deskthority

there is a campaign to fund this new gaming trackball project on indiegogo


https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/game ... rackball#/
http://www.gamingtrackball.com/

He talked a litle bit here : https://www.reddit.com/r/Trackballs/com ... _tomorrow/ and
https://www.reddit.com/r/Trackballs/com ... in_action/

I don’t really understand the design criteria or logical process that went into the shape, button locations, scroll wheel location, etc. Is there an explanation somewhere? The video seems pretty sparse.

For example, just at a glance, that looks like it will take a really uncomfortable thumb motion to use the scroll wheel.

Leaving the scroll wheel in the same place but rotating it 90° would make it map better to a natural motion of the human thumb.

jacobolus wrote: ↑I don’t really understand the design criteria or logical process that went into the shape, button locations, scroll wheel location, etc. Is there an explanation somewhere? The video seems pretty sparse.

For example, just at a glance, that looks like it will take a really uncomfortable thumb motion to use the scroll wheel.

Leaving the scroll wheel in the same place but rotating it 90° would make it map better to a natural motion of the human thumb.

Jacobolus

Trust you to always come up with some rigorous critiques when it comes to ergonomics!

I not only agree with you on the thumb scroll, I do not like all the thumb scroll mice in the market. If you can find one that maps to the natural human thumb, do post it.

I think the reality is that thumb scrolling doesn't work. I find my Kensington Expert trackball scroll wheel the best, after trying all kinds of mice and input devices. (Am even selling all my other Kensington mice - which tells you a thing or two.)

I think it's a design that is greatly inspired by the Microsoft Trackball Explorer who apparently a lot of people seems to love. I agree that a design of the thumb scroll like the Logitech MX Master, which fits better the natural motion of the thumb, is a far better design choice

Until there is a new version of the Logitech Trackman FX, I will continue using and repairing those...

Still with my Kensington Slimblade over here. Although I am using a mouse right now because the slimblade started hurting my wrists for some reason

The appeal to me of trackballs is that some of them are symmetrical and quite usable left-handed.

Most nicer (ergonomic, 5-button) mice are right-handed-only, and I'm not going to settle for the one or two models designed to be left-handed centric. So I always used a mouse right handed, but when I got trackballs, I used them left-handed. My desk is a mess right now, one of each on either side of my keyboard.

I'm going on 15 years with CST products. Being able to use it left handed was the major driver.

I'm also right-hand dominant, but track with my left. It leaves my right hand free to take notes!

Todays touchpads are so amazing that I see no point in using a Trackball, can someone explain to me why a trackball still is superior to a trackpad for some people?

Maybe the fact that trackballs offer a contoured surface and less friction? Most trackball users either need the ergonomics or like them. A curved touchpad might approach the utility of a trackball...

A decent trackpad is better than a trackpoint or other joystick (though it can’t be integrated directly into the keyboard the way a trackpoint can).

However, even the best trackpads (e.g. on Apple laptops), are still much slower for precision 2D pointing tasks than a mouse, well made trackball, or direct pen input. For someone trained on both types of devices, my estimate is that there’s a 2–4x speed difference at the same level of precision. (That’s a totally made up number though; feel free to spend a few hundred thousand dollars conducting a peer-reviewed scientific study.)

Fortunately, most computer use doesn’t require pointing to be simultaneously fast and precise. This is especially true for word processing, computer programming, web browsing, etc. Often, the portability advantage of having a trackpad integrated into a laptop outweighs the pointing advantage you’d get from an external mouse, trackball, or graphics tablet.

But if you’re doing graphic design, photo/video editing, CAD, competitive video games, or similar, then trackpads become a big disadvantage.

Most of my time is pend using my Macbook pro usually inside a terminal remote login to a couple of Linux machines.
I connect my mac to my trusty old 30-inch behemoth and switch between multiple desktops.

A couple of problems i have with my wireless apple trackpad (with Eneloop batteries not the new one) is that
sometimes it jitters jumps and lags while the connection. While the RSSI is around 48 and 53.

it's like my 30-inch screen is interfering with my trackpad's signal..
Also sometime i need to select text or something involving precision and doing that over and over again on a flat surface is tiring.

That's why i sometimes use my trackpad left handed for quick movements or when i need to go across the screen
And for my left hand i use my Logitech M500..i am looking for a better mouse / trackpad who knows something without software and that has a CPI/DPI switch (CPI Steps: 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000)

Unless I'm missing something here, it would appear that the ball finger would have to be your index finger, as your thumb would be busy with the scrollwheel?

That could make precision very easy, but exhausting for lots of motion.