Hate Apple's Mouse!

Mac
#1

G’day,

Just need to vent…

My parents have a first gen Silicon iMac, and the supplied Apple Keyboard and Mouse, that feature built in rechargeable batteries.

I just spent 30 minutes on the phone with my parents. As best as I can tell, and there may be something else going on… Apple’s mouse running out of charge resulted in this:

I am running Mojave, so am not terribly familiar with that screen that I gather is of the Silicon era. So, I sit there googling trying to figure out what is going on, how to get them out of that screen, and seeing a bunch of doomsday type scenarios… Finally I manage to get them booted back into the OS after worrying that there’s some major issue.

I then learn - my dad had plugged the mouse in to charge for 5 hours… and yet it’s giving an error saying the “mouse battery is empty”. Ok - so - it turns out he had the mouse plugged in, but not the other end… (also meaning - his keyboard is probably nearly out of battery, too - assuming he’s kept the cord plugged into the keyboard end like I’ve told him to do).

“But the mouse has a green light!” both my parents keep telling me.
“That’s not a light, it’s paint. It is just the on/off switch!” Rinse and repeat several times…

The fun part is, I get to have this conversation a couple times a year, whenever the mouse loses charge.

And Apple made it so you can’t just swap some batteries over… Yay Apple.

No idea if the black screen of death is symptomatic of something bigger… or it was just the battery…

cheers

cosmic

#2

Umm, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry…

#3

I have the first gen, which used AA batteries. They never lasted long, so I stopped using it until I got a Mobee rechargeable pack. That worked for ages, but eventually gave up, and when I ordered 2 more, neither would hold a charge. Mobee replaced them, but when they eventually gave up, so did I, and went back to using a standard mouse.

#4

I have a couple of original Mighty Mouse. One of these would be over 20 years old I reckon. I use Eneloop Pro batteries in them. I use them for quite a few other things also. There are always at least a couple on the charger ready to go.

#5

What is it about Apple and mice? I buy Apple everything, yet I don’t use the mice. They sit in drawers. I use a simple $35 Logitech M280 mouse because they work really well. The batteries last years. They are the right shape and feel good.

Some of my issues include:

  • I am a two button mouse person. Apple mice default to one. I know I can change that, but they are not real buttons anyway
  • The touch mice are well, too touchy. It is to easy to do other things when you only want to push a button
  • The location of the charging point for the rechargeable mice must have been an afterthought. Who in their right mind would put it underneath? If it was on the front, you could continue to use it whilst charging, as with the rechargeable keyboards
#6

Personally, ever since the TAM in 1998, I’ve always preferred a trackpad to a mouse. I use Apple’s Magic Trackpad now - the one with replaceable batteries… :slight_smile:

I have my white optical corded mouse from my eMac… might take that to my parents. Or - I wonder if they have an old one somewhere… Can’t remember what came with their “original” G4 iMac back in 2006 - it’s probably better than anything else if I can find it. Probably the same or similar to the eMac mouse.

#7

I’ve got half a dozen ADB mice! I cleaned them all up a while ago & they all still work quite well. I have a Umax one as well.

I’ve always preferred mice to trackpads. Even the really good one on my MacBook Pro. I even got a Wacom graphics tablet & pen at one stage. I just never got on with it.

#8

I have a square buttoned ADB mouse from my Mac Classic, and the rounder one that came with the LCIII era. :slight_smile: Not sure how well they work… Don’t own any ADB Macs! :slight_smile:

Oh wait… No. Do I? No.

#9

I have a Griffin iMate ADB to USB adapter.

#10

I use the Apple Magic Trackpad with replaceable batteries too. It works well, but the batteries don’t last very long. I am forever replacing the rechargeable batteries. (I use Panasonic Eneloop batteries)