Trackball Recommendations or "What are the * of trackballs?"

[sethstorm]

I already have a pair of Logitech mice (Revolution MX, MX310 aren't bad in themselves) but wouldn't mind recommendations on a good trackball that isn't in the Topre/uTron realm of cost and isn't some shoddy knockoff.

Only other preferences being towards multiple/remappable buttons, good DPI range, and being relatively common (i.e. it's not as rare as an M13).

Even though it's not a trackball per se, I would be open to the IBM Spaceball.

Interface isn't an issue (read: PS/2, USB, RS232 are fine).

[sethstorm]

Good timing.  Looking at your Sig and "Buy American" preference I'd think you'd like the rock solid construction of the CH Products DT225 now on Ebay starting at $30.

Click on my Sig for details.  Otherwise for run of the mill asian built stuff you have the usual Logitech suspects.

Noticed your sig, but I was thinking also of that one you've modded as well if it's not rare as an M13 and overly expensive($100).

As for your guess as to my "Buy American" preference, you know me well; but that doesn't necessarily limit me - I'm fine with a *good* one.

I've already had the Kensington Turbo ADB trackball - so the other type of trackballs(the slightly smaller, mouse-like grip type) are fine (as well as the CH's format).

[JulienC]

Good timing.  Looking at your Sig and "Buy American" preference I'd think you'd like the rock solid construction of the CH Products DT225 now on Ebay starting at $30.

Sad thing this one doesn't ship to Canada

[salcan]

The Spaceball, from what I understand, generally isn't a replacement for a mouse/trackball. It's usually (or "was" usually) used for graphics manipulation.

Maybe try the Kensington Expert? I think there are some fans of that around there.

[Shawn Stanford]

My Logitech Trackman Wheel has been giving me yeoman service at work for many, many years. It's not gadgetastically sexy, but it gets the job done comfortably and without any fuss (save the occassional cleaning).

[ch_123]

The latest iteration of the Kensington Expert Mouse is a sound choice, although you might find that the build quality has dropped a bit... CST makes some good ones too.

[TexasFlood]

My Logitech Trackman Wheel has been giving me yeoman service at work for many, many years. It's not gadgetastically sexy, but it gets the job done comfortably and without any fuss (save the occassional cleaning).

Which trackman do you have.  Seem to be a few models out there.  Thinking about a trackball myself but don't know much about them really.

[ch_123]

Trackman Wheel would be this one -

[sethstorm]

The latest iteration of the Kensington Expert Mouse is a sound choice, although you might find that the build quality has dropped a bit... CST makes some good ones too.

the CH and CST ones are already on my list.  The question is how is the situation w/ the hacked drivers w/r/t Kensington trackballs?

[ch_123]

Slimblade I'm not too sure... It's meant to be pretty mediocre anyway.

The Expert Mouse has plenty of hacked drivers for all platforms. Linux picks up all four buttons fine. The only feature loss I can think of is the lack of chording support (i.e. binding two buttons so that when they're are pressed together they will do something)

I have a CST on the way to me... theoretically I could have it as soon as tomorrow. I'll let you know how it stacks up against the KEM, but from what I've read about it so far, it should blow it out of the water.

Logitechs are made in the People's Republic of China.

Did you know that the PCBs for the AT Model F was made in Hong Kong? So much for "American quality"

[ch_123]

Everybody knows about British manufactured goods.

Model Ms with drainage holes but no channels inside? Not Britannia's finest hour... Winston Churchill would be pissed.

[hyperlinked]

CST LaserTrak is American Made.

You sure that they weren't referring to the box?

[Shawn Stanford]

Trackman Wheel would be this one -

Show Image

That's the one...

With all deference to Ripster, the CST is designed to be moved with the fingers and the Trackman is moved with the thumb. I've used finger-based trackballs before and while they worked fine they weren't as effortless as the thumb-based Trackman.

[ch_123]

Sanwa make a cheap KEM-like trackball that supposedly isn't as poorly built as some of their other models. If it was only available outside of Japan...

[sethstorm]

If I don't win that CH 225, I'll be going for the CST or a Kensington w/ scroll.

Unless the Kensington drivers and such can be forced to work with 7, they seem to be a "wait and see".

[ch_123]

The KEM works fine out of the box with Windows 7. There exists a third party utility out there that can be used to map the extra buttons on it, although I can't remember it's name. As I said before, all that you miss by not having the official drivers is the ability to chord bottoms.

[ch_123]

The Lasertrack version has three buttons and a scroll wheel. There is a cheaper model, but that still has three buttons afaik.

I'm not entirely sure what you are getting at with the spinning thing, but I noticed that it spins more freely than my KEM.

