Kensington Expert Mouse Optical USB Trackball for PC or Mac 64325
by Kensington
|
List Price: Our Price: $68.53 You Save: $59.42 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $35.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington Expert Mouse Optical USB Trackball for PC or Mac 64325
Customer Review: Great for mac and PC users. You'll wonder how you lived without it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Yes, a trackball mouse will take a little bit of getting used to in the beginning, but it's not nearly as difficult as you might think, especially with this device!
The ball's movement is friction-free, precise, and effortless. I can navigate between dual monitors with ease, and the scroll ring is the most natural scrolling device I've felt on a mouse. I do find that the sound of the scroll ring is sometimes a bit rough, and I was worried about this complaint before ordering the mouse. But now that I have it, I've realized that the roughness is very slight, I don't find it to be that big of of a deal.
I love the programmable buttons because they can be used to program menu functions as well as opening applications. In addition, you can also program functions for when you press a combination of buttons. For example:
I have the four buttons programmed as follows: left-click, right-click, close document, close application. I also have it programmed so that when I press the two lower buttons together, it will minimize the active window. And when I press the two top buttons together, it will "restore" (i.e. un-maximize) the window so that I can move the window to my other monitor.
I never thought that something as simple as the ability to automate small tasks and program the mouse buttons would provide me with so much more efficiency, but it does.
This is a great improvement from the Kensington Turbo Mouse, in particular:
- The placement and functionality of the scroll ring
- The ball's effortless movement and optical tracking
- The wrist rest's feel and design
In addition, Kensington's customer service is beyond fantastic. I've had nothing but pleasant experiences when dealing with this company.
The best part is that even after hours and hours on the computer, my wrist no longer hurts the way it used to with a traditional mouse. This was such a great buy, that I now have two of these mice, for home and work. And it's worth every penny.
UPDATE - 9.25.08
Still love it, absolutely no complaints. My current setup is a sony VAIO, macbook pro, and a view sonic 20" monitor. I hooked this mouse up to a Starview 2-Port KVM Switch Kit with Cables (PC/Mac) and it works flawlessly. No loss of functionality or programmable button execution between operating systems. It was seamless. (And in case anyone is wondering... hooked up the monitor directly with a VGA cable to the sony, and DVI to the mac. Works great!)
Customer Review: Excellent product
Summary: 5 Stars
I had never even used a trackball device before buying this device, and I love it. It only took a few days to get used to it, and after a week or two, I don't think I would ever want to go back to a mouse.
As someone mentioned, when you first begin to use it, the ball does feel a little rough and makes a grinding type sound. Literally, within a couple hours, it was worn in and now is silky smooth.
With the exception of the ball and scroll ring, it does look very "plasticy", which, of course it is. It could use an updated look, but I don't downgrade it for that.
The one improvement I wish is had was a better scroll ring. My previous mouse was the Logitech MX Revolution Mouse (which didn't look "plasticy"), and I LOVED the scroll wheel on that thing. It was on ball bearings, and had some heft to it, so you could give it a spin and it would spin for several seconds. Very handy for scrolling to the bottom of a large spreadsheet or web page. However, that mouse gave me tendinitis in my thumb. I wish this scroll wheel was on ball bearings and had more heft as well. As it, it does not scroll very smoothly, but it is better than nothing. I don't know if other trackballs have this feature, but it they didn't, I don't think I would like them.
UPDATE: After a few more weeks of using this trackball, I have discovered a downside. The position of the left click wheel is such that it requires a lateral pressing motion of the thumb, which is starting to give me a sharp pain in my thumb. I've tried using my middle and ring finger to roll the ball, leaving my index finger for clicking, but that just doesn't feel right. If the button was more on the side, so you could depress it with the bottom of your thumb instead of the side, I think it would totally alleviate that problem. I did recently purchase the Logitech Optical Marble Mouse. It's button is on the side, which was much better. However, I didn't like the smaller ball nor the lack of scrolling ability. You can click a button, and then scroll with the ball, then re-click the button to return to normal function, but I found that extremely unhandy.
I love the size of the ball, and while the scroll ring could be improved, I really like it as well. But while it pains me to remove a star from my rating (if I can figure out how to), I can't justify giving 5 stars to a device that causes thumb pain. I'm not sure it I'll be able to keep using this. Why can't someone design the perfect mouse/trackball?
Customer Review: I love my trackball
Summary: 5 Stars
Earlier this year, I started experiencing some hand and finger problems including pain and numbness. I was noticing it most near the end of a long day, and while using my mouse.
For a long time, I had been using (and loving) the Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 5000. I can't stand wired mice, and Optical is a must, so this mouse was a good fit for me. But, having 3 screens requires a lot of mouse movement, even with very high mouse speed.
When I mentioned my hand pain to Chris (coworker), he suggested switching to a trackball. He had hand problems many years ago, but they had subsided after switching to a trackball. I wasn't persuaded yet though. I had tried working at Chris's computer before, and I couldn't stand using the trackball. Using his computer made me feel like I was trying to draw a portrait with my left hand (I'm incredibly inept with my left hand). I didn't think I'd be able to adjust to the trackball.
