The best accessory I ever bought for my MacBook can be yours for $20

Macworld

When you’re shopping for a new mouse for your Mac, the temptation is to get something flashy. Apple’s own Magic Mouse, for instance, has a low profile that looks like a mini sports car driving alongside a Space Black MacBook Pro and brings unique features thanks to its multi-touch surface.

But when I sit down to work, my Magic Mouse remains in my desk drawer. Rather, the mouse I’m reaching for is much more basic—so much so, in fact, that I could buy four of them for the price of one Magic Mouse. My go-to mouse is the Razer DeathAdder Essential Gaming Mouse, which sells for $30 and is usually on sale for closer to $20.

Mind you, I’m not a gamer. Quite frankly, if I were, I’d probably pick an entirely different mouse. For my purposes, the Razer DeathAdder Essential Gaming Mouse has everything I need: a comfortable ergonomic design, smooth tracking, a scroll wheel, easy sensitivity adjustment (up to 6,400 dpi), and programmable buttons. The RGB lighting is pretty neat too.

Yes, it has a cord, but let’s be real: how far away from your computer does a mouse really need to be? The 7-foot cable is plenty long for long swipes and long desks and stays free from tangles. It’s so light I barely feel it under my palm, unlike the very persistent Magic Mouse, and it glides easily and smoothly. Most of the time, it doesn’t even feel like it has a cord—and the best part is I don’t need to flip it upside down to charge it.

I still keep a Magic Trackpad on my desk for gestures and scrolling (though the Death Adder has a scroll wheel), but most of my work is accomplished with the simple Razer DeathAdder Essential Gaming Mouse.