geekhack Community > Input Devices
Microsoft Trackball Explorer vs Kensington Expert vs Elecom HUGE.
Stupidface:
--- Quote from: knightjp on Wed, 19 November 2025, 02:07:27 ---The trackman Marble FX I'm referring to is this one.
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Thank you for the clarification. [tips hat]
--- Quote from: knightjp on Wed, 19 November 2025, 02:07:27 ---After seeing the video of Eric S Raymond on the Tech Syndicate youtube channel,
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I think I found the video here:
Great stuff. There are some nice lingering shots of a grey-corded, PS/2, T-CL13/Logitech TrackMan Marble+ (the "+" indicates the addition of a scroll wheel) at the 7:38-7:45 mark. I recognised it because I used its white-corded, USB connector successor (the T-BB13) for many years. There were times when I wanted to have a comparatively inexpensive spare on hand for travel and connecting an active PS/2-USB adapter to a T-CL13 effectively gets you a T-BB13, but for less money.
Any road, I am grateful to you for mentioning the video because…well, I’ll see if I can explain.
Yonks ago, Eric S. Raymond wrote this webpage:
http://www.catb.org/esr/trackman-conversion/
On it, he talks about how the three-button Trackman T-CL11 is a near-perfect pointing device whose ergonomics are unmatched, then goes on to moan about Logitech adding a scroll wheel, putting a switch in it, and having it serve as a middle button on subsequent Trackman models.
The problem (according to him, at least) is that this change makes possible to accidentally scroll-click when you mean to click. So two button + clickable scroll wheel models are a “deal-killer” (again, according to him). As the page shows, he put a lot of work into attempting to update his three-button, PS/2 trackball to a USB device.
And now, ages later, I see a video that shows him using… a T-CL13 Trackman with scrollwheel. Interesting - I wonder what prompted him to change his view?
--- Quote from: knightjp on Wed, 19 November 2025, 02:07:27 --- and his logitech thumball, I decided to get one of them for myself. Obviously it had to be an ebay item shipped from the US.
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I'm afraid I overlooked it before, but I believe this is a reference to the T-CL13 you mentioned in your initial post. Can you please tell us about your experience with this device and why it (presumably) did not work out?
(Specifically, can you tell us whether the 300 dpi resolution proved to be a stumbling block?)
YALE70:
I have two older Logitech trackballs with the old 300 DPI sensor (Marble FX and LCOT).
Those sensors are pretty horrendous with modern systems, IMO. You're basically forced to crank the pointer speed in order to get some semblance of responsiveness on a modern display and even then, the sensor is so slow that your cursor will stall if you swipe the ball too quickly.
It's even worse on the LCOT because the polling rate over the old 27 MHz RF wireless is less than 60 Hz, so the jitter is just absolutely terrible. I can't believe Logitech sold that thing well into the 2010s without a single hardware update.
Sucks because the shape of those trackballs are absolutely brilliant. I'd shell out for one if Logitech ever decided to update them.
noisyturtle:
--- Quote from: knightjp on Wed, 19 November 2025, 02:07:27 ---
--- Quote from: Stupidface on Fri, 14 November 2025, 05:33:50 ---I have something of an interest in Logitech products from that era*, so I hope you won't blame a chap for enquiring about further particulars.
*"That era" being an ellipsis of "back when peripheral manufacturers actually gave a monkey's about build quality."
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I hear you about the quality.
The trackman Marble FX I'm referring to is this one.
(Attachment Link)
After seeing the video of Eric S Raymond on the Tech Syndicate youtube channel, and his logitech thumball, I decided to get one of them for myself. Obviously it had to be an ebay item shipped from the US.
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It's super cheap, and honestly not bad functionally.
I've had one for almost 6 years, and it still works perfectly.
I was gonna upgrade when it broke, but it still hasn't!
I'd vote the Logitech Trackman as a super cheap/emergency option
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