'Serious Thumbs Up' for Logitech V550 Wireless
Mouse
From Miguel:
Hello, Charles,
Just wanted to share my two cents with you and other Low End Mac'ers
about some of your recent musings on wireless mouse alternatives -
especially for those of us who are frequent laptop/PowerBook/MacBook
users, a group I number myself among. My current laptop is a 15" G4 1.67 GHz - the last PPC
PowerBook made and still, IMHO, one of the nicest Mac laptops
ever made (especially because of its gorgeous 1440 x 960 display
and its matte texture screen, which I prefer a million times over the
MacBook glossies - but also because of its wonderful-to-use and
responsive keyboard, perhaps one of the best ever for Mac laptops).
On my desktop (a Mac mini),
I am a fond user of a slightly ancient Logitech wired USB mouse with a
responsive scrollwheel and an exceedingly comfortable (ergonomic) shape
for my medium-to-larger sized hands - but the only wireless mice I had
tried were too small, too "tinny", and too unresponsive. Then,
recently, inspired by reading a column
of yours in which you touted the virtues of Logitech's
V550 - the model with a tiny plug-in USB receiver - I decided to
take a chance and purchase one "blind" - and I'm seriously glad I did.
The mouse is truly superb - responsive, quick, simple, and functional -
and it fits my hand and feels "right" in a way few mouses I've ever
used have. In fact, I like it so much I am attaching the tiny plastic
clip to the top of my PowerBook so I can keep it permanently attached -
another cool feature.
BTW, the only downside, interestingly enough, is that out of the box
the V550 refused to function or be recognized at all by my PowerBook
(on which I am currently running Leopard 10.5.8). That gave me a few
moments of irritation and panic - since my instinct is usually to use
Apple's proprietary/built-in/default mouse drivers - but it was
strictly a No-Go with the V550 until I downloaded Logitech's Driver
Software (I think they call it a Logitech
Control Center) - and then got instant functionality, as well as
the ability to customize such things as scrolling speed (a real plus).
The other cool thing about this mouse is the weird little button on top
just beneath the scroll wheel which allows the user to instantaneously
toggle back and forth between any open windows - a feature which seemed
frivolous to me initially, but which I am growing to appreciate.
So - I am giving the V550 a serious thumbs up - and my thanks
to you for your column in which you touted its virtues.
Cheers!
-Miguel
Hi Miguel,
Thanks for the comments. We're definitely on the same
page regarding the V550, and I'm very happy that my review proved
helpful. In appearance it's nice but nothing particularly special, but
it has a "feel" I like better than any other mouse I've ever used. I
was interested that Macworld's Rik Myslewski included the V550 among
the three favorite mice mentioned specifically in the latest
Macworld Mice Buying Guide, having this to say:
"The Logitech V550 Cordless Laser Mouse for
Notebooks is a wireless RF mouse that does everything right. The
ambidextrous V550 is the right weight and the right size, and has the
right tracking accuracy, the right software, the right features, and
the right accessories to make it the go-to mouse for notebook
users."
His full
review of the mouse is even more effusively enthusiastic:
"I desperately wanted to hate Logitech's V550
Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks, but I instead found it to be
the best notebook mouse I've ever used."
Interesting about the driver issue you encountered.
The V550 works fine with the OS X default drivers in both my
1.33 GHz 17"
PowerBook and my Late
2008 Unibody MacBook. Logitech Control Center is installed on the
PowerBook, but I don't think it's activated right now, and I don't
currently have LCC on the MacBook.
I like my 17" PowerBook's keyboard too, but wouldn't
rate it quite as highly as the ones in my various G3 series PowerBooks,
although I definitely prefer it to the "chiclet" 'boards in newer Mac
laptops.
Charles
Too Early for Apple to Abandon PowerPC Macs
From Pete:
Hello again, Charles -
Your response jogged my brain a bit, and I thought I'd check the Mac
profiles page for something. It looks like the last of the Power Mac G5
machines shipped in 2006. With some companies still religiously
sticking to 5-year refresh cycles, I'd imagine Adobe/Apple would be
leery of leaving customers in a lurch without software support. With
some luck, we might have updates for the PowerPC platform through 2011.
That still falls within your suspected timelines, though.
- Pete
Moving Down to a 13" MacBook
From Andrew in response to Thoughts on Downsizing from a 17"
'Book to a 13" MacBook:
Charles,
Excellent piece, as always. I had a similar adjustment last year
when I ditched my 15" MacBook Pro in favor of a 13" MacBook Air. Like you, I value
esthetics a great deal.
Strangely, I don't use Spaces all that much, though I am a fairly
heavy Exposé user, a habit I picked up back in the [Mac OS X 10.3] Panther days
and still miss when I use my Windows machine. Speaking of which, my
Windows machine, a 14" ThinkPad T400, has that same 1440 x 900
resolution as the 15" MacBook Pro, but is directly in between the 13"
and 15" Apples in size and weight, precisely as one would expect a 14"
model to be.
