Magic Mouse and Rechargable Batteries?

That's interesting. I have had one or two that made the mouse flicker for a moment which might suggest a bad connection. I will check it out tonight.

I just compared a brand new alkaline cell with one of the new rechargables I mentioned earlier. Looking more closely at the positive end that you referred to there indeed appears to be a small difference in the shape.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11373233/MacDiscussions/Magic%20Mouse%20folder/Battery%2 0Tops1.pdf

It's so small that I never noticed it before. I wonder if the raised neck on the green rechargable cell is the problem here?

Well it seems you are right. It is the neck on the rechargable battery combined with the fact that the contacts on the Magic Mouse are recessed behind a thick black plastic wall.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11373233/MacDiscussions/Magic%20Mouse%20folder/Mouse%20c ompartment.pdf

Other people mention stuffing silver paper in the holes but I can't get this to work either. It's so fiddly. Even if I get a small piece of silver paper in one of the holes, putting the battery in just displaces it.

I don't think it is worth the effort having to do this every time the batteries need recharging even if I could get it to work, so sadly I think I will sticking with the non-rechargable types. Unless I can find rechargable batteries where the + terminal isn't almost flat like on the rechargable batteries I have now.

It would also be useful if others here posted on what makes of rechargable batteries they use in their Magic Mouse and that work so that a list may be made. If I can, I would like to avoid buying more batteries only to find that they don't work in my Magic Mouse.

I would be especially interested in those that reside here in the U.K. for reasons that I hope will be obvious.

Well I can now confirm that it does depend on the make of Rechargable battery you buy that makes a difference to whether they work in the Magic Mouse or not.

Last night I took a gamble and bought some Duracell Rechargables. I didn't have my glasses for close up work but I was able to compare them right there in the shop with the black alkaline batteries that I know work fine. The cap in the end looked ok though - about the same size. They weren't cheap so it was a bit of a gamble as I don't have many other uses for them right now.

First of all, they only took an hour or so to charge up. That was my first surprise. However when I put them in Magic Mouse - lo! - they work perfectly!

I took another photo that shows all three batteries together.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11373233/MacDiscussions/Magic%20Mouse%20folder/Result.jp g

The new Duracells (on the right) are clearly as large at the + end as the Alkline cell (in the middle). It is definitely larger than the previous set of rechargables (on the left).

Last night when I first used them they were at 94% charge. This afternoon (3pm) they are at 77% charge according to the Mouse Prefs Panel. I don't know if that is a lot of charge to lose in less than 24 hours but a great dealof use has beenmade in that time. Doesn't matter though - I can recharge them, right?

Anyway the ones I found that work in my Magic Mouse are Duracell 'Rechargable Accu' NiMH, 2000 mAh/1.2V. They also claim to retain 80% of their charge after one year. So it may well be worth charge up the next set in readiness.

So I'm pleased to be able to report a good result.

El Deanio wrote:
....Last night when I first used them they were at 94% charge. This afternoon (3pm) they are at 77% charge according to the Mouse Prefs Panel. I don't know if that is a lot of charge to lose in less than 24 hours but a great deal of use has been made in that time. Doesn't matter though - I can recharge them, right?

Thanks for your most gracious comments, CaptFred! Actually I have quite enjoyed myself finding this out and posting here.

When I wrote the above, it was 19 February - that's almost a week ago. This is just to report that my new rechargables are still at 58% charge and that's including a quite considerable amount of use. Not bad at all really.

Scott Theobold1 wrote:
This explains things to me then. I have some 7dayshop.com own brand AA 2900mAh Ni-mh batteries which simply register nothing in the mouse, whereas my Philips 1.2V 600mAh Nickel Cadmium rechargeables are fine but don't last particularly long.

I can now see the +ve terminal of the Philips is similar to a Duracell or Energizer Alkaline battery. Would be good to compile a list of Ni-mh brands that have the correct +ve terminal that work in the Magic Mouse.

Hi Scott. I agree with you. It's like I said earlier here.

What I think I might do, in a few weeks time maybe when I have more idea how long the first charge of these Duracells going to last (or has lasted), I may start a new post asking this question. I might also include a link to this post, if I can work out how it is done, as reference to save having to repeat everything. What do you think?

I realise that in fairness I ought to add that there is nothing at all wrong with the ASDA rechargables I bought first. I have every confidence that they too will work perfectly when I find an appliance, other than the Magic Mouse, to use them in.