Mouse Accuracy Problem

[carson4k]

I'm a graphic designer and have been for 10 years. I've used both PCs and Macs. Recently my department switched from PCs to the new G5s running OS 10.4.7 Dual Core, 2.3GHz 2.5 gig RAM, so now we use both.

My last Mac was running OS9 and the PC is running XP.

After plugging in this beautiful new expensive machine the very first thing I noticed was how horrible the mouse felt. It was like the cursor was stuck in mud! The lack of accuracy is making it impossible to work. I go home every night with my wrist hurting.

I've read several posts on many boards regarding this problem and I'm not alone. Those who have switched from a PC to a MAC notice it immediately since the PC mouse is so accurate. Those who have been on Mac for a while or don't need to accuracy of a designer seem to think I'm crazy.

I can't believe we've spent this much money on these nice machines for them to be almost unusable! What happened between OS9 and OSX to cause this problem?

I've tried the following to fix the issue:

MouseZoom
USB OverDrive
SteerMouse
iMouse Fix
Intellimouse Drivers
Logitech Drivers
Different Macs
Different USB Ports
Bluetooth Mice
Wireless Mice
and even the new $100 Logitech MX Revolution Mouse! NOTHING HELPS and several of those programs actually made to problem worse.

I've e-mailed Apple but received no response.

Please understand that I'm not talking about OSXs weird acceleration curve, where the cursor seems to slow down as you get close to the icon. iMouseFix solved that problem.

I'm also not talking about tracking or speed of the cursor. The default drivers in OSX for the mouse speed are fine for me. Several of those programs would allow me to change the acceleration at will.

I'm only talking about ACCURACY!

Here are several Message Board Posts I've found where people are having the same problem:

http://macosx.com/tech-support/mac-osx-mouse-lagacceleration-driving-me-upwall/6620.html
http://macosx.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-6972.html
http://forums.macosxhints.com/showthread.php?t=456
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-155911.html
http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-456.html

If you read through those posts you'll see that I've tried every solution suggested.

Check out this illustration someone did to show how much the cursor jumps and it's lack of accuracy when compared to Linux.

http://www.toastyx.net/images/mouse.html

Does anyone have any other ideas? Am I all alone in this. Maybe if enough of us write Apple we'll have some effect and they can fix the problem in Leopard.

Please help, I just want my Mac Mouse to feel like my PC Mouse.

 

[MacGizmo]

A new mouse will cost you $30-$100. My time is worth more to me than the money for a new mouse. Honestly, I wouldn't bother screwing with it.

 

[Lepozepo]

Yeap, the fucking mac mouse feels like it's stuck in mud, and it sucks for players and designers who have interfaced with windows beforehand. My brother also experienced the same feeling, he said he felt retarded, haha. Anyway, I know for a fact that there's a program that causes this effect on the mac mouse, because windows can have that same kind of interface with the mouse too. I think it was first directed to gamers because, if you move the mouse slowly, you're more accurate, which is what happens to the stupid mac mouse, and if you move it quickly, you can react to being spotted if your sniping. Hmmm, it's lame though, because no player really likes that their mouse is changing DPI automatically, at least I don't. SO!!! I guess what we gotta do is find the program that's making that shitty effect on the mouse, it's obviously a software problem, not a hardware problem. I tried using my G7 from Logitech, the damn mouse started jumping all over the place if I moved it quickly, and if I moved it slowly, it went extremely slow. It SUX ASS, so let's do something about it ^_^ Haha.

 

[michaelsanford]

I'm reviving an old thread here because, of all the thousands of threads I've read on these forums in the past 7 years, this one is the only one I think about spontaneously (other than word association ).

I was furious when I shelled out over three grand for my 24" iMac, which is fabulous in every way except two: the wireless keyboard is a joke for anyone who actually works at their computer all day, and the bluetooth Mighty Mouse tracks worse than a GyroMouse at 200 feet. No, it's not an EMI issue, or a battery issue, the mouse (or the HID driver within OS X) just sucks.

I remember seeing people at my unviersity move their Windows cursor clear across the screen and deftly land on a tiny UI element, something I can do on my XP machines, but not on my iMac.

Did you, or anyone else, find a satisfactory resolution to this problem? Does, say, shelling out 100 bucks for a Microsoft IntelliPoint series mouse make a difference? (I mean, I did have to shell out for a Microsoft Natural Ergonomic 4000 keyboard already.) Should I go corded; using the USB mouse from my old iMac TFT Snow has gained me some improvement, but there's only one button?

Thanks for any comments!