Logitech Optical Marble Mouse (USB/PS2)
by Logitech
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Our Price: $109.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $28.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Logitech Optical Marble Mouse (USB/PS2)
Customer Review: A steal at this price
Summary: 4 Stars
first off, let me say that i know my way around a trackball, controlling the ball is second nature to me, so i can't comment on how someone new to trackballs might feel about this.
i currently use a MS trackball Explorer (NOT that dreadful Trackball optical) at work for the past 3 years and i love it to death, and finally decided to get a trackball for home. unfortunately the MS trackball explorer is not easy to find any more, but just about everyone has the Marble Mouse and the Trackman Wheel (the thumb operated one). i hate thumb controlled trackballs, and was somewhat wary of the sub-$20 Marbel Mouse, so i ignored it for a long time.
a few days ago i decided, what the heck, and gave it a try. all i can say is WOW.. the ball rolls smooth as silk. i just love the responsiveness of this thing! and the buttons sit perfectly under my thumb and ring fingers. to access the two smaller buttons all i do is shift my finger up a little.
i do a lot of photo editing at home and while my MS Trackball Explorer does OK with photo editing, its not as good as my MX700 mouse. the Marble Mouse is surprisingly good at this task, which makes me like it even more.
my only gripe was that i could not get the two main buttons to act as a Universal scroll. i'm using winXP Pro and it took me a while to figure out that setting them to do Auto Scroll instead and to simulate MS Office compatibility makes it work like a charm (still trying to figure out the difference between Auto and Univeral scroll) It also took a few hours to get used to scrolling this way instead of using a dedicated scroll wheel, but now clicking both buttons and rolling the ball is almost second nature. still, the feature doesn't seem to work universally across applications as a scroll wheel does (Photoshop CS and Thunderbird immediately come to mind), but it's really a very minor annoyance. The speed and responsiveness more than make up for those issues.
one neat thing i've discovered is what i like to call "slow cruise", where i can adjust the auto scroll in such a way that the contents of a web page will scroll down by itself at a slow enough pace that i can read the contents without even touching the trackball.. look ma, no hands! even better than using a scroll wheel. how cool is that?
so all in all, it's an excellent product, made even more so when you consider the price and performance, but the few niggling issues with setting up the two buttons and the lack of scrolling in some applications prevents me from giving a full five stars.
Customer Review: Good trackball mouse
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought this in late 2008. I only use it specifically for one game. Setpoint software and latest driver is definitely needed to use the full abilities of this mouse as just connecting it Windows XP would not recognize it for some reason. The Setpoint software will also allow you to customize the buttons and speeds to your own personal preferences.
Reading the review that mentioned universal scroll that is a feature I did not know existed for this mouse in the latest software and driver as of this review. After trying out the universal scroll I'd say it definitely improves the use of this mouse. I have the universal scroll setting at maximum because at medium it does not scroll fast enough in a browser. I still find the scrolling to slow even at maximum compared to a mouse wheel it also requires larger movements than just using a scroll wheel. I do have rather large screen real estate and testing it at 1920x1080 so that could a reason it does not feel fast enough when using the unversal scroll, the regular mouse pointer function works great and is speedy. It's probably better than using a thumbpad for laptop users. Using a pinky finger to simply activate and deactivate the scrolling feature is how mine is programmed. I cannot get the universal scroll to work in a game even with "game detection" settings active for those that it concerns.
Using a trackball does take some getting use to as some things like holding multiple buttons to rotate a camera and zoom in at the same time feels better with a gripping a mouse but that is just a matter of getting use to the freedom and comes with time.
I have this mouse paired with a Razer Left Handed edition DeathAdder and there are no hardware conflicts as I keep the Logitech software at "OS settings" in it's control panel. If this is your only mouse than you can probably chose use "setpoint implementation" as it overides any mouse on your system.
Having 4 programmable buttons is nice and using this trackball you will use the edges of your center fingertips instead of the thumb it's and the mouses shape is comfortable. 4 Stars really because the quality trackball market is a bit small and despite it's shortcoming in menu scrolling in game I bought with full knowledge of that missing feature. Good for the average use and web browsing.
There is another version but this is the page for the one I bought. Here is the newer currently available one Logitech Trackman Marble Mouse
Customer Review: Really like it
Summary: 5 Stars
I was going to give it 4 stars, but then realized I couldn't really advise a way to improve on this mouse. I think there is more a need for user improvement, as it takes a while to get used to trackball navigation after being used to gripping the mouse to move the whole thing. I have a bad habit of squeezing the mouse unecessarily, which causes me to accidentally right-click a lot of the time. I also have a bad habit of flexing my wrist to hold it above the mouse, which is unecessary too.
