Vintage Digit trackball
Posted: 01 Sep 2013, 23:57
I have this old trackball. The sticker says it's a Digit trackball, model 2700, FCC ID IIKGP001-MGT-S. I haven't found anything about it... except one eBay auction, the price was around €70.
I guess it's kinda useless nowadays. The first issue is serial port. I connected it to mobo's PS/2 port, and it was powered (green diodes under the ball worked), but that was all. The ball feels a bit uneven, certainly not as smooth as modern trackballs. Moreover, I imagine DPI would suck. See below.
However, the transparent, 5+ centimeter ball looks cool, and there are three Matsushita switches (AH14809; 1A125VAC; 6LT) with very nice tactility and sharp click.
Now, what to do with it? Is it worth anything? Or should I just keep the ball, desolder switches and throw away everything else?
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Update! The trackball does work. I've recently connected it to a P4 Dell OptiPlex system with a 1600×1200 LCD, and it's quite usable.
There are actually two kinds of light under the ball: red and green. The red one is on most of the time, it's replaced by the green light only while a button is pressed. The buttons work great. Well placed (the middle one can be pressed with a palm), sharply tactile&clicky, but soft-touch, and there's even a lock for drag'n'drop on the left button.
---
Another update.
I guess it's kinda useless nowadays. The first issue is serial port. I connected it to mobo's PS/2 port, and it was powered (green diodes under the ball worked), but that was all. The ball feels a bit uneven, certainly not as smooth as modern trackballs. Moreover, I imagine DPI would suck. See below.
However, the transparent, 5+ centimeter ball looks cool, and there are three Matsushita switches (AH14809; 1A125VAC; 6LT) with very nice tactility and sharp click.
Now, what to do with it? Is it worth anything? Or should I just keep the ball, desolder switches and throw away everything else?
---
Update! The trackball does work. I've recently connected it to a P4 Dell OptiPlex system with a 1600×1200 LCD, and it's quite usable.
There are actually two kinds of light under the ball: red and green. The red one is on most of the time, it's replaced by the green light only while a button is pressed. The buttons work great. Well placed (the middle one can be pressed with a palm), sharply tactile&clicky, but soft-touch, and there's even a lock for drag'n'drop on the left button.
---
Another update.
- The hole for a DIP switch (PC/Amiga/MS/Atari): I haven't noticed anything on the PCB. Maybe they planned/made a multiplatform version?
- If I had a more even ball, it would be about as smooth as a DT225… not much, but not bad either. Getting one shouldn't be too much of an issue, it's a mechanical trackball after all.
- Sensitivity would be perfectly fine on an 800×600 screen or perhaps even HD (1366×768 or something). 1600×1200 makes using the trackball an exercise.
- Have I mentioned I love the switches? They're super clicky… like castrated MX Blue. ^w^