Noob considering trackball. Questions mostly about LaserTrac

[mjtorn]

Hi!

My Kinesis Advantage would probably benefit from having a friend next to it; especially in office use I'd appreciate something better.

Once back in the day I used an external screen and keyboard with my laptop and used the built-in touchpad for cursor input, way before Steve Jobs came up with it. AFAIK there are no decent solutions for the PC? Besides, all the scroll action gives me RSI-like symptoms so that's probably not a good idea.

So reading around on the forums here, I get the impression the Kensington Expert's good, though it requires cleaning and the scroll ring isn't necessarily nice. That's a real shame, because https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzsmtKxxjog (Kensington Expert Mouse Review - The Best Trackball Ever?) leaves a good impression. Though it's very much shot like an ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my0oxKWgnzI (CST L-TracX in Use) seems very nice too, but do you guys have experience in reaching for the scroll? It looks like you got to consciously avoid hitting the ball while scrolling Otherwise it looks like the same kind of industrial-grade manufacture that lasts forever.

The 2545-5W seems to deliver the required buttons as an addon, which is nice, as I'm completely addicted to having back/forward buttons. I'm semi scared that getting them to run on Linux is a pain, but if they just send standard mouse events, it can't be anything. But any heads up on this as well is much appreciated

Thanks!

[rostov]

I have no experience with the L-TracX, but I am currently on my second Kensington Expert Mouse Trackball.

The scroll wheel in the Expert Mouse is somewhat unreliable and scratchy. However, Kensington also has a great warranty. The reason I'm on my second Expert Mouse? Because Kensington sent me a new one after my originals' scroll wheel died. They never even asked me to return the original, which I later opened up and repaired (I just had to bend a metal piece inside a bit for it to begin registering again). In fact, the original now works better than the replacement.

Yes, the Expert Mouse requires constant cleaning, but that is just a matter of lifting the ball out and running your finger around inside every day or two. I do it while I'm on hold for a telephone call, or waiting for a meeting to start. I could probably clean it less than I do, but I'm pedantic about it.

My only other complaints about the Expert Mouse are that:
1. the paint on the buttons wears off too quickly. I have acidic skin oils, I polish ABS quickly into a nice smooth surface... for which the Expert Mouse is no exception.
2. The button above your "left click" is hard to reach. If say, you want to game with this, don't expect to make any practical use out of that 4th button.

[mjtorn]

Thanks for your reply! Ok, that's actually a pretty good deal, then

Maybe I should consider the Kensington, but I'm not *too* keen on playing around with warranty etc. It really boils down to the scrolling mechanism; is the LaserTrac any good or is the wheel too awkwardly placed?

I think my subconscious still pushing me towards the LaserTrac with extra buttons

[rostov]

The warranty process for me was to call Kensington, say my Expert Mouse was broken, gave them the serial number from the bottom, and they asked me for an address. I never registered a warranty card, sent a receipt, or anything fancy. I'm not sure if this is how their warranty replacements still work, or not.

[Okeg]

At first, when I started looking into the CST LtracX I had almost decided on the kensington slimblade.
I saw some reviews, and heard about the "awkward" scrollwheel position. However! I can confirm that atleast to me, the scrollwheel is perfectly placed. I can reach it very easily, without reaching out for it.

As for cleaning:
The kensington slimblade requires alot of cleaning, but it is easier to clean.
The LtracX you have to clean very rarely, but it is advised to do a good dust off atleast once a year.

I hope this helps you out, +1 on the Ltrac from me!

[fossala]

Yeah the ltrack needs cleaning one a year, the slimblade, once a day...

[mjtorn]

I went for the LaserTrac. Been using it for just over a week, it arrived just before the xmas holidays.

Maybe I'm too keyboard-oriented (hey, it's a Kinesis Advantage, can't keep my hands off of it but I still haven't
gotten used to 1600cpi. Slightest nervous leg or anything and the cursor's all over the place. Still not used to switching around either, but maybe I should do 800cpi first to get better used to it.

No time for gaming yet, so no heads-up on that. If the marketing material of a company called Clearly Superior Technologies says gamers consider this device "an unfair advantage" they can't be wrong, can they?

[Okeg]

I've been playing doom and some quake live with it, and it's ok. WIth some practice ofcourse.

[mjtorn]

Glad to hear it Do you use 1600 or a lower setting?

I do appreciate how 1600 is about the same as the desktop width, so I don't have to do lift-the-hand-and-roll-more action to get to places, but I could imagine that to be preferrable for gaming. What do you think?

[vun]

Yeah the ltrack needs cleaning one a year, the slimblade, once a day...

Slightly offtopic, but how should I clean a slimblade? I just got one and I'd like to know the best way to clean it once it does need a cleanup.

[woody]

Slightly offtopic, but how should I clean a slimblade?

Takes about 10 seconds:
1) Pick up the ball
2) Rub your finger on the three small metal ball bearings, so the accumulated crud falls
3) Replace the ball

I do it once or twice per month and consider it very low-maintenance.

In the very rare case that dust bunnies have formed in the two openings that house the opto pairs, just remove them.

Keep the ball rolling smoothly by rubbing it in your hair. Funny, but it works.

[fossala]

Yeah, it is very trivial to clean. But I found that I had to do it every few days.

[vun]

Ah, thanks. Not much of an issue then.

I've already heard of the hair trick, I've also heard that basically just rubbing it against the greasier parts of your skin does fine as well, rubbing it against the nose bridge is supposed to be fairly effective.

[fossala]

Ah, thanks. Not much of an issue then.

I've already heard of the hair trick, I've also heard that basically just rubbing it against the greasier parts of your skin does fine as well, rubbing it against the nose bridge is supposed to be fairly effective.

Just be careful where you rub it. Don't want to decrease resale value.