The classic trackball is back!

More dpi, no left/right scroll, no wireless, and I would be happy. I want one anyway.
 
Well, it's hard to find a wired trackball these days. Most that I have seen are wireless. That I can deal with, but dpi is important for large res monitors and games. It would be cool if they made a gaming grade trackball.
 
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That's not a classic trackball - it's a thumb operated abomination. It's hard to see a significant difference between it and its M570 counterpart.
 
I love my m570. I never cared for the old school trackballs. I may have to look into this one.
 
Good to see Logitech back in the game after just sitting on the current (great) designs for so long. Now, if they could only bring back the same wired one I'm using right now...
 
mlcarson said:
That's not a classic trackball - it's a thumb operated abomination. It's hard to see a significant difference between it and its M570 counterpart.
Click to expand...

I preferred the thumb based trackball over the whale clit trackballs you are talking about.
 
mlcarson said:
That's not a classic trackball - it's a thumb operated abomination. It's hard to see a significant difference between it and its M570 counterpart.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I can't stand the thumb balls either. Thumbs don't have the dexterity that your other fingers do.
At least my thumb is a total retard.

I've been using the Kensington Orbit Optical for years now.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16826125019

My only complaint is that the button switches wear out pretty quickly. Kensington is really good about replacing them under warranty.
I've also become good at replacing the switches..... I take the lesser used right switch from a failed one to replace the left switch in
my most recently failed one.

They tend to last about 2-3 years, sometimes I just order a replacement when the current one starts getting flakey.

I kind of miss my old school trackball from years ago with a ball the size of a cue ball. That one was in the serial port days, pre-USB.
Kensington has one sort of like that now, but I think I still prefer the Orbit Optical.


ETA: Dual-clicking gives you scrolling on the Orbit Optical (via the driver).

.
 
I've never used the Kensington Orbit. It didn't appear to offer anything more than the Logitech Marble which has been my trackball of choice for years. . You can get the Marble to work for scrolling via the trackball too but it's still nice to have the physical wheel. I've wanted more buttons on the Marble and a scroll wheel so have been trying the Elecom mice. I started with the Elecom Deft but found it a bit too small so I moved to the Huge. In my opinion, the Elecom Huge is the closest thing to a Microsoft Trackball Explorer successor. I still find the marble more comfortable/ergonomic but that might change as I use the Elecom more.
 
I had one from Microsoft for years and loved it. I'd still have one today but I got back into PC gaming and trackball don't work so well for that. For everyday PC use tho it worked great.
 

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This is the Microsoft Trackball Explorer.
microsoft-trackball-explorer-2.jpg


This is the Microsoft Trackball Optical:
51S1JQCF11L._SY450_.jpg


And this is the Elecom Huge:
Elecom%20HUGE%201.jpg
 
All you bastards made me spend money again.....

I got to looking at the current selection of trackballs and found a current day version of the first one
I bought back in the day.

The one I had back then was called the PC-Trac and I was really bummed out when it finally died.
I tried to buy another one but they were no longer made.

I didn't like the Orbit Optical nearly as much but it's what I settled on out of what was on the market.

Ok, so I read this thread and then I stumble on this.....


Untitled.jpg




It's a resurrected new & improved version of the old PC-Trac!

This new model is black with a glowing blue ball to go with my blue back-lit keyboard.
It's far sexier than the plain old beige one I had. It also has the scroller that the old one lacked.

Only part that sucks is that it's $125.00 for a pointing device. Ah, well it's only money.

I remember the old I had was very durable and the reviews on this one say the same.
So I'm hoping it lasts longer than the cheaper ones I buy.

Also hoping it's easier on my hand and will help with hand pain I get sometimes after hours
on the computer.

Really looking forward to getting this and have that old familiar feel of my old one.

Looks like it's also available with a red glowy ball or just a plain black not glowy ball.

https://www.amazon.com/CST2545W-Amb...8&qid=1509261566&sr=8-1&keywords=CST2545W(GL)


.
 
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As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Spartacus said:
I kind of miss my old school trackball from years ago with a ball the size of a cue ball. That one was in the serial port days, pre-USB.
Click to expand...
Do you still have it? I'd get a usb-serial adapter and put it back in use. :)
 
MacLeod said:
I had one from Microsoft for years and loved it. I'd still have one today but I got back into PC gaming and trackball don't work so well for that. For everyday PC use tho it worked great.
Click to expand...
I LOVE that trackball too. If you ever want to sell it, I'm your man. ;)
 
Spartacus said:
All you bastards made me spend money again.....

