It’s got frikkin’ laser beams!
We’re big fans of wireless. Any time we can have one less cord snaking across our desk, we’re very happy. So when Targus sent over their new Bluetooth Laser Mouse For Mac, we were excited to give it a spin. And thanks to the Bluetooth built-in to every late-model Mac, the mouse was easy to set up and simple to use between several machines—no Bluetooth dongle required.
A quick trip to the Bluetooth Setup Assistant (System Preferences > Keyboard & Mouse > Bluetooth > Setup New Device) got us up and running. Once the mouse was recognized, adjusting Tracking and Scrolling speeds in the Keyboard & Mouse System Preferences allowed us to set the mouse’s responsiveness to levels we were comfortable with. As we usually keep our mouse tracking speeds cranked all the way up on our old USB mouse, we were surprised to find that the Laser Mouse had us turning the tracking speed all the way down before we could control the mouse with the precision we are used to—and even then, controlling the pointer never felt as sharp as our old mouse. Keep that in mind if you are someone who prefers a slower mouse—as in more movement required to traverse screen. The 1200-dpi Targus Laser Mouse is a speedy little bugger, and may not work well for people who aren’t power-mousers.
The mouse also features two programmable buttons on its left side. The Targus mouse driver installs as a System Preference, giving you the ability to launch apps, control your Mac’s volume, perform key commands, or trigger an AppleScript to do practically anything your Mac can do. In practice though, the two side buttons don’t feel like they are in the right spots for our thumb, and consequently we never got into the habit of using them. The Laser Mouse also features a cool, touch-sensitive scroll button. It came in handy for everything from Web surfing to editing large text documents. You can scroll vertically and horizontally. Unfortunately, even after several weeks of use, we were still inadvertently scrolling sideways a bit as we swiped the sensor, frequently causing content we were reading on our screen to scroll off the left side of the page. We wish Targus would offer an option to lock the Laser Mouse’s scrolling into vertical-only. And strangely, the scroll sensor also clicks like a third mouse button, although Targus’s driver doesn’t allow any configuration to make that click actually do anything.
The Laser Mouse eliminates a cable from your desk, and touch scrolling is nice. But the side buttons don’t feel quite right, and the scrolling feature is difficult to control, leading to a fair amount of frustration.
Wireless connectivity. Two programmable buttons
Scroll sensor is hard to control reliably. Tracking speed might be too fast for some users. Side buttons involve reaching with your thumb. Clicking the scroll sensor doesn’t do anything.
mlbglobal
July 27, 2009 at 6:13pm
Bought this at OfficeMax for $29.99! for a desktop solution to my mbp. Agree with the review, but it is only a matter of time until someone makes the scroll button mappable. Unlike the review and comment, when I press mine, it enables auto scroll in OSX apps. Other reviews said it does nothing. Not sure. Either way, once mouse sensitivity is dialed down, it works perfectly. This is a great choice to get some mac-y tech without the issues of the gummed scroll ball of the mighty mouse. Learning curve is quick. Bluetooth works perfect with no lag, but I have noticed, with my wireless pro keyboard and the mouse both on via bluetooth, closing the lid of my mbp with an external monitor plugged in will cause the dual screen stretched desktop to switch to external monitor only and my MBP will not sleep, until I switch off the bt devices, or open the lid of the mbp and then unplug the external min-dvi and plug it back in again before closing the lid. Not that big of a deal since I am plugged into the wall anyway. YMMV
Rondjones54
January 13, 2009 at 10:35am
I've had the Targus for about 2 months. I'd agree with everything you've commented on. In addition, the touch sensitive wheel sometimes just keeps scrolling even after you've quit sliding your finger. Primarily in Itunes.
I have found one use for the wheel click. In Moneydance, it's the only way to navigate to my accounts. The right or left buttons don't work but the center one does.
It's nice to use the bluetooth, (I have an aluminum Macbook) but I wouldn't buy it again. It's not that much better than the mighty mouse.
