Kensington Expert Mouse Optical USB Trackball for PC or Mac 64325
by Kensington
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List Price: Our Price: $68.53 You Save: $59.42 (46%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $35.00 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Kensington Expert Mouse Optical USB Trackball for PC or Mac 64325
Customer Review: Still a Good Product
Summary: 5 Stars
For years, I have used the Kensington Expert Mouse. I have two old serial/PS2 Expert Mouse 4 products which I am finally discarding because they often don't work on my work systems because of PS2 compatibility (common problem with the old models). The circuit board in each is stamped 1995 Kensington and they still function. I also have a USB Expert Mouse 4 for work which still works great. At one time, as my first IT Job, I worked for Kensington when they were in San Mateo, California, doing telephone technical support. The support at the time made me a believer in their core business values and products. They have great products, but even moreso they want to take care of their customers. And most products are built to last. Later in life, the Expert Mouse product because so much more necessary as I have bursitis in my right elbow from years of normal mouse movement. With a normal mouse, it quickly becomes a serious problem. With the Expert Mouse, it is not. So... This week I decided to buy this new Expert Mouse for my home PC- An iMac running Snow Leopard and VMWare Fusion with Windows 7. I am happy with the product; that same familiar feel and movement is there- same accuracy, same large ball. And the included wrist rest is much appreciated. It used to be that you had to find your own or call so it could be mailed for free. Without the wrist wrest, you quickly get a sore palm, regardless of how the instructions say you should use it. I love this product. I only have one gripe. The build quality has diminished a bit. The product is lighter and the stainless steel rollers are now gone. The original trackballs were optical also; contrary to what some other reviewers have posted. The stainless steel rollers reflected an infrared beam back onto sensors on the X and Y access. The bearings were heavy and well constructed. This new product appears to use small teflon bearings which turn the mechanism inside using visible light; their not as heavy although I'm hopeful they do stay cleaner longer. It's obviously much less expensive to manufacture. But, I still highly recommend the product and I appreciate Kensington continuing to sell it. I hope they always do. Also, for those people complaining of rough movement when first pulling the device out of the box, it does require a break-in period. It always has. Once it has broken in, it's incredibly smooth and precise. It takes some getting used to but I highly recommed getting one.Customer Review: The "Gold Standard" of trackballs
Summary: 5 Stars
I had tried using trackballs before but found them too awkward and difficult to get the fine motor skills. However, when I started developing pain in my mousing hand, I didn't want to ignore it... I was only in my early 40s and have to rely on a pointer device to earn a living. Plus, I play cello and knit and play piano so I really didn't want a mouse to destroy my ability to do the the things I really love.
So I search all the ergonomic websites and they all consistently recommended large trackballs because the larger the ball, the less you are relying on very small movements or only one set of muscles to perform your computer task. In addition, you want to use a trackball that is "symmetric" so that you can change how you use it in order to "spread the stress".
The Kensington trackball has the one of the largest trackballs on the market (I think there is one other one that has a slightly larger ball that is marketed towards children). It is balanced and symmetric so that you can move the ball with different fingers or even different parts of your hand. The buttons are programmable (if you can install the software) so you can change where your single and double click buttons are to take advantage of the natural strength of your hand. It is easy to install in its most basic mode... just plug and play. It is also easy to clean -- just lift the ball out and wipe the dust away from the sensors. It also lasts forever -- I've bought a couple over the years but only because my kids keep swiping mine!
There are trackballs that put the trackball where your thumb would go. These are not significantly better than a mouse because you have shifted the repetitive motion to your thumb. Other trackballs put the trackball where your 4th and 5th finger is. Once again, you have moved the are of your hand that you are going to wear out.
My only nitpick is that to take full advantage of the features, you have to install the software drivers. If you are using this on a computer at work where you don't have admin privileges then you won't be able to take advantage of the full functionality. It would be nice if the mouse used a firmware programming mechanism instead of having to install software on the computer.
I really wish that Kensington would make this a wireless device as well. But at this point, I'm just glad I can find this in any form.
Customer Review: Finally -- no more pain or knocking stuff off my desk because of needing to move my mouse!
Summary: 5 Stars
I had tried using trackballs before but found them too awkward and difficult to get the fine motor skills. However, when I started developing pain in my mousing hand, I didn't want to ignore it... I was only in my early 40s and have to rely on a pointer device to earn a living. Plus, I play cello and knit and play piano so I really didn't want a mouse to destroy my ability to do the the things I really love.
So I search all the ergonomic websites and they all consistently recommended large trackballs because the larger the ball, the less you are relying on very small movements or only one set of muscles to perform your computer task. In addition, you want to use a trackball that is "symmetric" so that you can change how you use it in order to "spread the stress".
