Small, beautiful and mighty useful new edition to my Mac family: (Magic Trackpad)

Apologies for the meh-ish snapshot, but it's dark in here, I turned the flash off and put the ISO on 100 to reduce noise. Taken with my brand new (so make that two new things, I guess) EVO 4G:



Mice are SO pre-2010 ! Anyone using their Macbook or Macbook pro's in clam shell mode, and not using an Magic Trackpad, are really missing out. Really, the perfect size, elegant and truly functional as an integrated part of a whole team that works so well together.

Sensitivity is perfect, and feels really good. Not much to say really, since it's the same trackpad we've all come to know and love. I do however have one minor complaint, which is that Apple might think about add-ons to the gestures, which are user customizable.

I say this because there's one thing I can't do with it, which I can with my Logitech bluetooth mouse. Middle clicking. I set the middle click on my mouse to activate spaces, and was able to move between spaces using the middle click's rocker to go left and right, or scroll up and down to the space. With the pad, I have to drag the pointer to an assigned corner and do it manually.

Maybe I'll look and see whether Better Touch Tool can deal with said task. Does anybody know, off hand if it can ? Otherwise, I love it.

Doug

Ok, so there IS a solution. Its name is simply: "Middleclick" Here's the link

3-tap Middleclick on OSX for MacBook & Magic Mouse

You just tap three fingers, as you would before doing a swipe gesture and it acts as a middle click.

Doug

Edit/Update: Perhaps not so perfect. It does work but, if you are meaning to swipe forward and backward for navigational purposes in a browser, you might wind up middle clicking, so your gesture must be precise! Guess I'll see how I get on with it in the next week or so before jumping to any negative or positive conclusions.

I love my Magic Trackpad. For Spaces, I set up Better Touch Tool to open it with a double tap in the bottom right corner of the Trackpad. I also have it set to open Dashboard with a double tap in the lower left corner.

I will admit that if I can get to a mouse, I stay as far away from my trackpad as I can. To be fair, I don't have a multitouch trackpad on my MB but I don't think that will make much of a difference. It's nice to hear some positive reviews of the MT but I still can't see myself using it.

BTW, this also sounded like an excuse for you to use your new EVO 4G

I'm with Van on this one. I'm just not a trackpad guy although I admit the Magic Trackpad does look more useable than others I've tried. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.... or is it an old cat new mousing? ;D

There's really only one true downside to using a trackpad vs a mouse that I've found thus far. You can't game with it. There's no way to fluidly get the track pad to hold down the fire button as you would with say, the left mouse click. You have to double tap the pad in order to do the same, and it's just silly and funny! So sure, when gaming nothing obviously beats a mouse AFAIC.

But for everything else ? Nothing beats it IMO. No more dragging around the mouse to contextual menus. Plus, my mouse was always a bit "off" in terms of spacial recognition. Not too much, but enough to annoy me. The fluidity of which the mouse pointer moves now is hands down better than the Logitech mouse that I loved so much. Plus, my hand stays in mostly one place now, rather than all over the place as was with the mouse. It feels better and a LOT more natural.

Pinching and zooming is great, scrolling, swiping... all of it. I just love the trackpad so much.

A word on that app "Middleclick". I don't like it. WAY too sensitive and would activate spaces even when I was only using two fingers. So off it went. I will give Better Touch Tool a shot, since it sounds to be far more flexible, thanks Chef.

And yes Van, I AM an opportunity who*e

Doug

vansmith said:

To be fair, I don't have a multitouch trackpad on my MB but I don't think that will make much of a difference.

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I think you'd feel differently once you set up expose and spaces to work in conjunction with a multi-touch trackpad. It's truly, dare I say it... an evolutionary step forward for desktop computing, IMO. Switching open or minimized windows with a flick of four fingers, viewing an uncluttered desktop, or select apps etc... Priceless to me. I recommend it highly.

Doug

Doug b said:

I think you'd feel differently once you set up expose and spaces to work in conjunction with a multi-touch trackpad.

Click to expand...

I can see how that's a benefit but I have my BT mouse setup so that I can push my scroll wheel left and right to activate dashboard and expose so it's pretty easy that way. I do agree that having access to features such as those from your mouse/trackpad is excellent though.

Doug b said:

It's truly, dare I say it... an evolutionary step forward for desktop computing, IMO.

Click to expand...

Is that you Mr. Jobs?

vansmith said:

I can see how that's a benefit but I have my BT mouse setup so that I can push my scroll wheel left and right to activate dashboard and expose so it's pretty easy that way. I do agree that having access to features such as those from your mouse/trackpad is excellent though.

Is that you Mr. Jobs?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I have my BT mouse set up the same way actually, and it's great but I somehow feel that this setup is significantly more tidy and fluid. Something about browser gestures with a mouse that feels a bit oafish at times, that this trackpad alleviates for me.

But in the end, it's all down to personal preference. Now if I can only figure out how to get OS X to see my EVO's internal storage and not just the SD card.. .I'd be thrilled.

Doug

Having had a play with one at the Apple store - I may buy one, once my expenses get payed in.

I'll let you know how I get on with it

Thanks for sharing this. I've been on the fence about getting one, but I might give it a try.

schweb said:

Thanks for sharing this. I've been on the fence about getting one, but I might give it a try.

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You're going to buy one for your Macbook Pro. I don't get you… at all!

iWhat said:

You're going to buy one for your Macbook Pro. I don't get you… at all!

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Because I use an external mouse and keyboard with my MBP when I'm at home. Don't hate.

schweb said:

Because I use an external mouse and keyboard with my MBP when I'm at home. Don't hate.

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I thought you could save yourself from using your $100 gift card for something else and move your Macbook Pro closer to you.

iWhat said:

I thought you could save yourself from using your $100 gift card for something else and move your Macbook Pro closer to you.

Click to expand...

Doesn't work too well when I dual screen with the LED Cinema Display

I was considering a Magic Mouse, but actually think that this is a better option now on the face of it.
Xmas pressie No 1 sorted!

First of all, I never liked the Apple mouse before, but I'm loving my Magic Mouse. From what I've been reading, however, I'm wondering if I would like the Trackpad even more. Unfortunately, they're all out of stock where I live and so I have to wait for more to come in before I can even try one.

I'm curious to know, however, can the MM and MT be used at the same time? I'm left-handed but use my right hand to operate my mouse. I'm not sure which hand I would feel more comfortable using the MT with, but I do know that for using Chinese or gestures, my left hand would be better. I've never gotten the hang of mouse gestures, probably because my right hand doesn't have the dexterity required (it isn't good for much, really, except for using a mouse and scissors). It would be great to have my MM on the right side of the keyboard and the MT on the left side and have the use of either one of them. Is that possible?

I have both a Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad that I use with my iMac. I mainly use the trackpad for normal things and use the mouse when I need to be more precise in my 3D apps. The work great together.

Got one for Christmas and I love it. Definitely will replace my mouse for everyday stuff.