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Mac USB & FireWire

Contour MiniPro Mouse

Dan Knight - 2001.04.27

I have yet to find the perfect mouse, although I've found several good ones.

Back in the ADB era, I discovered the the Kensington Mouse and Mouse-in-a-Box, very nice two- and one-button mice. Best of all, they were about half the cost of Apple's mouse.

But once I got my first Contour UniMouse, a three-button USB mouse, I immediately switched mice on the blue & white G3 (the only Mac with both ADB and USB ports standard) I used at work. Kensington had been nice, but this was even better. I especially liked the rubberized grips along the side. Very comfortable.

The UniMouse simply wore out after two years of heavy use. Contour Design makes a small optical mouse, it's their MiniPro. I bought one at Macworld Expo, used it a bit, and it sold me on optical (see Make Mine Optical), but I wanted a full-sized mouse on my desk.

I've used the Kensington Mouse, Mouse-in-a-Box, and Mouse-in-a-Box PS2/USB. I'd seen good online reviews of the Kensington optical line, so I figured I really couldn't go wrong for US$25.

I ordered a Kensington Mouse-in-a-Box Optical from Outpost.com in January and used it for months. It felt nice, tracked well, and had nice software.

Alas, it's got a tendency to multiclick when you click once - that means pushing the button usually gives one click, sometimes gives two clicks, and every now and then does a whole bunch of clicks. Unplugging the mouse and then plugging it back in sometimes helped. MiniPro Mouse Restarting my TiBook sometimes helped. Shutting down completely usually heled. And sometimes I just had to unplug the darned thing and let it sit for a day or so.

That left me to either use the trackpad or dig out another mouse. Well, I'd bought the MiniPro to use with my TiBook; it was time to put the mouse to daily use.

First, the MiniPro is small. It's designed to go into the field with your PowerBook or iBook - it even comes with a protective plastic case to hold the mouse and keep the cord from getting tangled on everything. I have large hands, so the MiniPro feels small when I use it.

Second, the MiniPro is a two-button mouse, but with a difference. There's a large single button (blue in the photo, although you can use any of five different colored buttons that ship with the mouse) with a smaller button behind it. I have them programmed as click and double-click. I don't find the small button nearly as convenient as having separate right and left mouse buttons, but it works.

Tracking is exceptional. I usually use my mouse on a Contour UniTray, a large solid mousepad with a gel wrist rest. I only need a few inches of movement to zip the cursor from one side of the screen to the other.

The weight and feel of the MiniPro are good. Subjectively, it seems nearly as heavy as the lightweight full-sized Kensington Mouse-in-a-Box Optical, but the translucent plastics have a smooth cool feel. Although small, it feels solid.

One unexpected surprise is how much more responsive the MiniPro mouse is compared with the Kensington Mouse-in-a-Box Optical. It's got to be a driver issue, because the Kensington seems positively sluggish at times. Move the mouse, wait for the driver to move the cursor. Click, wait for a response. The Contour drivers, a customized version of USB Overdrive, don't have that kind of delay.

I also discovered that Contour Design has dropped the price again. This was a $70 mouse when the introduced it at Macworld Expo last July. The retail price was down to $35 by January, and it's now dropped to $25.

Is this the perfect mouse? Not for me. Although I'm using it instead of the Kensington, given the choice between the right size and the right click, I'll use a mouse that only clicks once when I click it once. I'd prefer a larger mouse - say an optical version of the amazing UniMouse (the old fashioned mouseball version is down to $15 on the Contour site).

The MiniPro is a great alternative to the trackpad, which I don't consider nearly as tactile as a mouse. It would be a good alternative to the round "puck" mouse that Apple shipped with iMacs and Power Macs for a couple years. And it might be perfect for kids and others with small hands.

Most of all, it's a compact top-quality mouse that's easy to pack up and take into the field with your laptop. If you're looking for a nice small mouse, it merits consideration.

Links

Contour Design, maker of the UniMouse and MiniPro Mouse

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