The Kensington trackball has the one of the largest trackballs on the market (I think there is one other one that has a slightly larger ball that is marketed towards children). It is balanced and symmetric so that you can move the ball with different fingers or even different parts of your hand. The buttons are programmable (if you can install the software) so you can change where your single and double click buttons are to take advantage of the natural strength of your hand. It is easy to install in its most basic mode... just plug and play. It is also easy to clean -- just lift the ball out and wipe the dust away from the sensors. It also lasts forever -- I've bought a couple over the years but only because my kids keep swiping mine!
There are trackballs that put the trackball where your thumb would go. These are not significantly better than a mouse because you have shifted the repetitive motion to your thumb. Other trackballs put the trackball where your 4th and 5th finger is. Once again, you have moved the are of your hand that you are going to wear out.
My only nitpick is that to take full advantage of the features, you have to install the software drivers. If you are using this on a computer at work where you don't have admin privileges then you won't be able to take advantage of the full functionality. It would be nice if the mouse used a firmware programming mechanism instead of having to install software on the computer.
I really wish that Kensington would make this a wireless device as well. But at this point, I'm just glad I can find this in any form.
Customer Review: Great Trackball--Relieves Wrist Stress
Summary: 5 Stars
I developed Ulnar Tunnel syndrome about 10 years ago and have been using a Kensington trackball and a Kinesis (spherical) keyboard ever since. If you're having wrist pains
or numbness in your fingers, highly recommended. Fine motions with a mouse require a lot of stress in the hand. This is much easier, and your wrist doesn't need to move.
I had the old mechanical trackball for years (and still have one or two in use), but this optical trackball is much nicer. The movement on the two that I have bought is extremely smooth, and the scroll wheel is really nice. Doesn't have to be cleaned nearly as often, either (when you get enough dust to obscure the optical path--time to clean it ;-) ). The old mechanical trackballs needed to be cleaned once a week or so.
After installation (in Windows), don't forget to go into Control Panel/Mouse and set
all your preferences. You may need to play with it some to get acceleration and fine control just the way you want it. You can set how many lines/pages each click of the
scroll wheel advances.
Be careful attaching the wrist rest if you use it. Attach and remove gently so that the plastic pins/holes don't break. I only gave it a four for quality of construction because I damaged the wrist rest on the first one. The wrist rest is useful to rest your wrist while you're thinking about something but not actually using the trackball (long pauses betwen click or rolls).
Really a sweet deal of a mouse for anybody, and if you have any wrist/hand pain, this is a tremendous relief of stress on the wrist and hand (at least it was for me). Also, if you're having pain, don't forget to check out the Kinesis Advantage keyboard. The little finger and index finger on both of my hands were tingling/going numb with pain in the wrist. Two years after I switched to the Kinesis Advantage spherical keyboard--perfectly OK! No pain, no tingling, no numbness. The Pro edition was not useful to me--no need for a foot pedal or that other junk--just the basic Advantage keyboard costs enough.
Customer Review: Best Mousing device
Summary: 5 Stars
After much shopping and debate, I bought this Kensington executive trackball--I know, it's much more expensive than the others. But this expense is justified--espcially if you're having physical pain from the ergonomy (or lack thereof) of your workstation.
I've tried dozens, yes dozens of input devices because I spend 12 hours per day on the computer. There is no product superior to this one. The price is justified.
No other track ball will give you the 4 button programmability (which I don't use--There's setup fine right out of the box). You also get a perfectly designed wrist, pad wrest (that even covers the Kensington logo, so you don't have to stare at some marketing jerks bright idea). Modest. But the sin qua non, is the scroll ring. I couldn't find any other trackball that had it and it IS an indespensible tool.
In the first 5 minutes you use the trackball, it seems "slippery". But literally within 5 minutes of normal use, it becomes intuitive to your touch. I use a dual monitor setup, so I have to make sweeping mouse moves across two screens. I can do this easily without repositioning my hand on the ball. The buttons are very large and ideally places (for either left or right handers). It even comes with an ergonimics guide to help you setup your workspace to minimize joint stress. I also had fits with my mouse being difficult to control or to get into just the right spot for clicking on a small target. Without even loading the software disk that came with, this trackball moves the mouse perfectly--accurate, smooth. It is an optical reader, so I don't understand the other complaints about it needing daily cleaning. I'll check back to let you know if I find it a problem. But it may be a case of someone surfing porn with sweaty palms. It's otherwise hard to imagine a problem like that.
Anyway, I not much of a product reviewer (and at my age, I'm very difficult to impress). But this is clearly one of those few times, when I got what I paid for (and perhaps, a little more).