All of your observations about living without FireWire apply doubly
to the Air, which only has a single USB port. I find USB booting and
operation slow, as you do, but since it is really only an emergency
tool (I have a 10.6.2 installation on a USB) for data recovery or drive
repair should something happen to my internal drive. Given that I don't
actually use the USB system for productivity, the lack of speed isn't
really an issue.
Ironically enough, my external USB boot drive of choice is a
160 GB iPod classic,
which, of course, also has enough room to carry whatever movies I want
to bring on a trip with me. As an added bonus, if the Air runs out of
juice on a long flight or layover, the iPod makes a nice backup for
watching movies despite its much smaller screen. That it is also my
emergency recovery drive is just an added bonus. ChronoSync
even keeps my document folder backed up, while an installation of
Office 2008 on the iPod allows me to easily update my Exchange calendar
and email archive. It's slow to run the Air off of the iPod, but more
than usable in an emergency.
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for the approbation and the interesting
observations.
My experience regarding Exposé versus Spaces is
the diametrical opposite of yours. I've almost never used
Exposé, even in Panther, but as I said in the article, I became
a total Spaces junkie within about half an hour of installing Leopard.
I have nine spaces activated, which gives me separate ones for the
three or four browsers I usually have running, plus Spaces with nothing
running for a clear view of the Desktop, which I still use as my home
base for works in progress, downloads, and so forth, which eventually
get filed elsewhere, but pretty much everything lands on the Desktop
first. Windowshade X,
which is another
of my user interface addictions, also helps massively. Anyway,
different strokes.
Using a 160 GB iPod classic for a backup and emergency
boot drive sounds like an excellent solution. The compact size is, of
course, a big plus in itself.
Unfortunately, the only iPod we currently have in this
household is a 2 GB second-generation Nano, which would hardly be
up to the job. ;-)
The beauty of FireWire as an alternate boot volume
system is that it works with essentially the same performance as an
internal hard drive. A year or two ago the operating system on my 17"
PowerBook somehow got corrupted to a degree that it needed a reinstall
that I didn't have time to do right away, but I was able to boot from
my Carbon Copy Cloner cloned
system on an external FireWire drive and continue production without
any inconvenience until I was able to reinstall Leopard on the
PowerBook.
I must get around to upgrading to Snow Leopard one of
these days. Leopard 10.5.8 is working so well that it's not giving me
much incentive to disrupt things with a major system upgrade. Perhaps
I'll grab a copy and make the transition over Christmas.
Charles
Which MacBook Should You Transition To?
From Dan Bashur:
Charles:
I read your article "Thoughts on Downsizing from a 17" 'Book to a
13" MacBook" and must say that you summed it up well. The 13" MacBook
(both the new Unibody
Polycarbonate and previous Unibody Aluminum versions) indeed are
both missing the critical FireWire port we have all come to love, but
it may or may not be something you can do without if you want to make
the change from a 17" 'Book to a 13" unit. I would personally suggest
going for the 13"
MacBook Pro that retains the FireWire port and includes the
built-in SD Card slot. You can always sell your Unibody MacBook on
eBay and go to the 13" MacBook Pro, but if you've been getting
along just fine without FireWire, there's no real need to change
now.
Another alternative for those considering switching is to go with a
refurbished January 2009
or May 2009 MacBook
White. You still get the GeForce 9400M, FireWire 400, and a
removable battery as an alternative to the built-in batteries Apple has
transitioned to. You can have all of that for just $749 plus tax (for
the Jan. 2009 model), and $849 plus tax (for the May 2009 model)
from
Apple.
Speaking of the GeForce 9400M, in terms of gaming and other uses,
your friend Peter Cohen is right about its performance. The GeForce
9400M is not a powerhouse, but it's very capable, especially for an
integrated graphics solution. Here's a
great example for comparison purposes of just the graphics:
Xbench 1.3 graphic results reported by The Register.
As you can see, the difference between the 2007 Mac Mini using the feeble GMA
950 and the March 2009 Mac
mini with GeForce 9400M integrated graphics is night and day (the
difference will be even more pronounced with the just updated Mini that came out
a few weeks ago).
At any rate, great article and good points. I haven't personally
made the transition to an Intel Mac yet (I'm typing this on my Hi-Res
1.67 GHz Aluminum PowerBook G4). When I do, I'll probably go with the
previous
generation 15" MacBook Pro (probably a 2.53 GHz unit) with its 512
MB dedicated GeForce 9600/GeForce 9400M combo, removable battery,
FireWire 800, and ExpressCard/34 expansion (for future USB 3.0). You
can get one refurbished right now for $1,449 from Apple.
