nwc1@quads.uchicago.edu (einsturzende neubaten) (12/05/90)
I have a dead Apple Mouse. All that is wrong with it is that I have apparently worn out its button, and it remains in the down position. I'd run out the warranty, of course, and the deal is this: to get a replacement, since they won't fix it, they'll take this dead mouse, and charge me $80 for a new one. I took the damned thing apart at once, and the piece (admittedly attached to a PC board) looked like it would cost about $3-7 at a RadioShack. I haven't been able to find one, though. Any ideas? And WE ALL KNOW that they'll take this "dead" mouse, replace it, at a cost of $10 at most, and resell it as a replacement for $80. Hmm, I think that I smell a scam here . . . Anyone have any sources for the mouse button unit? Or want to buy it and do it yourself? I bought a Kensington TurboMouse, and it's much better, and I'll stay with that, instead. Apple screwed me over on that one, for sure. Sigh. Later!
mmcintos@sirius.UVic.CA (Mark McIntosh) (12/05/90)
On 5 Dec 90 09:05:36 GMT, nwc1@quads.uchicago.edu (einsturzende neubaten) said: >I have a dead Apple Mouse. All that is wrong with it is that I have apparently >worn out its button, and it remains in the down position. I'd run out the >warranty, of course, and the deal is this: to get a replacement, since they >won't fix it, they'll take this dead mouse, and charge me $80 for a new one. We set up a Macintosh lab here about 1.5 years ago and now a number of the mice are failing in this way. Symptom here is that the bootup floppy ejects all the time, since the mouse button is stuck down. I am pissed. We obtained the Macs about the time Apple went away from the "Made in USA" mice to the "Made in Taiwan" mice. The latter are the mice that are failing here. I recall a hue and cry in the Mac newsgroup about the crappy mice Apple was shipping - I concur. Now Apple is using "Made in USA" mice, again. I've had both kinds apart and there is a big visible difference. The balls are much heavier in the USA mice (hmmm...no comment :-). The rollers also seem to be better made (plastic in Taiwan, metal in USA). Don't know about the microswitch. I think Apple should cough up for replacements since they have admitted their error by going to other mice. How do all you netters feel? >I took the damned thing apart at once, and the piece (admittedly >attached to a PC board) looked like it would cost about $3-7 at a >RadioShack. I haven't been able to find one, though. Any ideas? And >WE ALL KNOW that they'll take this "dead" mouse, replace it, at a >cost of $10 at most, and resell it as a replacement for $80. Hmm, I >think that I smell a scam here . . . > >Anyone have any sources for the mouse button unit? Or want to buy it >and do it yourself? I bought a Kensington TurboMouse, and it's much >better, and I'll stay with that, instead. Apple screwed me over on >that one, for sure. Sigh. Good news. One of our hardware guys here looked up the part number in a catalog. On our "Made in Taiwan" ADB mouse, with a Logitech PCB inside, the microswitch is made by Omron, part # D2F-01L. The parts books says that this is supposed to have a hinge lever attached, but its been taken off for this installation. I have the Canadian Omron address if anyone wants it. The US head office is in Schaumberg, IL. We got our catalog from a local distributor. Mark J. McIntosh <mmcintos@sirius.UVic.CA> ____________________________________________________________________________ University of Victoria, Faculty of Engineering - Dean's Office Box 3055, Victoria, BC, CANADA \ "...the mystery of life isn't a problem to V8W 3P6 (604) 721-8612 \ solve but a reality to experience." UUCP: ...!{uw-beaver,ubc-vision}!uvicctr!sirius!mmcintos \ from Dune
minich@d.cs.okstate.edu (Robert Minich) (12/07/90)
mmcintos@sirius.UVic.CA (Mark McIntosh): |>I have a dead Apple Mouse. [...] |>[ Apple won't fix the little 25 cent part... have to get $80 mouse ] | | We set up a Macintosh lab here about 1.5 years ago and now a number | of the mice are failing in this way. Symptom here is that the bootup | floppy ejects all the time, since the mouse button is stuck down. I am | pissed. We obtained the Macs about the time Apple went away from the | "Made in USA" mice to the "Made in Taiwan" mice. The latter are the | mice that are failing here. I recall a hue and cry in the Mac | newsgroup about the crappy mice Apple was shipping - I concur. The only reason I use Apple's mouse (mine is made in Taiwan) is because it came with the machine. :-) It's worked very well for me so far but I much prefer the accuracy and no-moving-parts quality of the A+ optical mouse. Should the time come, I'll drop Apple's rat so fast... | Now Apple is using "Made in USA" mice, again. I've had both kinds | apart and there is a big visible difference. The balls are much | heavier in the USA mice (hmmm...no comment :-). The rollers also seem | to be better made (plastic in Taiwan, metal in USA). Don't know about | the microswitch. I think Apple should cough up for replacements since | they have admitted their error by going to other mice. How do all you | netters feel? Actually, I prefer the plastic rollers. They don't seem to gunk up with ball-crust like the metal ones do. It's been 6 miles (according to Mouse Odometer) since I've last looked inside my mouse. (I like to know what sort of innards I'm getting) At this time, I can't find ANY buildup on the rollers. This may be partly due to my using a mouse pad, which I chose as my "free" gift from Apple after buying my machine. I've noticed many mouse pads use a rubber surface while Apple's has a plastic top with a woven feel. I suspect rubber rat mats are worse than plain desk tops. |>I took the damned thing apart at once, and the piece (admittedly |>attached to a PC board) looked like it would cost about $3-7 at a |>RadioShack. I haven't been able to find one, though. Any ideas? And |>WE ALL KNOW that they'll take this "dead" mouse, replace it, at a |>cost of $10 at most, and resell it as a replacement for $80. Hmm, I |>think that I smell a scam here . . . The real scam is including the mouse with new Macs. Sure, Amiga and NeXT people flame away ("and it doesn't even include a _KEYBOARD_") but _I_ definitely prefer having a choice. If the KB was bundled, I'd probably have the Standard (truly an ugly beast) AND my Extended. (I didn't like any of the third party offerings. I _do_ like the feel of the KB with the Classic... my favorite KB to date sits on an IBM RT. It's almost silent. [In fact, it has an incredibly annoying keyclick speaker that sounds like pong :-] I truly despise KBs that have the loud click that sounds like you just set off a mouse trap. This appears to be IBM's normal offering.) Go and try an optical mouse. The only drawback I've found is having to keep the pad aligned to the mouse (or vice-versa). For myself, this is no big deal. I like the finer resolution very much. A slight flick of the fingers and I've crossed a ton of screen real estate. At the same time, I can easily control single pixel positioning, which is nearly impossible with my Apple rat. -- |_ /| | Robert Minich | |\'o.O' | Oklahoma State University| "Get bent." |=(___)= | minich@d.cs.okstate.edu | -- Bart Simpson | U | - Ackphtth |