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: Kensington Expert Mouse--#3 in a row for me.
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using Kensington trackballs since 1993, and have never looked back. My last one was the Expert Mouse Pro, and I absolutely loved it--except when dog hair or other junk got in it. Then it was a mild annoyance 'til I blew the junk out, or wiped down the ball; otherwise it was a superior product, and lasted me at least 9 years.
When this year's birthday rolled around, the family asked me what I wanted (knowing better than to buy something like this sight unseen), and I started my research, which included going into the local Fry's Electronics and getting this and the Blade unpacked and set up so I could test them (not connected to a machine, but at least on the desk), and the 64325 really impressed me. Yes, the scroll ring could be described as "feeling cheesy", but I prefer its action over that of the Blade; plus, the issues with key assignments and scroll control turned me off the Blade.
So I pulled the trigger.
It's an excellent trackball. The ball is almost silky smooth, and gets better daily. The position is just fine for how I set up my desk and keyboard, so I have no issues there. I'm also a gamer, and just like its older brother, it's fast, accurate, and easy to use within the games.
My only beef is not with the trackball itself, but with Kensington, for not making Vista x64 drivers--or any Vista drivers, for that matter. This has forced me to find alternative solutions via Google that are quite simply kludges, and not perfectly executed. If Kensington didn't have this part of the market cornered, or if someone else had a similar trackball, I would've gone to them if they had the drivers I needed. I feel that Kensington made a grave mistake in not writing drivers for Vista (or any other future version of ANY OS) for the older trackballs. Hence why my rating is only a 4, and not a 5.
Other than that, this is an awesome product, one I heartily recommend... if you use Windows XP or below. Though, the kludge does work (except for a slightly annoying screen jump once in while after scrolling), so if Vista and Win7 users want this, by all means do it: SOMEONE out there will shame Kensington yet again with a workaround.
Customer Review: I don't like taking apart brand new purchases...but,
Summary: 3 Stars
I just got my first bout of tendonitis and though I needed an all around upgrade to my keyboard and pointing device. I picked up the Kinesis Advantage keyboard which is amazing! The learning curve is difficult but well worth it.
I then picked up this Trackball with high hopes. Like the others have said, the construction is fine...if it had cost a lot less. This thing cost single digit dollars to manufacture. Cheap feel aside; I'm quite happy with the ball movement and tracking. The software looks pretty good with a lot of flexibility.
The scroll wheel is another story.....
This wheel grinds so much; I expected to find plastic shavings inside the case. After a few hours with it, I couldn't take it anymore. But, I don't know of many alternatives....so I took it apart and it is now 75% better.
Here is what you do (if you are daring enough): remove the four screws on the bottom. They are hidden below the rubber feet, which just peel off. You can now take the device apart. Once open, you will find a small metal bar mounted in the front right side of the circuit board. This is a magnet! In an attempt to give the stepped feel of some scroll wheels, the geniuses at Kensington decided to use a magnet. The magnet is attracting the metal of the scroll wheel (which has a series of squares cut into it for the optical sensor...sort of like the edge of a film strip) to attempt to snap it to each step. This design would be great, if the wheel had a proper bearing. So the magnet does nothing more than increase the friction of the movement. Remove the magnet by using a small screwdriver or pin to poke the plastic spring retainer from the center. The movement will be much better now!
I think it would also help to put a little grease in the wheel where the plastic rubs. You need to remove the two screws in the bottom of the "cup", where the ball sits. You should be able to figure out where the friction point is once you look at the underside of the cup. Be warned though, that many greases/oils can damage plastic so be careful. You might be able to find proper plastic grease at a hobby store.
Good luck! Hope that helps.
Customer Review: Not as comfortable as Logitech Marble Mouse
Summary: 3 Stars
I was disappointed with this product and ended up returning it after about a day of use. The main reason was the angle of the enclosure which was stressing my wrist, I also found the large ball size difficult. I have been using the Logitech Trackman Marble Mouse for around two years and bought the Kensington Expert Mouse because of the scroll wheel, larger ball and the long history of Kensington in Trackballs, really I always wanted a trackball like this since the Mac Classic days when these were the coolest.
What I liked:
-Scroll wheel is essential, but see below about performance.
-The software (TrackballWorks(tm) for Mac 1.00 running on Snow Leopard) was quite good. There were many actions that could be assigned to the buttons and you can assign action to the pressing the top two or bottom two buttons at the same time. It would be nice if you could assign different actions to modifier key+click or different actions for the scroll wheel (like adjust volume). (This software is much better than Logitech's).
