in quest of trackball

[calimac]

When I first started using a graphic computer interface - about 30 years ago; I was a late adopter - I quickly realized that the interface tool I wanted was not a mouse, and certainly not a touchpad, but a trackball.

A trackball is basically a mouse upside down, with the ball that senses movement exposed at the top. Because the device as a whole does not move, it requires less desktop space than a mouse; and because the ball is moved with the user's fingers, the irritation of the desktop surface not providing enough friction to move the mouse's ball does not arise.

I got myself one of this model:


Or two, actually. I took one to work and plugged it into my computer there, and took it with me whenever I changed jobs, rather than use the mouse that was already there.

I've been through five or six of them over the years - the click buttons eventually wear out - but always the same model.

Until now. I went to order one online and found the price had increased to over five times as much as other models of wired trackballs. (I insist on wired auxiliaries on my computer, because they can't be mislaid.) The same manufacturer seemed to have changed its default model to this:


So I got one. What I hadn't taken into account is that it works differently. Where the old version has the ball between the buttons, so you move the ball with your right forefinger and hit the button with your thumb, the new model is the other way around. The ball is to the left of both buttons, and you move the ball with your right thumb.

Maybe I'd get used to this eventually, but I found it incredibly awkward. I had the deuce of a trouble placing the cursor even within a large box, let alone a small one.

I found an inexpensive trackball from a different manufacturer that doesn't look at all like my old one, but it has the ball in the middle. It looks like this:


So far it works fine. I hope it's sturdy and the buttons don't wear out too fast. It has one other potential problem. The ball doesn't click into place in the housing; it just sits there. That means if a cat knocks the device off the desk - a not unknown event - the ball will come out and roll off into an obscure corner and be hard to find. Well, I'll deal with it.

Comments

[sturgeonslawyer]

I have been using trackballs for at least twenty years, always from Logitech. I've never had the buttons go out on me -- what gives out first is usually the sensor that tracks the ball. Eventually it gets to the point where even popping the ball out and dusting doesn't help, and then I know it's time to order a new one.

What I've been using all these years has been precisely the one that you decided not to get. I did try one with the ball in the middle once -- I found it very hard to get used to. Plus -- and for me this is a big advantage -- it (the ball-on-the-left version) comes with a scroll wheel between the two buttons.

I also have a one-handed keyboard, designed so you type with your left hand and trackball (mouse, touchpad, whatever) with your right. It still works, but I never developed much speed with it because it relies too much on key combinations: so I just plain don't use it. Something I'll almost certainly give up as I downsize for the first-phase move.

[calimac]

I don't think one model or the other is inherently superior; it's what your fingers are trained to use.

[sturgeonslawyer]

I was merely pointing out a bonus feature the thumb-ball has. I did not intend to suggest that this made it superior; I said that it was a big advantage for me, especially when scrolling down long documents (as one does).

[calimac]

I wasn't trying to imply that you were claiming superiority. I was merely trying to reconcile our strongly different experiences.

[sturgeonslawyer]

Got it.

[wild_patience]

The one with the ball on the side - does that come in a left-handed version? I have my mouse on the left and the thought of moving the ball with my pinky does not appeal to me at all.

[calimac]

Yes it does - here and here, both wireless.

[andrewducker]

I used to use a trackball all the time. My favourite was the one with the thumb, but that may just have been because of how I was using it. I should try a top-ball one again.