[ch_123]

The CST is stickier than the Kensington Expert if you pinch the ball and try and make it spin clock direction. .

I noticed this too. I was thinking that it could be the inertia of the heavier ball, but I could be completely wrong.

[ch_123]

I wonder if there's some way to properly remove them if you dismantle the KEM? Mine need a really proper clean. Not even an airduster works at this stage...

[ch_123]

Inconsistent

Yeah, took me a while to think about it. I've had it for less than 12 hours, detailed opinions are still on the way!

[sethstorm]

Well, missed the DT225.  So much for quality.

[Rajagra]

there is no perfect trackball design as they all have their flaws.

I think I have a perfect design, I just haven't got round to building it yet. My idea is to have the ball resting on three roller bearings. I've bought a bunch of skateboard ones, they are the right size and incredibly well engineered compared to 'normal' bearings so they can handle lateral forces with ease among other things.

The trick is the bearings themselves need to rotate in their own mount, so they act as short travel casters. And the 'casters' have to be perfectly aligned so their axis points toward the centre of the ball, to avoid any funny effects as they spin.

[didjamatic]

It's not a bummer to me at all that it went for $31

I had it in my watch list from a couple hours after it listed.  FYI, the seller has a second one he will be listing soon.

[sethstorm]

One more reason I usually say, no BIN, no help.  Basically 5 days of nothing, then seconds of bidding.

[didjamatic]

I've wanted a high quality trackball for a while so I'm excited to give the DT225 a spin, I just wish it had a scroll wheel.  A mod may be in order.

Time to get a billiards ball.

[mr_a500]

It's not a bummer to me at all that it went for $31

I had it in my watch list from a couple hours after it listed.  FYI, the seller has a second one he will be listing soon.

What? You won that? You don't know how lucky you were...so I'll tell you:

I bid in the last 2 seconds with a bid that would have demolished you (or at least cost you a bundle), but the seller forgot to remove his buyer requirements and allow sale to Canada - which he said he'd do. So my bid was refused.

Last-second bids are a bit like a kick to the groin, so I try to avoid doing them these days unless I already "announced my intentions" by bidding earlier (makes me appear less of an ******* that way). With this one though, I only found out about it in the last half hour. Ironically, if I had made an initial bid like I usually do, I would have had time to tell the seller about the blockage.

[mr_a500]

What's a "Deck Trucker Girl"... and where may I obtain one?

[ricercar]

The Deck trucker girl is a key cap that Deck made in the Linux accessory set. Deck no longer sells them, and no known vendor has stock.

Ripster claims the dubious honor of buying the last one. My mission in life is to find one for sale and buy it, in hopes of driving him into depression and suicide.

[mr_a500]

The Deck trucker girl is a key cap that Deck made in the Linux accessory set. Deck no longer sells them, and no known vendor has stock.

Ripster claims the dubious honor of buying the last one. My mission in life is to find one for sale and buy it, in hopes of driving him into depression and suicide.

Oh... I thought he was talking about some kind of trucker girl that is very desirable and hard to find.

Good luck driving him into depression and suicide.

[didjamatic]

Look alive folks, the other DT225 is posted as a 1 day auction

Happy sniping!

[mr_a500]

Look alive folks, the other DT225 is posted as a 1 day auction

Happy sniping!

Damn you. I was hoping to keep it a secret.

To paraphrase Airplane!, "Sir, don't you want to bid now?" "No.... that's what they'll be expecting me to do."

[didjamatic]

Should I bid now or wait until the last minute?    Just kidding, if I really like the one I get I'll keep an eye out for another for work but only getting one for now.  I need to look into the scrolling driver mod ripster linked in another thread.  Too bad you can't twist the ball to scroll like you can with the Kensington blade, then this device would rule over all pointing devices.

[sethstorm]

Reminds me, I gotta finish this mod.

I'm gonna call it,

"You Light Up My Balls"

If it weren't for the amount of CST2545's at $100+ out there, I'd just let the next CH DT225 go and add the buttons to a CST.

The only other downside is according to this post, pool balls are something that will only fit the DT225.

Sniping means being an *******?   It's ebay.  That's like worrying about the ethics of buying the last Deck Trucker Girl key in existence.

Sniping's an accepted practice.  It's not one that I particularly like either, but it happens.

[sethstorm]

Trackballs, especially the vintage ones, can get spendy.  This is another one.

Show Image

$180 on Ebay.

Noticed.  Never mind sifting through all the Arcade/MAME trackballs to find what you're looking to get.

[ch_123]

The funny thing about that thing is that it's probably inferior to those $30 DT225s knocking about.

[bigpook]

I have an older style kensington expert, no scroll ring, but it does have metal rollers. While not as stout as the DT225 it is still a robust trackball.
I need to dig it out and post some pics.