The things I didn't like:
-Angle of enclosure stressed by wrist even when using the wrist support.
-The large ball requires most of my fingers for accurate pointing where the smaller ball of the marble mouse (it's about 1/3 smaller in diameter) is easier to use with two digits (thumb and index).
-The buttons where a bit too stiff, but that may have gotten better with use.
-The scroll wheel was very useful, but the feel of the spinning was rough and there was no acceleration option for scrolling like Apple's Magic Mouse. It felt like a dated, low-end implementation of scrolling. Also, it might be me, but it wasn't intuitive which way I should turn the wheel to go up or down. This is a customizable option in the software, but I found my self going the wrong way a lot, although it was just a day of use.
I'm going to try an Apple Magic Trackpad as an next input device for my desktop to use the multi-finger scrolling.
Customer Review: Not so much...
Summary: 2 Stars
I had high hopes for this trackball (Kensington Expert Mouse) but alas, I was very unimpressed. Not being compatable with Vista is honestly, unacceptable. Even NewEgg is quick to inform computer folks that Vista will end XP's life - regardless, and makers of products such as this ought to get onboard. Since there are no Vista drivers available for this and Kensington says, "Oh! Base Vista drivers will work fine!" which is in itself, is at best, a partial truth, you can only use this trackball in half capacity. The top two buttons can not be macro'ed to perform other functions; or at least not from a novices standpoint. For some reason Vista reverts back to default pointer speed settings with the Expert plugged in but not any other of my mouse/trackball devices do it. At first, the device fits strangly in your hand but you get used to it. But I have to be honest, my Logitech marble mouse is much more universal and comfortable. A key point to remember is Bill wasn't and isn't a huge fan of trackballs so chances are PC users won't find Window's OS's to be very understanding of them. Therefore trackball makers need to offer some drivers/software...i.e. logitech does....hint, hint Kensington. Thier customer service was great however and responded with in 3 hours to tell me, "Nope! No drivers. Sorry about that." So recap: Not impressed at all with the device. Window's never has been trackball freindly and never will. Therefore, 'ZERO' research on Kensington's part. Save your cash and either get a Logitech (of which is what a reverted to) or try another one of Kensington's trackball products. PS. I've seen other comments out there that claim Kensington does not plan to make any Vista drivers for thier products (new/old). I don't belive this to be true because I thought I remembered seeing one of thier items have Vista drivers for it. But if this is true, expect Kensington stock or [private] business to either have a sudden change of heart, stop making trackballs all together, or fade away like a TRS80. Oh yea, and the scroll ring is actually pretty cool...except the smoothness is horrible.Customer Review: How Kensington's awesome product became obsolete over night
Summary: 3 Stars
If I were still living in a Windows XP world, this trackball would get 5 stars.
If I were only considering Kensington's attitude toward Vista support, it would get 1 star.
Here are the words straight from the horse's mouth:
"With the release of Microsoft Vista there is no further need for the Mouseworks application as key features and functionality formerly provided by Mouseworks is incorporated into Vista. Vista supports programmability and configuration needs such as acceleration, application launch (keyboards), settings for right or left handed users, scroll speed, et cetera. Our plan is to continue to tap into the rich functionality and configuration options which Microsoft Vista incorporates."
It would be great if this were true. However, it's simply false. Vista does not allow you to reprogram your mouse buttons at all, excluding the ability to "Swap left and right buttons."
Under Vista, you are stuck with the following buttons / functions:
* Left and right click (swappable under the Mouse control panel).
* Center click (top left button)
* Page back (top right button)
Features you are missing under Vista:
* Button programmability (launch apps, keyboard shortcuts, macros)
* Chording
* Contextual application mapping
* Precise mouse sensitivity settings / velocity
* Contextual mouse sensitivity
If you plan to use Vista, this is not the mouse for you.
I would suggest Logitech as an alternative, however the truth of the matter is that there is no trackball on the planet that can compare to the Expert Mouse. The bottom line is that without Mouseworks, this trackball is simply way too expensive to be justified, considering it basically becomes a non-programmable 2-button trackball w/ scroll ring.
I have been using Kensington Turbo / Expert Mouse trackballs since the Turbo Mouse 4.0 on MacOS. It's a shame to see this company, who has always delivered the total package with hardwre and software, turn their backs on their customers like this.