Ideally you place this mouse on a flat service in the perfect location so that your arm has support and your wrist can remain straight and supported. Then you fully rest your hand, mostly on the mouse, so that your index and middle fingers are resting on the trackball, your pinky is resting on the desk, and your thumb is resting on the left mouse button. It takes a little development of index finger dexterity, as well as breaking the habit of gripping the mouse, but once you get used to it this turns out to be a relaxed way to navigate, other than a little stress on the ring finger as it tries to avoid the right mouse button as you track towards the thumb. For me the perfect hand position for the middle and index finger to have maximum range on the trackball lands the ring finger right on the right mouse button some of the time. This is unavoidable if you want an ambidextrous mouse though. Some people, of course, are left handed and they should be able to buy this mouse too, so it's a small price to pay to have to sometimes lift up the side of your hand a litle instead of always leaving it resting on the desk. You can also page forward and back with the little silver buttons.
I really love this mouse, which is something I never imagined myself saying. A mouse never seemed that big a deal to me to bother having any real opinion on it, but then I got an HP laptop with a horrific touchscreen that was driving me nuts, so had to get an external mouse for my laptop. I use an old fashion mouse at work, and thought to get that, but on my laptop I often work in an environment where I don't have that kind of desk space, so a trackball seemed the better choice. Now I like this one so much I'm getting another one to use at work. On top of it, I love how it looks. It's a very stylish design and it gives me pleasure to see it sitting on my desk. I may be a grown-up, but I still like my shiny new toys, I suppose. Anyway, this is a cheap and extremely functional little gadget that I am so glad I came across.
Customer Review: The search for the ideal pointing device ends here.
Summary: 5 Stars
The Logitech Marble Mouse Trackball is possibly THE most intelligently designed pointing device for PCs and Macintosh personal computers. First of all, in spite of its name, it's a trackball, the superior successor to the computer mouse. Unlike a mouse, it sits in one place and your fingers guide the pointer. You click on menu selections, icons and such with your thumb. It takes mere minutes to get used to this method of moving around the screen but after you do, using a mouse will seem cumbersome and quaint (which it is). Beneath that black-dotted burgundy ball lies the secret of the Marble Mouse's responsiveness, longevity and reliability. An infrared emitter and optical pickup track the movement of the ball, not mechanical rollers which quickly become gunked up with skin oils and dust. You'd have to let a really thick layer of crud accumulate on the ball before you'll see an impact on the Marble Mouse's performance. Small enough to tuck into your notebook, laptop or PowerBook's carrying case, the Marble Mouse is pure computing bliss compared to jittery trackpads, wobbly finger sticks and erratic rollerballs.
PC users running Windows XP and earlier can simply install the PS/2 adapter and plug the Marble Mouse into the PS/2 mouse port without installing any software. With Windows 98 and later, you can pop off the PS/2 adapter and plug the Marble Mouse into a USB port. Macintosh owners running Mac OS 8.6 or higher will need to install MouseWare from the included CD-ROM and disable the Macintosh Mouse control panel in the Mac OS Extension Manager.
Unlike its more expensive TrackMan siblings, the Marble Mouse is fully ambidextrous, with equal-sized buttons on both sides. The included Logitech MouseWare (also downloadable at www.logitech.com) makes the Marble Mouse behave like a 3-button mouse on PCs (you press BOTH buttons together to access the functions of a third button) while giving Macintosh users one-finger, one-click access to content menus (shades of Windows, eh? :) ). Windows users also benefit from the new page up/page down buttons located just above the main buttons.
Finally, though the price might seem steep compared to a $5 mouse you could pick up at Best Buy or CompUSA, recall how many of those cheap little rodents you've owned and thrown away in the course of a single year.
Customer Review: A very good trackball
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using this trackball for a couple months and I've been very happy with it. The shape works well for me and it took me very little time to get use to using this trackball instead of a mouse. The ball moves very smoothly and easily and the movement has a great feel. The main button (left and right click) are very big, easy to get to with your whole finger or edge of palm and the pressure required to click doesn't require alot of pressure. The two little buttons are useful if you install the logitech software, otherwise I don't think they do anything. I've used this on a mac and pc. The mac software is very good and easy to use. The Windows software (Setpoint 4.00) seems a bit piggish, it's a 60mb download which seems WAY excessive for a pointing device driver (I believe the one package drives many Logitech pointing devices). Both the Mac and Windows software had plenty of custimization options for the four buttons. The device would be much better if it had a scroll wheel and a couple more customizable buttons. The Logitech software's sroll for the two small buttons doesn't work very well, one software package I use didn't recognize the scroll buttons when it does work with a scroll wheel. Overall I highly reccomend this product especially for this price. It would be perfect with a scroll wheel and better Windows software.
I also have a Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman (USB/PS/2). This product has more customizable buttons than the marble mouse, but I was disastified with the button position (in there locations they're much harder to located) and it takes more pressure to click them. Also, on my Windows system, I believe the wireless aspect is making the tracking a bit less precise or quick so the pointer moves a bit jaggedly. The trackball is positioned more on the side which I did not like as much.
12 Aug 2010:
I just tried the Kensington Expert Mouse Optical USB Trackball for PC or Mac 64325. I highly prefer the comfort of this mouse. The smaller ball and smaller plastic enclosure make it more comfortable on my wrist.