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geekhack Community => Input Devices => Topic started by: Glod on Fri, 01 March 2013, 20:10:51
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So i got this morning my Kensington SlimBlade Trackball and I've been using it all day for work.
First time using a trackball in 10 years and i got to say, i love it. I got it because i use 3 monitors multitasking everyday for work and people have been telling me a trackball may be more ergonomic and i think they are right that it is. Running into some muscle memory problems where my index finger wants to click even though i'm not telling it to. but really not as bad as i thought i would. I really went rolled the dice when i ordered this because its been so long i didn't know if i would like it. Still going to use my mouse for gaming for now but this thing rocks for working which i do far more than play games lately.
(http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8526/8519751702_134836e655.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/panicfx/8519751702/)
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So how to scroll with that thing?
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turn the ball clockwise our counterclockwise as if it's a scroll wheel
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turn the ball clockwise our counterclockwise as if it's a scroll wheel
Clever. Sounds like a great feature.
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turn the ball clockwise our counterclockwise as if it's a scroll wheel
Clever. Sounds like a great feature.
Not everyone likes it, seems like it's a feature you either hate or love. Personally I have no issue with it and I love my Slimblade, I just wish the software had a way to adjust sensitivity independently of the windows sensitivity.
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turn the ball clockwise our counterclockwise as if it's a scroll wheel
Clever. Sounds like a great feature.
Not everyone likes it, seems like it's a feature you either hate or love. Personally I have no issue with it and I love my Slimblade, I just wish the software had a way to adjust sensitivity independently of the windows sensitivity.
You know any trackball that can adjust sensitivity independent of the windows sensitivity?
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turn the ball clockwise our counterclockwise as if it's a scroll wheel
Clever. Sounds like a great feature.
Not everyone likes it, seems like it's a feature you either hate or love. Personally I have no issue with it and I love my Slimblade, I just wish the software had a way to adjust sensitivity independently of the windows sensitivity.
You know any trackball that can adjust sensitivity independent of the windows sensitivity?
All I can think of are CST ones that let you adjust dpi between steps if memory serves me right. Logitech ones might be able to adjust independently in software, I can't think of any others that would let you do that, since I'd imagine most would take the simple route and just adjust the windows sensitivity directly.
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Yea, now that I remember, I read that CST has a higher-end model with dpi adjustment.
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wow, this trackball is one of the best purchases i've made. i suddenly dislike using mice except for fps gaming.
not sure if i should buy another one of these for traveling or something else. hmmmm
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wow, this trackball is one of the best purchases i've made. i suddenly dislike using mice except for fps gaming.
not sure if i should buy another one of these for traveling or something else. hmmmm
Starting to sound like you work for Kensington.
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huh?
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Is the scrolling smooth? I have a kensington orbit trackball and the only bad thing I can say about it is that the scroll ring is very choppy.
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it's smooth, haven't gotten used to scrolling by turning like that though
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huh?
I'm just saying you like it so much, that your doing a great job of selling the product to interested trackball users like myself. I'm very tempted to pull the trigger. Meant nothing malicious!
I've been debating between the Slimblade and the CST Ltrac X. I just should buy both and sell the one I like the least.
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I've owned and have been using a slimblade for over a year now and I love it. The DPI settings for me are good enough on the Slimblade but I would like to try the CTS L-Trac.
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still liking this thing after a full week
only complaints
1. the buttons are very slick which means slippery sometimes feeling and gets finger prints easy
2. i must be dirty person and never noticed with mouse because this thing like soaks up dirt, i find myself cleaning out the little roller nubs regularly of junk (ew, should get a big bottle of purell)
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still liking this thing after a full week
only complaints
1. the buttons are very slick which means slippery sometimes feeling and gets finger prints easy
2. i must be dirty person and never noticed with mouse because this thing like soaks up dirt, i find myself cleaning out the little roller nubs regularly of junk (ew, should get a big bottle of purell)
I've noticed the same....I would suggest just washing it once a week with an alcohol pad and then drying it off. That seems to do the trick for me.