[Specter_57]

..

...something I stumbled upon during my net travels....

http://ftp://ftp.chproducts.com/pub/oem/Trackballs/Trackball_DT225.pdf

and there is also a mention as to how big your balls should be......

enjoy



........
Spec57

[didjamatic]

I haven't used a CST 2545-5W yet, but I think this trackball could be a great 5 button setup if you added one external button on each side of the trackball case.  Not sure if vertical or a 45 degree mount would be better.  If right handed, you would hit the left (back) button with your thumb, right (fwd) button with your pinky.  Or Ripsters awesome 2 button mods.




But would it really be that hard to rip a mouse apart and mount a scroll wheel on the surface of a DT225, just above the ball in the same location as a Kensington Expert Mouse Pro?

[ch_123]

The CST has some other nice features too, like the ability to switch between three DPI settings (400,800,1600)

[sethstorm]

The CST has some other nice features too, like the ability to switch between three DPI settings (400,800,1600)

I haven't used a CST 2545-5W yet, but I think this trackball could be a great 5 button setup if you added one external button on each side of the trackball case.  Not sure if vertical or a 45 degree mount would be better.  If right handed, you would hit the left (back) button with your thumb, right (fwd) button with your pinky.  Or Ripsters awesome 2 button mods.

Would the 2-button mod also be doable w/ the CST1550 (w/o scroll-wheel)?  That might be another option for those of use who prioritize buttons over working scrollers(and save about $20-$30).

I'm feeling a bit inspired to put those in thanks to Ripster's article on those extra buttons.  If it's contact -> wire -> button -> wire -> other contact, then that'll seal the deal.
If all of that's the case, then it's off to get the CST.

[microsoft windows]

Trackman Wheel would be this one -

Show Image

Looks like an optical trackball there. I prefer the mechanical ones because they can be more precise. I like the scrolly wheel though.

[ch_123]

I'd disagree. And given that I've actually tried laser, optical and mechanical trackballs, I think I actually know what I'm on about.

Would the 2-button mod also be doable w/ the CST1550 (w/o scroll-wheel)? That might be another option for those of use who prioritize buttons over working scrollers(and save about $20-$30).

I don't think so. I haven't seen any of the optical models with side ports. If you get the basic laser model (the one with no side ports at all) you'll find that the PCB still has that functionality included, all you need to do is solder up the wires to the appropriate pads.

[sethstorm]

I'd disagree. And given that I've actually tried laser, optical and mechanical trackballs, I think I actually know what I'm on about.



I don't think so. I haven't seen any of the optical models with side ports. If you get the basic laser model (the one with no side ports at all) you'll find that the PCB still has that functionality included, all you need to do is solder up the wires to the appropriate pads.

Ok.  I'd want to solder headers in if there's room, though.  I've got plenty of those.

[ch_123]

Also, it wouldn't be particularly easy to make your own scroll wheel... I think $20 is worth it for that much alone. The laser too is good.

[sethstorm]

Also, it wouldn't be particularly easy to make your own scroll wheel... I think $20 is worth it for that much alone. The laser too is good.

Wasn't wanting to make the wheel, but if that's the only way to go for the additional buttons, fine.

[kohan69]

So I'm looking for a trackballs too.


Nothing seems more logical than Microsoft Trackball Explorer


My only concern is - does the scroll wheel CLICK?

[mjma]

Yes, it does.  As I've said elsewhere, the TBE is a great product, a personal favorite... but these days the going rate (for a used unit, no less) is pretty ridiculous.  If that's not an issue for you, I say go for it.

[kohan69]

Yes, it does.  As I've said elsewhere, the TBE is a great product, a personal favorite... but these days the going rate (for a used unit, no less) is pretty ridiculous.  If that's not an issue for you, I say go for it.

by scroll wheel click i dont mean its not a smooth-scroll, i mean can you press it as a button (same way you could press the scrolll wheel for mouse3)

[mjma]

Yes, it is a five-button device.

[Voixdelion]

I'm another fan of the mechanical rollers.  The optical ones just don't do it for me the same way as the big sturdy Expert and Turbo varieties of yore... Though if they could make the bearings a little more robust I might not feel that way, but a large billiard size (or even larger) is must for me.  I scored a NIB USB Expert Mouse a bit ago on ebay for less than forty bucks but the used ones have held up so well I haven't even opened it yet.  (But I like knowing its there, just in case =D)  I really wish they made the new ones with the scroll wheel on steel roller bearings with a 2.25" (or some other large size that is easily substituted with a custom ball).  Then make the entire thing a modular add on to a buckling spring capacitive keyboard with a num pad and lcd solar calculator... droool.

Sorry - drifted into fantasy land for a bit there.