Also hoping it's easier on my hand and will help with hand pain I get sometimes after hours
on the computer.

Really looking forward to getting this and have that old familiar feel of my old one.

Looks like it's also available with a red glowy ball or just a plain black not glowy ball.

https://www.amazon.com/CST2545W-Ambidextrous-Performance-Ergonomic-Trackball/dp/B00YHZPB62/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1509261566&sr=8-1&keywords=CST2545W(GL)
Click to expand...
That's awesome! I thought that design look familiar but I couldn't place it. So did you get the red or blue?

And $125 is cheap compared to any type of RSI injury. That's why I won't cut corners on input devices--or car tires.
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
SamirD said:
That's awesome! I thought that design look familiar but I couldn't place it. So did you get the red or blue?

And $125 is cheap compared to any type of RSI injury. That's why I won't cut corners on input devices--or car tires.
Click to expand...


Ordered the blue one to match my blue back-lit keyboard.
The old one is long gone, I think it just quit from what I remember.

.
 
I'd love to try the CST Trackballs but they're expensive at $130 for what amounts to a two-button trackball with a scroll wheel that's in an inconvenient place. It's expandable with two external buttons but then the price gets to $165. I've just not been willing to spend that much on something that would be very much a gamble on whether I'd like the ergonomics. This is one that I wish my employer would pay for. I'd do ebay but the problem with that is that there was a recent roller upgrade that supposedly makes a big difference in the smoothness of the ball motion.
 
Try the Logitech Trackman Marble. It's only $22 at Amazon. For general usage, it's one of the most ergonomic trackballs out there. Use X-Mouse Button Control (free download) to assign Button 4 as middle click which will then let you use the ball itself as the scroll wheel. I can't imagine that finger usage would cause more fatigue than thumb usage on a thumb trackball.
SamirD said:
My fingers disagree as the 'stretch' caused by rolling the ball downwards causes fatigue after a few hours on any fingerballs I've tried. My parents love them however, so they have the finger version of the Trackman. Those Elecom ones would confuse them pretty bad, lol (they're seniors).
Click to expand...
 
Got my CST trackball with the blue glow ball pictured above and it's nice.

It's heavy and solid so it doesn't slide around on the desk as can happen
quite often with the smaller trackballs.

It's taken a few days for the muscle memory of my hand to get used to it.
It felt awkward at first after using the Orbit Optical for many years.

Getting used to it though and it's a lot better than what I had.

In addition to the scroller, there is a small scroll lock button above the ball.
Press it once and I can scroll up/down & left/right using the ball. I find that
I don't use the dedicated scroller at all. It's too far of a reach over the ball.
It's not needed anyway the way I use it.

It can even be set to do a slow roll down so the page rolls slowly as I read.
It will keep rolling automatically and I can just nudge the ball to stop it and
then nudge it again to continue rolling. That is really nice when reading a
lot of lengthy forum threads.

I also find that I'm able to target and click screen items faster and easier.
I'll have to crank up some games and see how it works.

It's expensive and won't be for everybody, but I like it a lot.

.
 
Spartacus said:
Got my CST trackball with the blue glow ball pictured above and it's nice.

It's heavy and solid so it doesn't slide around on the desk as can happen
quite often with the smaller trackballs.

It's taken a few days for the muscle memory of my hand to get used to it.
It felt awkward at first after using the Orbit Optical for many years.

Getting used to it though and it's a lot better than what I had.

In addition to the scroller, there is a small scroll lock button above the ball.
Press it once and I can scroll up/down & left/right using the ball. I find that
I don't use the dedicated scroller at all. It's too far of a reach over the ball.
It's not needed anyway the way I use it.

It can even be set to do a slow roll down so the page rolls slowly as I read.
It will keep rolling automatically and I can just nudge the ball to stop it and
then nudge it again to continue rolling. That is really nice when reading a
lot of lengthy forum threads.

I also find that I'm able to target and click screen items faster and easier.
I'll have to crank up some games and see how it works.

It's expensive and won't be for everybody, but I like it a lot.

.
Click to expand...
Awesome! I bet you're going to love it as much as your original once your hands remember everything again.
 
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