![]() Since it’s a desktop, I had plenty of free USB ports, so dedicating one of them to the Unifying dongle wasn’t a big deal (though I did find that I had to move it up to a USB port on the side of my monitor, closer to the mouse, to eliminate all perceptible lag). I found the MX Master to be much more at home on my gaming PC. Once again, I had it emphasized to me that scrolling on OS X is designed to be done through gestures performed against static multi-touch surfaces (preferably designed by Apple) rather than third-party mechanical wheels. Of course, that’s sort of the nature of click scrolling, so that was to be expected, but what I didn’t expect was that even with the click mechanism disengaged, scrolling wasn’t nearly as smooth or precise as with either the Magic Mouse, or with any of Apple’s trackpads. With click scrolling enabled, documents and lists ratcheted up and down in a very non-Mac-like manner rather than flowing smoothly. (I expect Logitech to fix this issue eventually, but if you’re a Mac user determined to connect via Bluetooth, you might want to save your receipt.) So the first thing Mac users should be aware of is that you may have to burn a USB port for the Unifying dongle to get acceptable performance. Finally I switched to connecting through the Unifying dongle, and the problem immediately disappeared. The cursor was jerky and laggy as though the mouse and laptop were in different rooms (with a brick wall in-between) and no amount of removing, repairing, reinstalling, and rebooting would fix it. The first thing I did with the MX Master was pair it with my MacBook Pro running 10.10.3 and install the Logitech Options application. Pair the MX Master with up to three different computers. The answer is a resounding “yes.” And “not really.” And “well…it depends.” Now that I’ve covered the main features and promises of the MX Master, the question is whether Logitech’s new flagship pointing device actually delivers. They claim you can use it for up to forty days before it needs a micro USB top-off, and from what I can tell so far, that feels about right. Rather than using rechargeable AAs, the MX Master has an integrated rechargeable battery. Like several Logitech mice before it, the MX Master uses two lasers rather than just one, allowing it to track on glossy surfaces such as glass without requiring a mouse pad. A button on the bottom of the mouse allows you to easily switch between up to three different pairings. Not only does the MX Master pair through multiple wireless protocols, but it can also pair with multiple devices. ![]() The MX master will connect either through Bluetooth, or through Logitech’s own “Unifying” wireless technology, making it both laptop friendly, and easily compatible with those custom-built gaming PCs with no wireless capabilities. On Macs, it can do things like activate Mission Control, Launchpad, or virtual desktop switching on Windows, it can simplify things like window management, navigation between apps, or media controls. The idea is that you hold the button down (it’s sufficiently stiff so that you don’t accidentally activate it), and move the mouse in one of four directions to execute an OS-specific gesture. ![]() The ultra-modern polygonal thumb rest is also a button which can be programmed to do just about anything, but it is primarily intended for gestures. ![]() In addition to the vertical scroll wheel between the two main buttons, there is a new thumb-operated horizontal scroll wheel on the side which offers just enough resistance for precision sideways scrolling. In other words, if you scroll quickly enough, the clicking mechanism disengages, allowing the wheel to spin freely in order to get you to your destination much faster. Not only can you toggle between click and smooth scrolling (that’s been standard for a while on Logitech mice), but through the new “SmartShift” system, the scroll wheel can automatically shift into smooth mode when it senses that you want to scroll quickly to the top or bottom of a long document. Its dramatically contoured shell gives your hand a comfortable platform on which to rest while placing a myriad of buttons and controls easily within reach. The MX Master is manufactured from an original hand-sculpted model. So when Logitech boldly proclaimed that they revolutionized the nearly fifty-year-old peripheral with the MX Master, I was in. I’ve tested dozens of keyboards to finally find a couple I can claim to truly love, but the same level of passion has always eluded me when it came to mice. Despite multi-touch screens, voice interaction, and science fiction’s promise of gestural operating environments, the primary ways we interact with computers are still through the firmly established keyboard and mouse.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |