Slimblade alternatives?

[NKRO]

Wondering if there are any good alternatives to the Slimblade that I have overlooked. Received mine today and while I have no problem controlling it with my left hand, which is the reason I bought it, I'm not sure that it's actually any better on my wrist than a mouse. It's quite sore after two hours, but that may just be because I don't normally use my left hand for mousing. I suspect it's due to the ball being raised about 1″ from the buttons/palm area though. I'm actually finding that trying to do anything precise like selecting text is far more strenuous than using a mouse, seemingly due to the weight of the ball, and while I like the novelty of how the scrolling works, it already feels like it's not a good motion for my hand to be making repeatedly.

But all that aside, the sensor is far too slow. Moving my finger from the far left side to the far right side is equivalent to a 400 DPI mouse (measured in Enotus Mouse Test) and doesn't cover the full width of my screen. I would need about 800 DPI to be comfortable with it.
The ball doesn't feel that smooth at low speeds, and also squeaks. (sounds like dragging a metal chair across a floor)
The biggest problem though, is that the device continually emits a high-pitched whine when it's plugged in. I suspect this won't be an issue for older members here.

I was also disappointed to find that while you can program most of the buttons on the trackball, you can only set it to perform actions when simultaneously pressing the top two or bottom two buttons. It is far more comfortable for me to press the two left, or two right buttons together—I have to lift my hand from the trackball to press the two top or bottom buttons together.



I would much rather Drag be on the two right buttons, and Button 4 (back) be on the two left buttons. Being able to use the top/bottom combination for something like window switching would be very helpful as well, as having the trackball on the left means I need to move my hand to reach alt-tab.


The CST L-Trac is supposed to have a faster sensor, but I have heard that the tracking isn't as smooth, and while the ball is more recessed, the ergonomics of that look much worse - particularly the position of the middle button and scrollwheel. It only has three buttons as well, when I really need at least four, plus the ability to program it to perform actions when pressing buttons simultaneously.

The DT225 looks like a well built trackball, but I have heard that it's similarly low DPI, and is not nearly as smooth-running as the slimblade.


I'm now wondering if a small tablet is maybe the solution instead. I used to have an 8x6 Wacom, but never tried using it on the desktop outside of Photoshop, and I think it would have been too large for that. A large tablet is good for precision, but not traveling across the screen. I'm fairly ambidextrous, so I'm sure I could get used to a left-handed pen input quickly enough.
Does anyone know if you can rotate Wacom inputs 90° ? I seem to recall being able to limit the size of the tracking surface, but I'm unsure if you can rotate it. (so I have a 3.9x2.5 area rather than 6.2x3.5)

The other alternative would be Apple's Magic Trackpad, but I have my doubts about whether it would be any better for sensitivity, and how well it's supported in Windows—I've always found Bluetooth devices to be problematic. When I disable acceleration on my MacBook's trackpad, it takes 2–3 swipes just to cover a 1280px screen. I know the magic trackpad is bigger, but is it large enough to cover 1920px in one swipe when acceleration is disabled? Not interested in Logitech's clones as they have a plastic surface, and Logitech drivers always seem to interfere with things when they aren't the only input devices connected to the system.

[kurplop]

I use a Kensington Expert Mouse which is similar to the Slimblade.  When I first used it, I was afraid I made a big mistake in buying it because it was very uncomfortable for me to use.  I found by lowering it to the same level as the keyboard top and giving it a negative tilt made all the difference for me.  You may try experimenting with its placement.

Have you tried adjusting the acceleration and pointer speed in TrackballWorks?

[NKRO]

Thanks for the reply. I am currently looking into getting a keyboard arm/tray that offers a negative tilt, and it definitely seems like that would be beneficial. (it seemed like that may make something like the CST L-Trac more usable as well) I tried raising my chair up so that the arm rest was about level with the top of the ball and it was much more comfortable to use.

I did try changing the acceleration and pointer speed, but increasing the pointer speed above the default setting causes the trackball to start skipping pixels. For example, here is the trackball at maximum speed compared to the default setting:


Anything above the default is some degree in between the two, being unable to produce smooth cursor movement. It really needs a higher DPI sensor in my opinion - 2x would be ideal for me. (I use 800 DPI with a mouse too)

Acceleration is similarly unhelpful in my experience. (I can't stand acceleration with mice either)

I also find that the ball has a tendency to "stick" at slower speeds, which is why the diagonal lines I tried drawing there are somewhat wavy. I've tried cleaning/polishing the ball and the "well" for it, but it still seems to stick at slower speeds, causing uneven movement. If the Kensington trackballs are supposed to be the smoothest, I don't know that a trackball is for me.

I can't put up with this constant high-pitched noise from the device though. In some ways, I wish I couldn't hear all the high-pitched whines a lot of devices make that no-one else I know seems to notice.

[kurplop]

I can recommend keyboard arms from CompX.  The one I use costs about $70 and is fully adjustable. 

[NKRO]

Thanks, I was looking at buying a full Humanscale system, but that is considerably cheaper.