06-01-2007, 09:06 PM

Sorry for the pile of questions, but coming from 20 years of PC/windows, I'm still a little intimidated by the mac world. I am looking for a good small usb optical cordless mouse, and a small usb memory card reader to use while traveling. The trackpad is good enough for most uses, but while seated at a desk or table why not hook up a little mouse for ease. What brands/models if any do you all recommend?

I also need a small memory card reader for my camera. Must work with compact flash and SD. The smaller the better. I know you can just hook the camera up via usb cable, but popping out the card is my prefered method. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

06-01-2007, 09:14 PM

i got a nice sandisk multi card reader that's about the size of a usb thumb drive for about 16 bucks at bestbuy. very nice little unit.

i also have a little laptop wireless optical mouse from MS, the usb dongle hooks to the bottom of the mouse for safe keeping when not in use.
i would suggest not going super cheap here as sometimes the cheap ones have extremely short range. even going from 16" to 24" could cause you to lose connection (and if you're rigt handed that could be an issue on the macbook). don't spend less than 20 bucks.

06-01-2007, 09:20 PM

For a small, bluetooth optical mouse I'd recommend the Apple Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. Well, not really since some people seem to have a problem with its little 'nipple' ball and its right click sensor (you need to have the left side of the mouse not touched by the index or other finger for it to kick in.) Plus it's not particularly small, though I do cart it around in my Big Bag of Mac stuff. Plus its kind of pricey for a mouse.

So you're left with: Just about any bluetooth mouse made by all the major manufacturers (Logitech, Microsoft.) Bluetooth is built into the Macbook and any mouse will work. Pick one.

As for a card reader, I have a rather largish one which is USB, and while its footprint is about as big as the aforementioned mouse it's very flat and reads SD, CF, and two other cards that I never used. The point is that pretty much any card reader you get regardless of size, form factor, type of card it reads, etc. it'll work with your Macbook if it is USB.

The Mac world is only intimidating because of the dodgy history of previous generations of Macs only working with certain peripherals. This is no longer the case. Well, cell phones and Pocket PC PDAs might be an exception, but those are either special cases or artificially disabled because Microsoft wants you to buy all of their stuff. These days unless it's a really oddball thing (like my GPS receivers which all have serial connectors which the Macbook lacks) it's going to work with your Mac.

06-01-2007, 09:21 PM

Sounds good. Don't happen to know the model of that card reader? I think I saw a mouse like that online. I'll try to look for it again and post a link.

Bluetooth. I hadn't even thought of that. I will look into that as well. Thanks.

06-01-2007, 09:30 PM

card reader i mentioned:

SanDisk MobileMate SD+ 5-in-1 USB 2.0 Card Reader
Model: SDDR-103-A15

hopefully that link will work...

06-01-2007, 09:37 PM

nice looking and small, but it doesn't read compact flash.

06-01-2007, 09:41 PM

ah, i didn't see that...

who uses compact flash anymore?

06-01-2007, 09:49 PM

Well in my D80 I use SD, but in my camera I travel with (Fuji) I still use CF memory, or XD which is even more obscure.

06-02-2007, 02:47 AM

as far as a mouse goes, i just got a wireless bluetooth mighty mouse from apple and its working great so far.....

06-02-2007, 10:43 AM

Originally Posted by eric

ah, i didn't see that...

who uses compact flash anymore?

Everyone who bought a Canon digital camera

Both the SLRs and consumer cams all doggedly use CF as their storage media. Yes, seemingly older tech, but their cameras are excellent.

06-02-2007, 01:26 PM

You can pick up a USB CF card reader here:
Card Reader
Or this 18 in 1 which supports CF, SD, and xD
Card Reader 2
(I've been a customer for years and now work there. Can't beat their stuff)
Any USB mouse will work. Just checkout the laptop mice at your local computer store.
Bryan

06-02-2007, 02:43 PM

Cool, both those card readers look good.