over 10 years ago from Oliur Rahman, Founder at UltraLinx
I've always wondered what designers prefer the most.
I personally prefer the magic mouse. Feel like it takes a lot less effort to carry out tasks, especially when clicking and right-clicking.
But then the magic trackpad has all these amazing gestures.
None of the two. I'm using the Wacom Intuos 5.
I think it is better for my hand to use a Wacom board when i have to use a computer 8 hours on a day.
I've never used one of those graphic boards. Are they worth it? I mainly design websites though.
Totally worth it! You don't even need an Intuos.
I've been doing UI Design using a $100 Wacom Bamboo for 3+ years now and it's brilliant!
I am definitely open to the idea. How do they benefit your workflow? Does it make you work faster? The more information the better really.
Think about it this way:
I work on a 27" Thunderbolt Display. My Bamboo has an active area of 5.8" x 3.6" which is directly mapped to the display in pen mode (not mouse mode, that's a pain in the ass) with forced proportions.
Getting from one corner of the screen to the oposite one with precision is way faster than with a trackpad / mouse and it's always in one wrist move. You get even more precision if you use a higher density tablet like an Intuos but from my testing, the Wacom is enough.
The tablet is not really great at scrolling / zooming / anything gesture related but you always have your trackpad for those tasks. It's also not great if you map two displays to the surface of the tabled because of the distortion caused by aspect ratio.
You really have to try it to see how great it is. It will take a couple of days to get used to it but after that... you'll never use a mouse / trackpad again for design work.
I hope this helps.
PS: Using a tablet while in Coda will get you a lot of weird looks :)
I do have to say that if you are in the US and need a budget tablet, I would go for the Monoprice ones. Those are as good as the Intuos while being cheaper than the Bamboo.
I also use my Wacom tablet with the pen instead. I'm considering upgrading to an Intuos 5 to get the touch capabilities when gestures would be more appropriate.
Magic Trackpad.
I never want to go back to using a mouse. I never need to move my arm to do anything, everything is a simple finger movement. I'm so much faster with a trackpad, plus there's no change when I'm using my MacBook.
Man, I'm the only one here so far who prefers the trackpad.
I use the trackpad, I would find it very hard to go back to the mouse now.
My trackpad electrocutes me subtly, so sometimes I use my wacom.
I use the magic mouse at work — I really want to love it, but just can't. The gestures are useful, but I find the form factor uncomfortable to work with.
I have a wireless logitech mouse at home that I much prefer.
The first time you accidentally zoom or scroll out a million miles from your workspace due to a finger lightly brushing the Magic Mouse as you lift it away, you'll realize it's a great mouse for casual use and browsing, but not an excellent one for an Adobe environment. The magic trackpad isn't suitable for anything involving frequent click-and-drag.
I prefer one of the Logitech Performance family mice for design apps, or even better, a tablet.
Well, it depends which actions and kind of work you do. But I think wacom is the best way to speed up your work. Yeah, it bad for scrolling/zooming but it much better than mouse. Use mouse when you are surfing, use wacom when you are working.
Hate working on the trackpad. I have both magic mouse and trackpad but I use the trackpad for gestures only.
Wacom++ + magic trackpad for when I want the gestures (web browsing mostly)
When at my desk docked to 27", Magic Mouse it is. Even despite the accidental swiping gets bit annoying at times.
I did have go with the Magic Trackpad but it somehow didn't feel precise enough. Funnily enough on the go I use only the MBPr trackpad. I did experiment with a dual setup too: MT on the left side of the keyboard for gestures and MM on the right but that didn't really fly in the long run :)
Colleague is using Bamboo for everything and looks quite handy, with exposé and other basic gestures hotcornered.
I'm the colleague.
Using a cheap Wacom bamboo for everything and having the magic trackpad as a backup gesture input device and for occasions when I have to switch from keyboard to pointing device in a fast pace as it's hard to type with a stylus in one hand.
Works perfectly for me. Using only a mouse or a trackpad feels slow in visual applications for me now.
Logitech G500. I have 3 of them. One for home and two for work (sitting desk and standing desk). They are phenomenal and you can map the extra buttons to anything (like creating/deleting masks for example.. or whatever you do most often in PS etc)
Adjusting dpi on the fly for extra sensitivity with pixel perfect stuff is nice too
I tend to differ depending on what I'm doing and my mood. Magic Mouse + .5 Intuos + .5
Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad, Razer DeathAdder and Wacom tablet here.
I use the Magic Mouse for design work, the Razer DeathAdder for some games and the Magic Trackpad and Wacom tablet are unused.
X-Y scrolling with Magic Mouse FTW.
I use the Magic Trackpad and love it. Couldn't go back to a mouse now.
magic mouse +1
Magic mouse. I find trackpads too awkward.
I've used mouse for a long time to design. 6 months ago I bought a Intuos 5 but I've used it just a couple of times. Mouse is still my primary choice. Trackpad? Oh please.
I've been using the Magic Mouse for a few years now and really like it. Took some time to get used to it but being able to do gestures and the simplicity really make it a delight to use.
Magic Mouse all day long. Couldn't get used to the trackpad, just didn't feel natural to me.
Neither, all depends on what you're used to. Since I am a former gaming geek I'm using a steel series mouse with a lot of hotkeys, if it is comfortable and good for a gamer then it might aswell work excellent for a designer.
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