Mouse / Cursor Question

I've had my Intel based iMac for about three weeks and love it. This machine makes my old Dell laptop seem like a snail. I have a question regarding the cursor which sometimes jumps around on the screen even when I have not moved it. Is this normal or is there some setting that will cure this activity.

TIA

Welcome to Mac-Forums, aahMac.

What type of surface do you use your mouse on?

A friend of mine had some problems with the computer desk surface: once she used a mouse pad everything was back to normal. The desk had some kind of busy Formica finish and it seemed like it confused the mouse sensor.

I was having this problem too. It was like someone was controlling my screen like I do to my parents sometimes. I switched to a different mouse and it was fine. I think the finish on the book had something to do with it but for some reason the other mouse worked without changing surfaces. Oh well. I suggest trying a different surface

I had the some problem until someone here told me that the optical mouse sometimes gets freaked by shiny surfaces. I turned my mousemat upside down to use the black foam side and haven't been troubled since.

Sawday said:

I had the some problem until someone here told me that the optical mouse sometimes gets freaked by shiny surfaces. I turned my mousemat upside down to use the black foam side and haven't been troubled since.

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Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. On my old Dell Desktop I was using a mousepad I got for Christmas with a shiny plastic lamination over the pad, and the mouse would jump around all over the place. I thought it was just a mouse, but then I gave the pad to my mom to use for her new iMac, and the same thing happened to her, so I figured it must have been the pad. We flipped it over and now it works fine.