I admit it. For a long time, I envied all my PC-using friends whose PCs came with two-button wheeled mice, right out of the box. Well, mouse envy no longer dwells in my heart! While I was shopping at the Micro Center store in Saint Davids recently, I saw a Macally Bluetooth wireless mouse with a wheel and two buttons on the sides. What a wonderful find!

Set-up of this mouse could not have been easier. I just inserted the AA batteries into the mouse. The top portion of the mouse slides off and the batteries fit beneath the cover.

The package included a pair of batteries, the mouse, and a printed set of directions on how to configure the mouse. I am using this mouse on a dual processor G5 with a blue-tooth module built in and running Mac OS X 10.3.7. Macally says this mouse is compatible with Mac OS X 10.2.8 and above, as well as that other operating system whose name rhymes with the word "blows." This mouse will work with either a built-in bluetooth module or a USB Bluetooth adapter. The mouse has a range of up to 33' from the Bluetooth Mac.

Configuring this wireless mouse to work with my Mac was easy. All I had to do was press a little button on the bottom of the mouse, then place the mouse within one foot of my computer. I then started the Bluetooth set-up utility and clicked on a button to have it find the mouse. The mouse was discovered after about two seconds, and that ended the set-up process. There is no special preference panel for this mouse.

The wheel works well in Safari and MS Word to allow me scroll up and down long documents and web pages. The left button is set-up to allow me to click or double-click on objects. The right button pops up a contextual menu that differs based on which application you are using. There is no means to change the configuration of these buttons as far as I can tell, nor does there seem to be any driver for this mouse on Macally's web site, but that's fine by me. The mouse also has a good feel to it in my hand and it is a non-descript, yet tasteful gray color that would look fine on any desk.

If you are looking to reduce the cable clutter surrounding your Mac and your Mac has Bluetooth capability either built-in or through a USB device, this mouse is a must-have item. If you want additional information on this and other Macally products, visit Macally's web site at www.macally.com.