About a week later though, Chris was out of the office for the day. I asked if I could borrow his trackball and try it at my station. What a difference! It turns out that my clumsiness with the trackball before was just because I was sitting at his desk, using his keyboard, from his chair. There were too many factors and overall, I was uncomfortable. At my workstation however, the trackball was very natural. I purchased one that very day; the same one he had--a Kensington Optical Expert Trackball Mouse 7.0 with scroll ring.
This device is awesome. The scroll ring is very, very nice. The programmable buttons are slick too. I have the upper-left button programmed as a double-click, which saves time and frustration many times. The click-lock is programmed as the combo of the bottom 2 buttons--and that's handy when moving windows. I love being able to just flick my fingers and move the cursor across 2 screens, even moving windows this way. I've gotten to be very precise with the trackball--more so than I could've ever gotten with a mouse. Best of all though: no hand or finger problems while computing anymore.
If you have a coworker that uses a trackball, see if you can borrow it at your station one day while he or she is out of the office. I've converted Jess by letting him borrow mine. He and I are both very happy we made the switch. And, thanks to Chris for the advice!
(http://blog.jeffhandley.com/archive/2007/12/06/i-love-my-trackball.aspx)
Customer Review: Still a Good Product
Summary: 5 Stars
For years, I have used the Kensington Expert Mouse. I have two old serial/PS2 Expert Mouse 4 products which I am finally discarding because they often don't work on my work systems because of PS2 compatibility (common problem with the old models). The circuit board in each is stamped 1995 Kensington and they still function. I also have a USB Expert Mouse 4 for work which still works great. At one time, as my first IT Job, I worked for Kensington when they were in San Mateo, California, doing telephone technical support. The support at the time made me a believer in their core business values and products. They have great products, but even moreso they want to take care of their customers. And most products are built to last. Later in life, the Expert Mouse product because so much more necessary as I have bursitis in my right elbow from years of normal mouse movement. With a normal mouse, it quickly becomes a serious problem. With the Expert Mouse, it is not. So... This week I decided to buy this new Expert Mouse for my home PC- An iMac running Snow Leopard and VMWare Fusion with Windows 7. I am happy with the product; that same familiar feel and movement is there- same accuracy, same large ball. And the included wrist rest is much appreciated. It used to be that you had to find your own or call so it could be mailed for free. Without the wrist wrest, you quickly get a sore palm, regardless of how the instructions say you should use it. I love this product. I only have one gripe. The build quality has diminished a bit. The product is lighter and the stainless steel rollers are now gone. The original trackballs were optical also; contrary to what some other reviewers have posted. The stainless steel rollers reflected an infrared beam back onto sensors on the X and Y access. The bearings were heavy and well constructed. This new product appears to use small teflon bearings which turn the mechanism inside using visible light; their not as heavy although I'm hopeful they do stay cleaner longer. It's obviously much less expensive to manufacture. But, I still highly recommend the product and I appreciate Kensington continuing to sell it. I hope they always do. Also, for those people complaining of rough movement when first pulling the device out of the box, it does require a break-in period. It always has. Once it has broken in, it's incredibly smooth and precise. It takes some getting used to but I highly recommed getting one.Customer Review: The "Gold Standard" of trackballs
Summary: 5 Stars
I had tried using trackballs before but found them too awkward and difficult to get the fine motor skills. However, when I started developing pain in my mousing hand, I didn't want to ignore it... I was only in my early 40s and have to rely on a pointer device to earn a living. Plus, I play cello and knit and play piano so I really didn't want a mouse to destroy my ability to do the the things I really love.
So I search all the ergonomic websites and they all consistently recommended large trackballs because the larger the ball, the less you are relying on very small movements or only one set of muscles to perform your computer task. In addition, you want to use a trackball that is "symmetric" so that you can change how you use it in order to "spread the stress".
The Kensington trackball has the one of the largest trackballs on the market (I think there is one other one that has a slightly larger ball that is marketed towards children). It is balanced and symmetric so that you can move the ball with different fingers or even different parts of your hand. The buttons are programmable (if you can install the software) so you can change where your single and double click buttons are to take advantage of the natural strength of your hand. It is easy to install in its most basic mode... just plug and play. It is also easy to clean -- just lift the ball out and wipe the dust away from the sensors. It also lasts forever -- I've bought a couple over the years but only because my kids keep swiping mine!
There are trackballs that put the trackball where your thumb would go. These are not significantly better than a mouse because you have shifted the repetitive motion to your thumb. Other trackballs put the trackball where your 4th and 5th finger is. Once again, you have moved the are of your hand that you are going to wear out.
My only nitpick is that to take full advantage of the features, you have to install the software drivers. If you are using this on a computer at work where you don't have admin privileges then you won't be able to take advantage of the full functionality. It would be nice if the mouse used a firmware programming mechanism instead of having to install software on the computer.
I really wish that Kensington would make this a wireless device as well. But at this point, I'm just glad I can find this in any form.