Dan Bashur
Hi Dan,
Thanks for the comments. We're pretty much on the same
page on these issues.
Despite the aggravation of having no FireWire, I
otherwise love my Late 2008 Unibody MacBook, and it's been such a
flawless performer over the past six months that I would be leery about
selling it and starting again with the new machine right now. However,
I've learned my lesson (I think), and would be very reluctant (never
say never) to buy another computer without FireWire support, at least
until USB 3 is on stream. But as you say, some folks may be able
to get along without FireWire.
I'm less enthusiastic about the idea of buying a
previous generation white MacBook, partly because of their spotty
reputation for developing case cracks, partly because of the lower
quality CCFL backlit display, and especially if it was one of the
models with a GMA X3100 graphics chipset instead of the GeForce 9400M,
although the latter two revisions of the old-school MacBook did have
the good chipset.
Thanks for the link to the Mac mini review and
performance charts. Apple claims that the 9400M graphics support is up
to five times faster than the Intel unit it displaced, so that one is a
slam dunk.
I think your plan to go with a Late 2008 15" Unibody
MacBook is an excellent choice if you can't live with a 13" screen.
Personally, I think I would find the 13" MacBook Pro for $999 (Apple
certified refurbished) pretty much irresistible because of its handsome
proportions and tremendous value for the money, but my provisional plan
is to stick with this MacBook until 2012.
Charles
WiFi Networking Tips
From Paul:
Hello Charles,
Since I have experienced wireless problems with older generation Mac
laptops (G4 Macs), let me give you some tips.
Here are a couple of tips to resolve the wireless problem with your
Belkin router:
- Update the firmware
of the router to the newest version. Please be sure to use a wired
connection when updating your router and disable the wireless
temporarily.
- Access the router using your browser and change the wireless
channel of your Belkin router to 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, or 10. Do not use
auto, 1, 6, or 11 when testing for the best channel.*
- Check to see if a wireless 2.4 GHz phone or electronic device is
interfering with your router.
Paul
Hi Paul,
Thank you for the suggestions.
My tech-consultant daughter walked me through the
channel-changing (with no remedy, alas) and also advised disabling our
2.4 GHz wireless telephone experimentally to see if that was an issue
(didn't seem to make any difference).
I'll look into the firmware update matter. The router
was purchased new in September, but I suppose the FW could have been
updated since its manufacture.
However, unlike the Belkin unit, the (older) Linksys
router my daughter sent for me to try has been working beautifully with
the old Pismo and its Buffalo G54 WiFi CardBus card.
Charles
Belkin Router Problems
From Dan Bashur:
Hi Charles:
I had one of those junky Belkin routers myself, and mine quit
altogether about three years ago (after using it for roughly one year).
Thankfully, I received a Buffalo wireless 802.11g router for a
Christmas present from dear old Dad shortly after the Belkin router
quit and have never had a major issue since.
At any rate, I'm glad you figured out that it was that lousy router,
rather than your trusty Pismo. The only thing you will notice with the
Pismo using an original AirPort Card - you can't use WPA-2 WiFi
settings, just WPA-TKIP (still adequate though for security). In
OS 9, you can only use WEP security (very low level security - but
something is better than nothing I suppose).
Good Article!
- Dan Bashur
Hi Dan,
Thanks!
My daughter and her significant other, both of whom
work or have worked doing wireless LAN tech support, say the Belkin
routers don't have a very good reputation in the IT support
industry.
Where I live, security settings are not a major
concern. The wireless broadband service installer noted that while they
have security protocols that can be applied or configured, it amounts
to a needless complication in this neck of the (literal) woods (he
lives in the area). This is one of the least densely populated and
lightly-traveled areas of Nova Scotia - a large county (second-largest
in the province) measuring roughly 25 miles by 100 miles with a
population of fewer than 10,000.
Charles
Linksys Kudos
From Dan Knight:
Congrats on getting past the problem. I've had great luck with
Linksys, okay with USRobotics and Netgear, not so good with Belkin.
Dan
Dell Truemobile 1350 WiFi Card
From Dean:
I've set up 333 MHz
Lombards for family and friends with a Dell Truemobile 1350* in the
PC Card slot for school work and surfing. The OS (10.4.11) sees it as
an AirPort Card and just works. It seems the original AirPort cards
were somewhat weaker in reception and slow. I've tried the AirPort Card
in a Titanium against the 1350. Downloading the same OS update was 480
kbps for AirPort, and 900 kpbs for the 1350. Just an FYI.
Dean
Hi Dean,
Since I switched to the LinkSys router, it's been
clear sailing with the Pismo running OS X 10.4.11 and the Buffalo
G54 PC Card in the CardBus bay. The OS (which evidently was never the
problem) thinks the Buffalo card is AirPort and behaves accordingly
(just works).
Charles
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