January 7, 2011 at 4:22 pm | Apple, blabbing, web.

I have spent a decent amount of time with the newish Apple Magic Mouse, and since the new Mac OS Lion has lots of mouse gesture stuff built in I thought i would get a head start on getting used to it. Here is what i have noticed.

One of the first things that I did not like about the mouse was the size. Since I have rather larger hands, the flat thin shape of the mouse means that the regular cupped hand resting on the top of the mouse was just not going to happen for this mouse. I wouldn’t say that the flat size has been uncomfortable but it has definitely taken some getting used to.

A big plus for the mouse has been the scrolling. I cannot even begin to explain the speed at which the physics based weighted scrolling can improve your browsing. Flicking around sites up and down can take some getting used to but is a major plus. Another plus has been the over all weight of the mouse itself. Seems strange that this thinner smaller mouse weighs more but the batteries make it hefty. Other mice just seem to feel cheaper now.

Speaking of batteries, be prepared to shell out some extra money for a rechargeable battery kit. The average lifespan of a set of batteries is about 3 weeks which can easily add up if you don’t have rechargeables. A quick way to cut down on battery usage is to shut off your mouse when you leave for the evening. You have to remember to turn the mouse back on again before you boot your computer so that you don’t have to reconnect the mouse via the Bluetooth preferences in the top menu.

One thing that I thought I would get some use out of that I haven’t, it the two finger touch “back” and “forward” buttons in the browser. Maybe they will come in handy one day, but for now I just don’t use them.