new "mouse"

So I just ordered my first trackball mouse. link. Went with this one because it looked to be a comfortable fit for my hand. Reason for purchase is just because my mouse sh*t the bed, and I have pretty bad hand and wrist pains so thought I'd give this a go. I guess why I'm posting is because it might not be ideal for me and could end up returning it, but I'm wonder if anyone has a trackball they'd recomed or just a very ergonomic mouse suggestion, thanks y'all.

I used a Trackman Marble for about a year, and loved it, but it started to mess up my wrist. The human hand is not really meant to spin a trackball with the thumb for hours every day.

It looks like that trackball wouldn't cause the problem I had, but I dunno if it'll cause other issues. It seems to me that it's going to require a good deal more tension in your wrist than a mouse would, holding your fingers high enough to spin the trackball.

Ergonomic suggestion in case things go awry!

I used to use evoluent but this is better in every way I can imagine (price, build quality, grip comfort).

Similar to Duoae's suggestion, I picked up an Evoluent 3 a few years back due to severe hand and wrist pain (was doing massive amounts of mouse driven solidworks and cam programming) and within two weeks the pain was gone. Worth every penny.

I used the even cheaper predecessor of that Anker Duoae linked. It was great and unfortunately I left it on my desk when I left my last company. It is time to replace it!

Awesome, thanks guys! your the best, I will report back after a week and letya know where I'm at, if I'm satisfied with performance and comfort etc and thanks for those suggestions, looks like another thing that'd work pretty well

It looks like Logitech still sells trackballs: this one looks a lot like the Trackman Marble, which I absolutely loved. It hurt my wrist, so I had to stop using it, but it might work better for you.

So I've been using it for about a week now and I have some very mixed feelings. For web browsing, and some 3D modeling programs it functions very well, and the ergonomics of it feel pretty good; but there are times when I need to hold the right click and drag, or while playing games moving and clicking right click is very hard to keep my pinky out to hit the right click button. Overall those actions make my pinky and ring finger ache and I kind of need to do those actions to work. Its sad because thats maybe 10% of the time while working, but its pretty difficult to get around. I ordered the wired anker ergo mouse, and will compare the two once it arrives. I was really hopeful for the trackball so this is a sad day.

Malor wrote:

It looks like Logitech still sells trackballs: this one looks a lot like the Trackman Marble, which I absolutely loved. It hurt my wrist, so I had to stop using it, but it might work better for you.

I had looked at that one, but my thumb for some reason often gets achey and I figured moving the marble with it might not be the best, thanks though!

Malor wrote:

It looks like Logitech still sells trackballs: this one looks a lot like the Trackman Marble, which I absolutely loved. It hurt my wrist, so I had to stop using it, but it might work better for you.

I think you mean the Trackman Wheel. The Trackman Marble is the one with the ball in the centre to be manipulated with the fingers not the thumb

Trackman Marble:
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-910-0...

Trackman Wheel:
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Track...

I've used the Marble I've just linked for about 15 years now because I had wrist pain, it has been excellent with any wrist pain I've had gone or completely controlled. I can't imagine using my thumb for the ball being anything other than aggravating for my wrist.

My colleague uses one like the Anker Duoae suggested and he swears by it

Well, maybe I'm misremembering the name, but I'm pretty sure the original Trackman Marble was a thumb-control unit. It was the same thing as the original Trackman, but they added a new kind of optical sensor and a new ball, and branded it as the Marble.

But that was a long, long time ago. They could have changed the model lineup, or my memory might just be wrong.

Malor wrote:

Well, maybe I'm misremembering the name, but I'm pretty sure the original Trackman Marble was a thumb-control unit. It was the same thing as the original Trackman, but they added a new kind of optical sensor and a new ball, and branded it as the Marble.

But that was a long, long time ago. They could have changed the model lineup, or my memory might just be wrong.

Heh, yeah was going to suggest that the name might have changed. They have definitely marketed what I think of as the trackman marble as "the marble" in the UK for at least the 15yrs I've been using it. No reason the product line wasn't named differently in other territories but only made consistent at some later date though.

Anyway you might also want to look in to the central marble configuration as it doesn't lead to you using lots of small thumb movements.

Well, personally, I'm very happy with my Logitech G400 mouse... it's wired, it's relatively simple, it's not very expensive, and it has a great sensor with a high polling rate. As much as I loved my Trackman (maybe Marble, maybe not), I think I've left the trackball behind permanently.

thinkklinck wrote:

So I've been using it for about a week now and I have some very mixed feelings. For web browsing, and some 3D modeling programs it functions very well, and the ergonomics of it feel pretty good; but there are times when I need to hold the right click and drag, or while playing games moving and clicking right click is very hard to keep my pinky out to hit the right click button. Overall those actions make my pinky and ring finger ache and I kind of need to do those actions to work. Its sad because thats maybe 10% of the time while working, but its pretty difficult to get around. I ordered the wired anker ergo mouse, and will compare the two once it arrives. I was really hopeful for the trackball so this is a sad day.

I don't see what's sad about being able to use multiple inputs!

Personally, I'd use both for different applications and that will give your wrist/arm/hand/fingers plenty of exercise and changing of position.

I'm still using my Logitech Mx510 from over 10 years ago...

