{"id":284,"date":"2018-10-10T03:10:55","date_gmt":"2018-10-10T07:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drsmith.blog.yorku.ca\/?p=284"},"modified":"2018-10-10T03:10:55","modified_gmt":"2018-10-10T07:10:55","slug":"back-to-the-future-trackballs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/2018\/10\/10\/back-to-the-future-trackballs\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to the Future: Trackballs"},"content":{"rendered":"

I've been using trackballs<\/a> for many years.\u00a0 I started with a Logitech Trackman Wheel<\/a>.\u00a0 I got a second one when my first one stopped working.\u00a0 But when they stopped making them prices soared ($400+) so I looked for alternatives.<\/p>\n

\"The

The wired Logitech Wired Trackman trackball. (source: Logitech)<\/p><\/div>\n

I tried the Kensington Expert and continue to use it at home.\u00a0 It's got Bluetooth, is symmetric so it works for right- and left-handers, the scroll wheel ring works surprisingly well, but it's big and heavy and the ball falls out if you tip it over.\u00a0 Great for a desktop but it's no good for travelling or commuting.<\/p>\n

The wired Logitech Trackman Marble<\/a> doesn't come with a scroll wheel but I guess the buttons on the side are supposed to make up for that.\u00a0 I could never get the buttons to work on my Mac so it sits in storage.<\/p>\n

I had given up hope.\u00a0 But then my student, a mechanical technologist that uses trackballs for CAD drawing, convinced me to try the wireless version of the Trackman Wheel: the m570<\/a>.\u00a0 It's great! It feels like the original Trackman Wheel, minus the cable.\u00a0 The battery lasts forever and it's super responsive.\u00a0 Works on both Mac and PC without special drivers and it's super portable.<\/p>\n

I thought that I was set.\u00a0 But then laptops started losing USB-A ports.\u00a0 My tablet only has one.\u00a0 That means that without a dock I can't use more than one USB-A device.\u00a0 The m570's USB dongle is a problem in this almost-post-USB-A world. The solution is a Bluetooth trackball, but Kensington Expert isn't any good for travelling.<\/p>\n

Finally, Logitech came up with a solution: the Logitech Ergo.\u00a0 It's an updated version of the m570, complete with Bluetooth.\u00a0 It doesn't need a dongle, but you can use the supplied one, if you want.\u00a0 The neat part is that the dongle can be used on a second (non-Bluetooth) computer and you can use the 1-2 button on the trackball to switch between the two.<\/p>\n

Performance-wise, on a Windows 10 PC, it's great.\u00a0 $120 great? Not really.\u00a0 It performs as well as the m570, but with Bluetooth.\u00a0 I'm paying $60 for Bluetooth. The trackball works very well.\u00a0 The scroll wheel is nice, too.\u00a0 The up-down buttons work as back-and-forth between webpages option.\u00a0 The cursor precision button works well, too.\u00a0 The magnet-attached tilting base?\u00a0 A gimmick that I quickly grew to appreciate.\u00a0 I now default to using it in raised mode.\u00a0 it's more comfortable.<\/p>\n

The two design flaws?\u00a0 First, there's a micro USB charging port.\u00a0 Feels retro.\u00a0 USB-C would have been more forward-looking. But why not permit the user to go non-wireless using that wired port? Seems like a no-brainer to me.\u00a0 Second, unlike the m570, there is nowhere to store the USB dongle.\u00a0 Another nearly-no-cost no-brainer to me.\u00a0 Especially for a premium-priced (more expensive that any Apple mouse!) trackball.<\/p>\n

Am I happy with this trackball?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Should right-handed trackball users get one?\u00a0 Sure if work is paying for it or you need a stocking-stuffer for Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I've been using trackballs for many years.\u00a0 I started with a Logitech Trackman Wheel.\u00a0 I got a second one when my first one stopped working.\u00a0 But when they stopped making them prices soared ($400+) so I looked for alternatives. I tried the Kensington Expert and continue to use it at home.\u00a0 It's got Bluetooth, is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":762,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[85,125,176,182,196,251,253],"class_list":["post-284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-bluetooth","tag-ergo","tag-logitech","tag-m570","tag-mouse","tag-trackball","tag-trackman"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":58,"label":"review"}],"post_tag":[{"value":85,"label":"bluetooth"},{"value":125,"label":"ergo"},{"value":176,"label":"logitech"},{"value":182,"label":"m570"},{"value":196,"label":"mouse"},{"value":251,"label":"trackball"},{"value":253,"label":"trackman"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"drsmith","author_link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/author\/drsmith\/"},"comment_info":"","category_info":[{"term_id":58,"name":"review","slug":"review","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":58,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":58,"category_count":2,"category_description":"","cat_name":"review","category_nicename":"review","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":85,"name":"bluetooth","slug":"bluetooth","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":85,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":125,"name":"ergo","slug":"ergo","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":125,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":176,"name":"logitech","slug":"logitech","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":176,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":182,"name":"m570","slug":"m570","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":182,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":196,"name":"mouse","slug":"mouse","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":196,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":251,"name":"trackball","slug":"trackball","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":251,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":253,"name":"trackman","slug":"trackman","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":253,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/professor\/drsmith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}