Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical (Silver)
by Logitech
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Our Price: $343.76 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $65.00 (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 Trackman Wheel Optical (Silver)
Customer Review: Cognitive Dissonance
Summary: 5 Stars
The Trackman creates a psychedelic experience for those who are so used to a conventional mouse that it feels like part of the hand.
You unpack Trackman and the first things you notice are size, shape and colors. If Frank Gehry were to design a mouse, this would be it. Sitting on the table, it looks like a miniature Gehry building. Fascinating!
The main fascination comes from using it. When I started, Trackman felt perfectly formed for my hand. It felt as good as it looked. But my mind was not used to the way it works. Trackman doesn't move, it stays in one place. The user's thumb on the trackball replaces the dragging motion of a conventional mouse.
Sounds like a simple swap. No dragging the mouse over pad or table; instead a ball swivels in a socket.
It took three days of practice to unhook my brain from conventional mouse dragging, so that I could start using Trackman intuitively. During that time, I had to press down firmly on Trackman, to prevent my subconscious mind from dragging it across the table. Dragging Trackman is like walking the cat. You just don't do that. It stays where it sits, like Buddha, and fulfills.
And boy, does it! Once you lose the subconscious urge to drag Trackman, there's no going back. Its comfort, speed and accuracy are superior to conventional mousing that I was used to. By the way, the left and right mouse buttons and scroll wheel are where you want them. That doesn't change.
I recommend Trackman to anybody who is ready for a better input device. Be sure to take a few days to get used to it.
Customer Review: I want my old style Logitech Marble Wheel
Summary: 2 Stars
I went looking to buy another one of my old style white Trackman Marble Plus type of 2 button trackballs with roller like my 804335-000, the style of which is a few years old. What I found was that they now only sell the gray slightly smaller Trackman Wheel Optical #904353-0403 (and 804360-1000), and I dont like the design. The buttons are too close together, and the buttons are too close to the ball. The roller itself is also too close to the ball, and so the middle finger cannot easily manipulate the roller without arching the finger considerably more than with the older style. The buttons of the old design were a fingers width apart each, but on the new design, the buttons are less than a fingers width apart. It seems Logitech designed the new trackman to be used with 2 fingers instead of 3 fingers, even though they count the roller as a 3rd button.The older trackball device overall was wider/longer and fit my hand better, the new trackball device seems to be made for small people, perhaps non-adults. The height of the old device was low and allowed the hand to not slip off easily, where as the new trackball has a steeper slope to its sides, and it takes more effort to keep ones hand on top. I actually fear I will succumb to carpal tunnel syndrome if I continue to use the new product. I agree with the other review that posted similar to mine, I love the old style, it was the best design out there. I would not buy the new style, I would tell others to try to find the older wider/longer white with red roller Trackman Marble Wheel or Trackman Marble Plus design for sale somewhere.
Customer Review: Good precision, but only 2 buttons.
Summary: 4 Stars
This is my first trackball. Got it a month ago. Using it on my laptop that comes with touchpad + "button" cursor.
Learning Curve
- Less than 30 minutes to master the trackball-to-cursor coordination.
- One hour to discover the joy of "throwing" the cursor across the screen with a light flick on the ball. (Don't try this with your mouse, especially the wireless ones.)
- One day to get comfortable with sequence of Roll-with-Thumb, then, Click-with-Forefinger.
- One and half days to get used to Click-w-Finger-and-DRAG-with-Thumb coordination.
- One week to feeling the reduced strain on my right wrist and shoulder.
Positives
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- Good precision, though a little tough to do illustrations.
- Relative cheap compared to other precision mice like laser mice, etc.
- Much easier on joints for compared to touchpads/button mice for prolonged usage.
- Easy to install; easy to use; can be used simultaneously with touchpad for quick, hands-still-on-keyboard mouse movements.
- Haven't need to clean it. Perhaps because my office is clean and little dust.
Negatives
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- Four stars 'cause there are only two buttons -> can't assign Back/Forward functions or other customizable keys on the mouse.
However, it is not a huge deal coz Firefox has its own extension for mouse gestures that allows me to browse Back and Forward with a Left-Right click or a Right-Left click, as well as other customizable actions.
[...]
Customer Review: Outstanding value, here's how to make it last
Summary: 4 Stars
If you're in the market for a high value, low cost, corded trackball that's easy to use, doesn't need much cleaning and comfortable, look no further. I've owned mine for 16 months now, and only had one problem and one annoyance, which I'll tell you how I fixed (this likely voids your warranty if you had one).
The annoyance is that the scroll wheel makes a clicky sound and bumpy feel when scrolling. This also makes it slower and unjustifiably noisy to scroll through large documents. My solution (10 minutes): Open up the mouse, locate mouse wheel, remove paperclip-like-metal-piece that goes between the spokes of the wheel. Reassemble. Smooth scrolling forever.
12-months after purchase: Dragging became impossible. I would be dragging something from one place to another, and it would fall part-way there, sometimes opening an application or the documents. Selecting words in a text document became similarly infeasible. Actual problem: the plastic used on the mouse buttons is soft and deforms after so many thousand clicks, making poor contact with the switch. My solution (5-30 minutes), take mouse apart again, look at the top "shell" where the plastic mouse buttons are. Remove the offending button by prying the plastic tabs below it aside. Put a piece of tape over the plunger that touches that sensors on the lower shell, followed by a piece of thin springy foil or plastic that you've cut to the same area as the plunger, and then tape over that again. Multiple pieces of tape might work for a while, but could deform over time. Reassemble. Just like new.
Customer Review: Can't work without one.
Summary: 5 Stars
Bought my first one in 2001 then another in 2003 for my laptop. Both are still going strong but the balls have worn out to the point they don't roll smoothly or easily. It wasn't until I got a friend hooked and tried their new one that I knew I needed to update! The new ones roll much more smoothly and I'm very impressed. Working in the tech industry I see the trackball mice have outlasted regular mice by almost a decade in some cases. They're very well made and I've not had one break in the years I've been supporting computer equipment.
Perhaps the best part is watching people's reactions when using one for the first time. They'll complain the entire time... then request one the next day.
For anyone that does an extensive amount of computer work these are a godsend. If anything, after a long day of intense use the little muscle between your thumb/palm will be achy but no wrist pain. A lot of people have told me that their wrist pain has been greatly reduced after we supplied them with one. I've also found that if people don't like these they'll like the trackball with the ball that sits under the middle fingers.
My only complaint is that they only produce a right handed one, a lefty would be very much appreciated.
Edited my review to point out that this mouse does indeed have a "back" button if that's what you choose it to be. It is the scroll wheel itself - when pressed, it executes a click. The software that comes with it allows you to set it as a third button to do whatever you like. =)