Am I doing something wrong or are mouses actually fairly indestructible? I have no complaints and play no games where I need 100% precision.

jowner wrote:

I'm still using my Logitech Mx510 from over 10 years ago...

Am I doing something wrong or are mouses actually fairly indestructible? I have no complaints and play no games where I need 100% precision.

My Logitech G9x was the one that pooped the bed a bit over the year warranty was up (Two weeks ago). Regular left mouse click would double click and holding it down would rapidly click instead of hold. The tech support said it was defective and after I sent them my info they just said I am out of warranty alsoa lot of joint paint from it, I think the super fat back end was the reason why.

Duoae wrote:
thinkklinck wrote:

So I've been using it for about a week now and I have some very mixed feelings. For web browsing, and some 3D modeling programs it functions very well, and the ergonomics of it feel pretty good; but there are times when I need to hold the right click and drag, or while playing games moving and clicking right click is very hard to keep my pinky out to hit the right click button. Overall those actions make my pinky and ring finger ache and I kind of need to do those actions to work. Its sad because thats maybe 10% of the time while working, but its pretty difficult to get around. I ordered the wired anker ergo mouse, and will compare the two once it arrives. I was really hopeful for the trackball so this is a sad day.

I don't see what's sad about being able to use multiple inputs!

Personally, I'd use both for different applications and that will give your wrist/arm/hand/fingers plenty of exercise and changing of position.

I actually did just that for playing dota because the trackball was pretty awful for that, but the main issue is in some programs like 3dsmax, Maya, udk, I like the trackball for most of it but need to hold down right click for different uses inside the program, I tried mapping it to the keyboard key but because of the way the program works I occasionally need to hold right click and use a keyboard press at the same time and just can't if my one hand has to do both lol

Anyway like I said I'm gonna try that anker mouse and compare and the feel, its funny because between my old mouse and trackball they ache different parts of my hand, for the mouse its all the back joints of my fingers and thumb, and for the ball it ached my wrist some and pinky and ring finger haha the lesser of two evils has been the trackball but hopefully this vertical mouse will be a good fit

PS. Edit. Because of recommendations to that trackman mouse, once I receive the anker, I might sell the Kensington and pick up the trackman, might as well try em all.

UPDATE!!!

Well after just two days with the vertical Anker mouse I feel like the Trackball might actually be a better option. The issues with it is just pressing the buttons, they are very stiff, and my index finger is almost non-functioning at the moment because of that. The mouse is actually less vertical than in the pictures at a kind of 45 degree angle rather than 70 or 80, and because the buttons are so hard to depress my thumb was also aching from holding the mouse in place.

It would appear that the buttons on the Evoluent are very easy to press (according) to reviews) and is closer to the true vertical design idea but at around 100 bucks its a bit steep. After mulling over different options including the "penguin mouse" and a few others, I think I am going to try giving the Kensington Trackball Pro a go. Most of the time my Kensington Orbit has been better than other mice and this vertical Anker because of the resting hand position, but because of the place the right click is its just hard to press and move the ball about. Looking at the Pro with the huge ball and buttons (much larger than pictures give it justice) I think it could be the right fit for relaxing my hand and function when needed.

I feel like I am the epitome of first world problems while searching for hours for mice online but there just has to be a solution out there for me. To Amazon!

So if anyone is wondering how this all ended, it ended with the kensington slimblade trackball. After not finding any positives from the vertical mouse, i figured the trackball having better button placement and a larger ball to rest my fingers on would be the fix. and after a few days it has been, minimal discomfort and I'm getting pretty comfy with using it in all the software on a daily basis. for some games I need to use a mouse, dota 2, etc. but thats a small portion of my time comparatively, and its been fine using a basic 5 dollar mouse for that. If anyone is looking into this trackball though, it is rather pricey at about 90 dollars new, so I bought one used on ebay, and was non functioning upon arrival. I ordered another used on amazon, and it was also broken. Third time was the charm finally purchasing it new for full price, but very happy now.

thinkklinck wrote:

So if anyone is wondering how this all ended, it ended with the kensington slimblade trackball. After not finding any positives from the vertical mouse, i figured the trackball having better button placement and a larger ball to rest my fingers on would be the fix. and after a few days it has been, minimal discomfort and I'm getting pretty comfy with using it in all the software on a daily basis. for some games I need to use a mouse, dota 2, etc. but thats a small portion of my time comparatively, and its been fine using a basic 5 dollar mouse for that. If anyone is looking into this trackball though, it is rather pricey at about 90 dollars new, so I bought one used on ebay, and was non functioning upon arrival. I ordered another used on amazon, and it was also broken. Third time was the charm finally purchasing it new for full price, but very happy now.

Give us an update in a month or 2!

I will say that Evoluent is very nice and worth the money. And if you're dropping $90 on a trackball, welll... You're back in the Evoluent ballpark.

I just posted over in the mouse thread, but I am also in the market for a new trackball after my Trackman Wheel is on its last legs. I am seriously considering getting this Sanwa thumb trackball model. Unfortunately I'll have to spend a bit to get it imported from Japan. If I end up getting it, I'll let you all know how it is.

My only issue with thumb based track balls is my thumb can lock up a bit from too much dexterous use, so I'm a bit weary of them. I haven't actually tried one as of late though. Also its been a bout a month since I got the slim blade, so I'll write a quick bit about it later today.