I see the difference with a wireless Mighty Mouse.
I’ve been using a dual G5 computer for about 4 years now. Just this week, I finally set up its replacement, a 24″ iMac.
At least six months ago, I treated myself to a wireless Mighty Mouse. I knew I needed to write about it for my upcoming Leopard book and wanted to get the hang of using it.
Trouble was, my G5 didn’t have Bluetooth built in. No problem, I figured. I’d just use the Bluetooth adapter I’d bought years ago when I had to write about Bluetooth for my Tiger book. The adapter is a USB device that plugs into one of the computer’s USB ports. I plugged it into the keyboard, which had two ports.
That started a love-hate relationship with the Mighty Mouse. At first, it worked perfectly fine. I got used to the little roller ball on top and loved being able to scroll in any direction. Although it took a while to get used to clicking on the left — rather than middle — of the mouse for a standard click, I was soon clicking flawlessly with left and right clicks as needed. I really loved the mouse.
But, after a while, the mouse started losing its connection with the Mac multiple times throughout the day. It got so bad that I kept the old mouse connected via USB, just so I could mouse around when the wireless mouse got disconnected. That made me hate the mouse.
I was so discouraged that when I bought my new iMac, I decided to buy a wired keyboard and mouse. I simply wasn’t prepared to continue dealing with this problem.
Long story short — I wound up using the wired mouse with my G5 until I got the iMac set up. So I tried the wireless Mighty Mouse with the iMac during the setup process. And guess what? It worked flawlessly and continues to do so.
My conclusion from all this: a Bluetooth adapter is not as reliable as a built-in Bluetooth connection. I don’t know if the problem lies with where the adapter was connected — I tried it in the keyboard, on the G5’s front USB port, and in a powered USB hub with the same results (although the adapter made an audible whine when plugged into the hub). Or if the problem is with the adapter itself — I can’t find a brand name on it, although it does have a logo.
Having trouble with your wireless Mighty Mouse? If you’re using a Bluetooth adapter, it might be the adapter and not the mouse.
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7 responses so far ↓
1 COTAN // Oct 16, 2007 at 5:17 pm
I have problems with this mouse when the microwave oven is on. Some of theses oven interfere very hard. The clue came when I realised that the phone and the wi-fi connection were jerky when this crap was on.
2 Maria Langer // Oct 16, 2007 at 5:25 pm
That’s weird. How close is your computer to the microwave? Same room? Mine’s on the other side of the house and I don’t seem to have a problem.
3 David Anthony // Oct 16, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Lousy BT adapters will do that, d-link comes to mind. What were you using?
-DA
4 Maria Langer // Oct 16, 2007 at 5:40 pm
I don’t know the brand. There’s a logo on it that I don’t recognize, but no brand name. I bought it a long time ago and I know it was cheap. So I wouldn’t doubt if the problem was the adapter quality.
But the mouse was the first device I had a problem with in years, so go figure.
5 Andy Piper // Oct 17, 2007 at 1:22 am
I get annoyed with my Mighty Mouse when I wake the MacBook Pro from sleep and the connection between it and the MM doesn’t come back… I have to turn BT on and off from the menubar (sometimes). So it’s not quite flawless. Nice mouse though.
6 DAN // Apr 6, 2008 at 3:46 pm
You used one adapter and came to this conclusion? Perhaps it was the fact that, in your own words you were using a “Bluetooth adapter I’d bought years ago”. There are new bluetooth adapters with better range and quicker response as well as A2DP. So maybe you just needed to use a newer version of adapter.
7 Maria Langer // Apr 7, 2008 at 7:04 am
I’m pretty sure I tried at least two different ones. But should the age of an adapter matter? Either it works reliably or it doesn’t. I’ve had mixed results using Bluetooth adapters but have never had any problems with built-in Bluetooth.
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