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: When you go trackball, you don't go back.
Summary: 5 Stars
I've been an optical mouse junkie for years now and my main problem is with the best feature they have... the scroll wheel. I've had several mice in my time and they all eventually begin sticking at some point. As from what I found, the first thing to go would be the wheels or balls. This has none of that. It has the optical light inside, so no side-by-side wrist movements. My only gripes are using your thumb. It probably wouldn't be a huge deal if I would have had a mouse previously that involved my thumb in some interaction. The other would be that this particular trackball mouse doesn't have a scroll wheel. However they do have two other programmable (actually all four buttons are programmable) buttons that you can easily tell one to scroll up and the other scroll down. So in essence, they do same effect of flicking the scroll wheel would have. Even clicking both large buttons have the click down effect that a scroll wheel would.
The design is kind of strange, but it's logical. It's like an upside/backwards mouse to lightly rest your palm against while you use it. It's great for gaming to do a complete spin without "petting" your mousepad with your mouse at least twice for a 360 spin. The disc was effortless to install and easy to understand. It even works in Firefox, because that's the primary browser I use. I have my presets to auto-scroll with the double click function and the up/down silver buttons to do just that... scroll up and scroll down. Set it to "Cruise Down" and "Cruise Up" and it's almost as if you have a scroll wheel again. I reccomend this to anyone who is planning on buying a new mouse or looking to change their current mouse.
There are possibly better trackballs out there, but they can easily cost you twice or three times the amount that this one did. Remember, when you go trackball, you don't go back.
Customer Review: Hands down the best.
Summary: 5 Stars
I decided to read through all the reviews first and see what everyone else had to say. Looking at most of the negative ones I notices most just seemed to have one or two things in common. Ergonomics and Drivers. I've been using this style of mouse for about 8-9 years now. I have an earlier version of this mouse that has been working for about that long and I have purchased the same one since for the other two computers I have. I have never had a problem of ergonomically "incorrect" with these mice. Being in animation, I do a lot moving and placing of objects in the programs I use. This mouse makes doing that a whole heck of a lot easier. I am also a gamer that will end up playing on-line games for hours at a time too. Just being able to rest my hand upon it and not have to worry about moving it all around a pad is good too.
As for the Driver issue, I have never had any problems with drivers working with any edition of Windows or Mac OS's. Again I have been using this style of Logitech mouse for many years... not once have I had a problem with drivers going bad, or not working with programs I use. The buttons are programmable and can be set up for either right or left handed people. Most of my friends I have let use one of my computers with these mice on them have normally gone out and bought one themselves afterwards.
As for issues of cleaning... the three little knobs that are used to hold in the optic ball are really the only thing that gets dirty and only needs cleaning maybe once or twice a month, if that, compared to old-school mice with the rollers. Only other noticable thing I noticed is a problem is sometimes the rubber pieces on the bottom that are used to keep the mouse from sliding around sometimes come off. Easily fixed though.
Hopefully this review is helpful for someone out there.
Customer Review: Very Interesting
Summary: 4 Stars
I headed over to Staples after the piece of crap mouse that came with my new Dell computer died. It was the cheapest mouse I have ever seen. It never worked anywhere near right, and it worked even worse after I beat on it repeatedly with my fist. Staples had the marble mouse on display, and its' unusual design and low price caught my eye. My first reaction was "this'll never work," but the more I played with it the more intrigued I became. So I bought it.
I've had it for about 2 weeks now, and I have to say it's pretty cool. I have a desktop recording studio, so desk space is very cramped. Invariably my regular mouse was slamming into another piece of equipment before the cursor had traveled far enough to do what I was trying to do - way annoying. That is obviously no problem with this device as it stays put in one place. On the downside, you have to relearn EVERY operation that you do with a mouse. Everything is done differently. On the upside, when you do relearn things, they are generally easier. I will agree with the reviewer who said that this device was way too fiddly/jerky for detail work. Things like opening up a dropdown box and choosing an option can tax your coordination (no twitching, please!). It certainly wouldn't be my first choice for computer graphics work, but then that's why I bought a Wacom tablet (although, to my suprise, I did find myself using the marble mouse in Photoshop the other day). The ergonomics certainly aren't perfect (even for those of us that DO have catchers mitts for hands). And frankly, I'm not sure that this device is a complete mouse-replacement either. I've been cheating and have been using the mouse that works, albeit in a very limited way, with my Wacom tablet occasionally as well.
Overall, an interesting addition to your pointing device arsenal that is worth a look.
Customer Review: Fantastic--stock up when it's cheap
Summary: 5 Stars
I buy these whenever they are on sale--usually around twenty dollars. My family complained at first but now there is no going back. They love it! Some other reviewers mentioned tracking problems but they go away if you use USB or use PS/2 with the mouse driver that comes with the mouse (I am using one in PS/2 mode on Windows 2000). If you are a Windows XP or Linux user the tracking is much better.
The only problem is the lack of a scrolly wheel. I just reprogram the miniature third and fourth buttons to page-down and back-button for web browsing and I don't miss the scrolly wheel too much.
The housing is small so it's great for my 3-year-old's hands and comfortable for me, too, without being too small. The plastic is very durable and stands up to normal desktop abuse.
The mouse driver is spectacular. Ever since version 9.x of the driver came about the tracking speed and system reliability has been top-notch.
Highly recommended! You will buy a second one to bring to your workplace--no doubt about it.
***EDIT*** It is over five and a half years later and we still use the original Marble Mice we bought back in 2004. Windows XP and Vista work flawlessly with this unit now. We don't have to install the Logitech drivers anymore since the little buttons work as browser back/forward buttons.
***EDIT*** The very newest models made around 2009 have a higher resolution and nicer-looking ball. Keep that in mind when shopping for the Marble Mouse of this vintage. The newer models are designed for today's wider, high-resolution screens. These older models still work but you may find yourself maximizing the speed in the Mouse Control Panel and still need to repeatedly move the ball to cover that big screen.
Customer Review: 4 years and no turning back
Summary: 5 Stars
I am at a computer almost all day long and about 4 years ago, I decided to try out the Logitech Optical Marble Mouse, because my arm and wrist were getting too tired from the old mouse.It took about 1 week to get used to it, but after that learning curve was through, I was so convinced, that I haven't used a mouse extensively since. In fact, when I started a new job, the first thing I did, was buy another Marble Mouse, so that I wouldn't have to struggle with a regular mouse at my workplace.
Except in extreme situations, hand fatigue is a thing of the past for me and the marble mouse I bought four years ago is still working perfectly.
One trick is to set it up so that the right button is the main button and the left button is the context button. In use, I press the right button with any combination of my pinkie, ring finger or middle finger. By distributing the clicking duties between three fingers, the muscle usage is more evenly distributed and repetative motion problems are not a problem.
In fact the beauty of this design is that it is so simple that one is able to use it however you want to. Other trackballs that are overly molded to fit your hand end up causing problems because they force your hand to be in a particular position all day long.
It is also easy to switch between left and right hand use -- though I almost always use right hand.
I do have to clean it during the day, but this is extremely easy. Basically I just pick the ball out of its socket and flick away any dirt that has built up. It takes about 15 seconds and no special cleaning solutions or anything.
If I was running a company, I would make everyone try one of these out for a week. They are amazing computing tools and would be standard issue for all computers if I ran the world.