A herd of new mighty mice from Macally for 2008

A herd of new mighty mice from Macally for 2008 – review
By the Tech Lab review crew – Tech Edge E-zine, written /edited by Chuck Brown
May 19, 2008

Macally announced four new precision Laser technology mouse products at MWSF earlier this year (2008) and the Mac press was pretty impressed and good vibes were given at the time. In April the herd of four mice hit the retail channel and may well be in stores near you.

Those of you that have been around Macs for years know the Macally name well as an early provider of premium Mac accessories, namely great Keyboards and Mice specifically for Macs. What is unusual this time around is that this group of four mice is also being marketed towards Windows users, and for good reason, they are good for both.

We took the foursome and passed them around our own group of Tech Lab engineers and our office staff, all of who have decades of experience with both OS platforms and more mice than Disneyland has ever seen; we even have a Mickey (webmaster) in the group.

First mouse in the house –

Click to image enlarge

Macally ACCUGLIDE USB Low Profile Precision Mouse is the odd mouse in the group because of its shape, it’s rectangular and very thin in a great looking brushed aluminum housing.

Now I remember a rectangular mechanical 2-button mouse I had some 18 years ago by Logitech for PC and I really liked it, it fit nice in your hand and this was in the day long before the egonomic egg shaped mice. As I said the ACCUGLIDE is very thin, maybe we should say low profile, so that you can slip it easily in your brief case pocket when traveling with your notebook PC or Mac. This is a 3-button plus USB mouse (left, right, scroll wheel and the scroll wheel also acts as a forth button) with another unusual feature in that the scroll wheel is flat to match the surface to the mouse, instead of the typical rounded wheels.

It is tethered to your computer via USB and a very thin rounded reinforced cable. The ACCUGLIDE uses a newly developed Opto-Mechanical Laser technology. The precision is excellent at the fixed 800 DPI resolution and it moves smoothly across a mouse pad or desk surface.

You should note that the ACCUGLIDE is small in area, about 2/3rds of a regular desk mouse because it is intended as a travel mouse. If you have big hands like some guys do, you might find it a bit uncomfortable. Some of our guys didn’t mind the small size and none of the gals complained, rather they liked it.
You will need Mac OS X 10.2.8 or above to use this mouse, or any version of Windows for your PC. Retail price is US $ 19.99 - a steal for an 800 DPI Laser mouse.

Second mouse in the house –

Macally Turtle Portable Retractable USB Mouse is more conventional in shape, with a more arched top with rounded corners, but still slightly rectangular compared to the common oval shaped mice.
Being that the premise for this mouse is “take it with you” it is about 3/4 scale; and even if you have pretty meaty hands, the Macally Turtle is pretty darn comfortable in your hands. All of our reviewer panel members liked its feel and design.

While on the subject of the Turtle’s intended use as a portable accessory, its biggest feature is the ultra-thin flat and very flexible retractable cord for the USB plug, which parks behind a trap door on the underside of the Turtle.