensington.com/kensington...use%C2%AE.aspx

My keyboard tray is a bit cramped so I find using a mouse a bit frustrating as I run into the sides. The trackball is perfect. Plus it's very precise for Photoshop work. And my wrist hurts less after using it all day than when i use a mouse.

I do have a Magic Mouse in the house, and I like it most of the time. But I frequently find I touch the edge of the moise with my hand in such a way that it scrolls the page, or more annoyingly zooms the map in or out on google maps.

[paulr]

I've been using a magic mouse at a freelance gig. I mostly like it. This sounds wussy, but it annoys me how much force it takes to push the button. My index finger feels a little sore at the end of the day. Not like sore from a workout, but sore from an overused tendon.

Interesting reading reviews how many people say they had to switch from a mouse to a trackpad to avoid overuse injuries ... and how many say the opposite.

[D-tach]

I use this: http://www.kensington.com/kensington...use%C2%AE.aspx

My keyboard tray is a bit cramped so I find using a mouse a bit frustrating as I run into the sides. The trackball is perfect. Plus it's very precise for Photoshop work. And my wrist hurts less after using it all day than when i use a mouse.

I do have a Magic Mouse in the house, and I like it most of the time. But I frequently find I touch the edge of the moise with my hand in such a way that it scrolls the page, or more annoyingly zooms the map in or out on google maps.

+1
it even comes with a small cushion to rest your hand on so you don't have to lift your arm nor your hand - just your fingers are moving.

Although for making precise selections in Photoshop I think a Wacom tablet might be easier

Tom

[rdenney]

Can you use multiple pointing devices on a Mac?

I have a Watcom tablet (Graphire4, I think) on my photo desktop computer (a PC). But I also have a regular mouse.

On my laptop, I have a trackpad, which supports multi-finger gestures (not quite the same as those on the iOS, but still stuff like pinch zoom), and a separate wireless mouse. I switch back and forth for general pointing and clicking, depending on which is annoying me at the moment.

In both cases, the pointing devices are all plugged in at the same time and coexist happily.

Rick "wondering if Apple supports multiple USB human interface devices" Denney