I bought the original Mac Mini as I have mentioned in previous articles the first week it was released. At the time I was using it as a desktop machine and was looking for a keyboard and mouse to match up with the unit. I decided since it would be my budget machine I wanted reasonable peripherals that would work for me. I opted not to purchase a wireless keyboard and mouse set because I didn’t feel like I really needed them to be wireless and those units tend to cost more than traditional wired sets. I had been using the Apple Keyboard with a G5 for some time and to be honest I actually got used to it and like it quite well. As for the mouse I did not really care for the Apple single button mouse. At the time the Apple Mighty Mouse had not been released so I looked toward third party mice. There was a great deal at Best Buy for the Kensington Studio Mouse and I was able to pick one of them up for under $10 shipped. I figured that it was cheap and it had a scroll device and a couple of buttons with the low cost and features I thought I would give it a shot.

The Kensington Studio Mouse is pretty basic. The mouse is silver and white color and matches the Mac Mini quite nicely. It has a left and right click button, but the uniqueness in the scroll wheel isn’t like any other mice I’ve tried. It uses a similar technology to a track pad on a laptop. Since it does not use a traditional scroll wheel there is a “scroll button” under need the scroll pad to program as an extra click. I configured the software to use the extra button at first with Expose and when I upgraded to Tiger the button was used for Dashboard. Overall the mouse does the job. The scroll pad takes a little getting used to but I like the fact that it won’t get dirty inside crevices like traditional scroll wheels.

I did not really care for the silver color of the mouse cable. The cable and enclosure of the mouse seem a little cheap for me. Granted I only paid $10 for the mouse the MSRP for the unit is around $40. I don’t really know how to describe it, but when I hold the mouse it clicks loud and the plastic creaks so it feels cheap when you hold it. Some of the other Kensington products seem to be made much better.

Overall if you can get this mouse at a good price and you need something basic consider the Kensington Studio Mouse. If you are looking for more features or are spending in the upwards of $40 there are better options for you. In the end the mouse works and does everything intended, but it?s only a matter of time before I pick up another.