Trackman VS Marble

  • Thread starter Deleted member 143938
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Both could be used for gaming, but it will take a while to get used to using the trackball.

But do you feel the wrist pain more when you use your fingers, or when you use your thumb? That may be a better indicator of which one you should go with.

Personally, I like using the thumb more with a trackball... but that's just one person's opinion.
 
Own both, I prefer the Trackman over the Marble for gaming by far, (thumb balls rule in games imo).
For photo editing and such I prefer the marble. It seems more accurate when doing that sort of thing. (thankfully I can easily switch between the two.)

Both are somewhat smaller than I would like, and feel like they don't quite have the precision of some of the really high end mice or trackballs. Of course they don't carry the same price as those high end mice/trackballs either.
 
I agree, the trackman will be more 'precise' (though not as precise as even a simple traditional optical mouse). Be aware that your thumb will hurt significantly when you first start using the trackman. I did swear by those mice about 10 years ago though.

At once point I also had a marble, which is fun for simple internet browsing and really feels 'neat' to use but is so 'sloppy' that you will regret buying it every time you try to game, IMO. It's great for say, a kiosk implementation.

Neither mouse is appropriate for work which involves precision, such as photoshopping or fast-paced FPS games. While the trackman will likely resolve your wrist pain issues, it may cause others (such as thumb pain and a feeling of aggravation as you try to click on small objects). I found some time ago that a more productive and equally effective solution is a gel or similar wrist rest, and setting your mouse sensitivity so that you do not need to move your arm to get from one end of the screen to the other.

The other issue I had with the trackmans (and marble to a lesser extent) that I wonder if they fixed was crud accumulation. I used to have to pop out the ball and scrape off the ball guide rollers on a regular basis, something I don't have to do with opticals.
 
I decided to go ahead with the Trackman, thanks for all your feedback guys!
 
For those who use trackballs, do you rest your elbow on chair arms, the top surface of a desk , or do you not support your elbows?

I think i've played too many FPS's and I have horrible pain in my right wrist on the rightmost bone.

I've had a doctor check it out and he said to try and not use mice anymore. Wrist rests make the pain worse. I'm currently using a trackman wheel at work, and can make it through the day without much pain.

I'm thinking about building another computer, for some light gaming, and am curious how people like the trackman wheel (thumball style) for gaming. Is there any tips you can give?

At work I find that resting my elbows on top of the desk helps, instead of puttin all the weight on my hand.

Thanks,

Jeff
 
Elbow rests are essential, IMO. A buddy of mine used to have these arms that would attach to the edge of your desk and they'd keep your elbows/arms at a very comfortable level with proper support (and they move with you). I can't remember the name, and the link is at home, but since I didn't want to spend upwards of $200 per arm, I simply use L-shaped desks these days. My elbows rest on the desktop surface, and I havent had any problems ever since I switched desks. As for keyboards, if its the standard layout, I keep my kb far enough away from me on the desk so my wrists are still mostly straight. At home I use ergonomic layout keyboards and simply adjust my arm placement, so the keyboard can be closer to me.

As for trackballs, I used to use what's now called the Trackman Optical, but I believe they use smaller balls on the newer models. Mine has a big ball, Logitech Marble FX (also listed in my FS thread, lol). These were GREAT for photoshop work, with proper sensitivity. :) For gaming, I was ok, but with FPS I had much better aim with a regular optical mouse. :p
 
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