My latest pickup for the MacBook is the Bluetooth Mighty Mouse. I know there are other bluetooth mice (mouses?) out there to choose from which are easier on the pocketbook, but I really wanted to try this particular one out for a couple different reasons.

The 360 degree scroll ball is interesting. It provides almost fluid motion in any direction and makes scrolling around large images or large (poorly designed ) webpages easy and intuitive.

The pseudo-multi-button feel is also interesting. The entire top shell can “click” down over the bottom plate and that acts as a button click. if you press down on one side or the other it will behave as a two button mouse, and pressing down on the scroll ball behaves like the typical centre click.

Finally, the bluetooth version of the mouse uses a laser sensor instead of the optical sensor.  This allows for more reactive tracking on those pesky polished wood (or glass, or metal or….) surfaces which have plagued optical mice for years.

Once I opened it up, I was impressed by a couple of additional features.  the bottom of the mouse has a slide-shut cover which protects the optical sensor when it’s not in use.  What some folks don’t realize is that it also disconnects the connection to the batteries so the mouse doesn’t drain power when it’s not in use.  This means that the two included lithium batteries (yes INCLUDED!) will last even longer.

All in all, I love it so far.  The toughest part for me is going to be getting used to using a mouse again, as I’ve been using the trackpad on my Dell and now the MacBook for the better part of the last three years… Ah well, as Shrek [wav] is so fond of saying: Change is good Donkey!