Trackball

[buf]

I spent about 2-3 hours using a trackball for the first time in 10+ years of using a computer--what an experience!! It seemed that every move I made was a wrong decision. I boxed it up and now it is on the floor. I suppose if I had begun with such a contraption rather than with a mouse, I may have liked it. Comments anyone?!

[jdc2000]

Which trackball? Some are A LOT better than others. I have used a Kensington Expert Mouse 64325 Trackball and it is the best one I have found. Pricey though. It has a much larger ball, making it much easier to use.

http://www.buy.com/prod/kensington-e.../10345179.html

[Train]

Try them out in the store display if possible. Most of them are to small for me.

[fink]

I used to use one on a table at work that didn't have room for a moving mouse. Took a while to get used to it but eventually I started to get the hang of it. It was the older thumb type trackball but there are other types now that may or may not be easier to use. eg- http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/.../10119590.aspx or mac trackpads which look pretty cool but may not be ready for primetime.. http://www.macworld.com/product/5867..._trackpad.html

[buf]

Many thanks for your replies good people. Newegg had the Kensington Orbit with the scroll ring; a regular $50 item for $30 last week. Thinking that $30 wouldn't be too much to lose should I not like it, so I ordered it. I only considered a trackball because of the lack of space on my desktop with the pull out leaf for the keyboard. This area of my desk is my preferred area for the mouse even though it is a crowded area and I thought the trackball would be the answer since it does not require much room to scroll; etc. Space wise, it is just fine but I could not coordinate my finger movement with the ball movements. Changing from a mouse to a trackball is a bigger learning learning/coordinating role than I thought it would be. I could RMA it within 30 days--so I just just play with it a bit more.

[SuperSparks]

There is no reason why you can't have both the mouse and trackball plugged in at the same time. That way you may give yourself more of a chance to get used to it without becoming too frustrated.

[buf]

Thanks Nick and I did consider that. Just can't decide if the trackball is really worth the effort to forget my many years use of the mouse. I will most likely put the trackball back on the desk and try it again and maybe even again and then 1 more time. I do like the tractball's concept of getting around the web. One of the worse movements I kept making was clicking the right button even though I was trying to click the left button.