Mighty Mouse (#5): Problems with surface tracking

Problems with surface tracking We continue to receive reports from users who have difficulty with the Might Mouse's ability to properly track on various surfaces including wooden and those that are otherwise textured.

So far the best bet for tracking seems to be a solid, dark colored surface.

Gary Benner writes:

"I just purchased a Mighty Mouse and am having instances where it will unexpectedly jump to a different part of the screen. I am using a textured mouse pad with no design ( it is dark blue with white "smoke" trails). Sometimes it does it as I begin to move the cursor, other times while it is sitting idle."

Claudio Lizzola adds:

"This new mouse doesn't work on white paper (either written on or not) as my MacMice or other previous optical Apple mice do."

Meanwhile, readers note similar issues with other optical mice:

Matthew Cole writes:

"My Bluetooth Apple mouse also doesn't work on a wood surface or a white one. I need to use a densely patterned mouse pad to get it to work.

"I have always had trouble with my apple optical mice on wood. they have all (three) shown the jumping and erratic movement on my wood desk.

Joe Mahoney adds: "I don't have a Mighty Mouse, but have had issues with an otherwise very nice Kensington that is pretty much unusable on a wood table, but the standard Apple Pro mouse works fine. We have a Dell at work that we have to use on a black lacquered table and the mouse there is unusable unless we slide a piece of paper under it or a trackpad."

Previous Coverage:

• Mighty Mouse (#4): Problems tracking on wooden surfaces
• Mighty Mouse (#3): Solution for Firefox scroll-button conflict; Usability issues; more
• Mighty Mouse: Problems with horizontal/diagonal scrolling

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