I really don't want to spend money on some expensive model like a Kensington expert or that CST which sounds the most interesting only to either have a similar experience or find it too overly cumbersome for said gaming. If you saw the video, although like I said extreme it wasn't not just accurate but not under my control.
Okay - From one who has tried almost every flavor of kensington trackball: There is an entire Universe of difference between the Orbit and the Expert variety.
Hoping to find a good experience without the price tag of the better product, I tried both the mechanical Orbit (blue ball that doesn't go bouncing merrily away if you knock it a bit) and the Optical version (gray sparkly ball that runs a merry chase and hides at inopportune moments.) I had been seeking the excellently smooth and precise control that I had experienced while doing data entry with a two-button Turbo mouse on a 22" CRT back in the 92's, but was sorely disappointed by these flimsy excuse for trackballs. Though I found that the Mech version was actually superior in tracking control, neither was anywhere near what I remembered and so set in earnest to find a proper one used on ebay.
I have long fingers and hands, so the SIZE of the ball was crucial to feeling the control in the actual hand instead of wiggling my fingertips at the littler ones. I do prefer the opto-mechanical badass metal bearings on the older variety to the Optical newer, but I could have maybe stayed longer to break the jewel bearings in on the Versions 7+ (which is reasonably reliably reported by others from the old skool to be equally smooth or close enough if you give it a little oil and elbow grease) if only it weren't for the fact that they dropped the size of the ball down to 2". I really liked the Scroll Ring Feature and the wireless and the color but I sacrificed those luxuries because I won't budge off the full 2.25" ball on the version 5.
Note that there is no chasing of this one either. Despite it being freely removeable, I must actually turn the thing upside down to dislodge the weight on purpose. I think the heft of the ball is what aids the smooth tracking also because it just isn't as flighty.
On the other hand, the Orbit ball inspired a bit of creativity with a wire hanger loop I actually melted and epoxied into the plastic just smaller than the diameter of the ball to save myself the easter egg hunting time whenever it was lightly jostled while the cat jumped on my lap. (That was such a very worthwhile adjustment that after my success, I used to taunt the ball whilst shaking it upside down in revenge for all the faces full of dust-bunny it caused me. :heh: I highly recommend it to anyone else experiencing this.)
Now my hubby is logitech mouse man who has always been a bit skeptical of my Trackball addiction, liking his MX revolution and Gyro type arm-wavy pointing; but even he was very comfortable with the version 7 Expert, proclaiming it a very satisfactory device that he could definitely get used to. Just recently though, he had misplaced some bit of it and helped himself to my Version 5 while I was out [And he was NEVER EVER tempted to do such a thing before his exposure to the 7, btw - now my ancient relic is looking like a much better option than any fancy optical modern mouse in his arsenal.] I am needing to be cordless mousing during a lot of shuffling and remodel-modding on my rig ATM; unplugging peripherals back and forth between unstable machines is tedious, so I haven't pestered him to return it yet.
But I notice he hasn't offered it, either.
I can speak with a fair amount of confidence that your experience with the pricier offerings will be at least in accordance with the increased cost if not disproportionately much better. I would rather use my optical mouse more often than those, but they do sometimes help loosen up a frozen wrist on occasion. Try one out if you can, maybe a demo model in a retail store if you are uncertain though, and I think you will notice the difference right away.
