Reviews for Magic Trackpad

I think the Magic Track pad is excellent. Bought mine today from the Apple Store in Birmingham. Read the reviews online before I went to the store so partly knew what to expect. Had a go in-store, and after 3 minutes of trying the thing I was positively convinced. Installation was straight forward (however, the accompanying document indicated that bluetooth pairing could be done by clicking in the bottom right of the Magic Trackpad window, but there appeared to be no button/option to do so. I paired the device using the normal bluetooth pairing process which was very simple, and then did a software update as suggested). OK - some of you might be wondering what's the point in having this device? - well, in my opinion it quite simply makes interacting with the Mac a far better experience. I'm already using the trackpad as my primary pointing device (I also have a Magic Mouse) and the trackpad interaction is an easy, pleasing, satisfying, and productive experience. The translation of logical movements/navigation into a physical form using the trackpad is extremely natural/good. The fact it's 'there' almost fades into the background - which is a good sign! If you're on a journey seeking the utopian/perfect input device then this trackpad will certainly take you one step in that direction. So, my advice - definitely worth having

32 of 35 people found this useful

As someone who has never liked laptop trackpads and never used a macbook trackpad it was with a slight hint of hesitation that I purchased the magic trackpad but I in no way regret it. Using it is just very natural and it seems to have fixed the slow tracking speed on the iMac 27" that the magic mouse and other peripherals seems to have, even on full settings.

The unit is very stylish and looks great next to the wireless keyboard, sharing the exact same design. First impressions using the trackpad when editing images in Aperture 3 were impressive, the flow of the brushes was far smoother and easy to control with the multi-touch gestures coming in very handy for things such as rotation, zooming in and out and switching images.

For gaming, although not something to replace the mouse in first person shooters it certainly seems to hold up in Civilisation IV and The Sims 3, the latter being even easier with the trackpad given the variety of camera movements achievable.

I would highly recommend this to pretty much everyone, just keep your mouse in the draw just in case but the chances of you ever needing it are pretty slim.

29 of 33 people found this useful

I don't understand the issues others found with installation, I had no trouble at all.

This is so comfortable to use. By being able to keep my wrist on the desk, I no longer keep knocking my hand into the side of my keyboard.

If only this product could have been brought out before the Magic Mouse!

4 of 4 people found this useful

I use the zoom feature in Mac OS quite a lot - which means moving the mouse fairly constantly around the physical desktop so as to see different parts of the display. I have therefore been waiting very eagerly for this product to arrive so as to stop the constant scraping sound etc! I have an old wooden desk and it will be grateful for a bit less rubbing. After using the trackpad for a couple of days now, I can honestly say that I do not think I will need my magic mouse any more - this does everything it did and so much extra. I never really got used to paging backwards and forwards in things like Safari using the magic mouse - the surface seemed too small and I often ended up inadvertently moving the mouse rather than changing pages. Not so on the new trackpad.

I agree with the comments made about the less than simple install process - Bluetooth didn't seem to intuitively pick it up as it did with the keyboard and magic mouse - and I guessed that there must be a software update as no trackpad feature appeared in system preferences. But as a PC user until about 2 months ago, it was still easy compared.

I love the fact that its size means I can use two hands if I need to when moving items around etc - left hand/finger to click and right hand/finger to move objects ... great! Even better than the trackpad on my macbook pro therefore.

My only minor niggle would be the feel of the device on the top of my desk - it feels ever so slightly "wobbly"... Now this could simply be due to the whole thing being a huge clicker and my having to get used to that so its early days - but my keyboard is rock solid on the desk in comparison.

Not sure why zoom requires two fingers on a trackpad (as opposed to one finger on the surface of the magic mouse) - but not a prob to get used to and £59 is a bit pricey compared to the US - but hey, we're used to that in good old rip-off Britain.

Finally, can't understand the bloke who gave one star in his review because it does what it is supposed to do but he doesn't want one!

Well done Apple - this makes computing better for me.

30 of 34 people found this useful

Just received the magic track pad. 1st impressions are good. If you have ever used a mac laptop and like that, then you are going to love the track pad for working on your desktop.

You can change the settings so when you want to click to select you can just tap. This is ideal for those trips to the library or times when you need to be quite at night time.

High recommended for an easy fix to a click free life...

9 of 11 people found this useful

A very good complement to my Apple wired aluminium keyboard. Feels very natural to use, and somehow improves speed of computer use -- it just seems quicker to move my right hand to point at the trackpad than it does to grab a mouse. Enjoying the new style of interaction with the mouse pointer very much after having fine-tuned the settings for my own speed. Feels very precise and nice to have multi-touch on my iMac.

Loses one star for the somewhat convoluted installation process, which is not very well documented in the enclosed leaflet and necessitated a visit to the Apple Support knowledge base. Essentially, what you have to do to install the trackpad is to first pair it with your computer via Bluetooth Preferences, then run Software Update, which then downloads and installs a Trackpad driver and requires a restart. Only then does the trackpad appear in Preferences. This seems rather complicated compared to most peripherals installs, and surely Apple could have come up with something more straightforward.

The diagrams of the various multitouch gestures on the back of the packaging are a nice touch and will prove to be a good aide-memoire.

Overall a very nice piece of kit that sits nicely with the aluminium keyboard. As it is the same depth as the keyboard, the trackpad surface is massive and allows for precise, fast pointing, and the inertial scrolling is a delight.

Recommended.

424 of 474 people found this useful

Yeah, most of us Apple fans would like to stroke Apple products that we own!!

This, the trackpad, allows you to do this - whatever you need to do. Yippee. It does. Make things more uniform and easier, so if you like the system on a laptop, as opposed to a mouse, THIS IS FOR YOU, my friend. Expensive but, oh! so strokeable!

Go for it.

15 of 19 people found this useful

After using the magic trackpad for a few hours, i must say it already feels better than using the magic mouse. It has a more comfortable feel to it and it avoids you having to move your hand around. It does what it says, and it is quite good. I would recommend this product.

317 of 365 people found this useful