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still liking this thing after a full week
only complaints
1. the buttons are very slick which means slippery sometimes feeling and gets finger prints easy
2. i must be dirty person and never noticed with mouse because this thing like soaks up dirt, i find myself cleaning out the little roller nubs regularly of junk (ew, should get a big bottle of purell)
I'm actually surprised at how little it accumulates, I came from the orbit with scroll wheel and the bearings on that guy filled up a lot more, in less time. I'm actually happy that the slimblade gathers far less...
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Hey Glod, if you're stilling lurking this thread, have you adjusted to the scrolling feature yet?
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yep, i love the scrolling and got used to it and i love this trackball still
because i have multiple computers i am thinking about either buying another one of these or a LTrac, but i like the way you scroll on this compared to using a wheel like the L-Trac. I also like how this is easier to clean
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yep, i love the scrolling and got used to it and i love this trackball still
because i have multiple computers i am thinking about either buying another one of these or a LTrac, but i like the way you scroll on this compared to using a wheel like the L-Trac. I also like how this is easier to clean
I just got the L-Trac the other day and I have to agree with you about scroll wheel on the L-Trac. Although I love the smooth feel of the scroll wheel, I have to move my hand forward to reach it. The L-Trac does have the advantage of on-the-fly DPI adjustment and five button attachment. And it's huge.
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I bought a Kensington SlingBlade from Amazon. This is my first trackball so I had no way to compare and don't know what is normal or not.
The ball was almost hard to roll. I understood it was a defect when I noticed that horizontal movements where easier than vertical movements.
Removing the ball, I found that one bearing was missing. The ball was therefore rolling against the plastic enclosure :-(
Under the SlingBlade, one can find 4 rugged feets and one circular rugged at the center of the unit that serves as a foot as well.
A second defect on that unit was that the large circular foot was prominent and therefore, the SlingBlade was not staying correctly flat on the table but was toggling from left to right.
I sent back the unit and must say that Amazon service is Amazing in those case. I got the replacement unit within days.
The second unit has all bearings and stays stable on the table.
I'm still a bit questionning if such trackball should have inertia. I mean : if I want to 'send' my cursor from my first screen to my second screen, should I be able to roll the ball and release it so it continues rolling until I stop it with my hand ? Or is this like in my case: the ball stops 1/2 second after I release it even if put a little more energy to it ?
So in facts, I'm a bit concerned by the Kensington bearing quality.
Do you have any experience with the SlimBlade and the CST ? Do I have another defective unit ?
I can test it for a month (remains 2 weeks) and send it if I'm not satisfied.
I should buy a CST and compare it myself but leaving in Belgium, I can't find it easily.
Your comments are MORE THAN welcome.
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BTW it's SlimBlade, not SlingBlade.
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I have a slimblade and use it almost daily on a dual screen setup (17'' landscape + 19'' portrait).
The behavior it has is absolutely normal, it won't continue rolling until you stop it, otherwise you would lose a lot in terms of precision. If it doesn't go as fast as you need, your best bet is to download trackballworks and configure it at max speed. If you use a mouse next to it, it shouldn't be a problem as long as it is for gaming purpose. Otherwise you might be annoyed because trackballworks overrides the Windows scrolling speed to put it at minimum value, to ensure it doesn't affect the trackball.
The major difference in that aspect is that the CST uses native Windows settings.
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Probably gonna pick up a Kensington Expert today. I've been on the edge and can't find a mouse I like.
Is there a reason you chose the SlimBlade over the Expert?
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I have a slimblade and use it almost daily on a dual screen setup (17'' landscape + 19'' portrait).
The behavior it has is absolutely normal, it won't continue rolling until you stop it, otherwise you would lose a lot in terms of precision. If it doesn't go as fast as you need, your best bet is to download trackballworks and configure it at max speed. If you use a mouse next to it, it shouldn't be a problem as long as it is for gaming purpose. Otherwise you might be annoyed because trackballworks overrides the Windows scrolling speed to put it at minimum value, to ensure it doesn't affect the trackball.
The major difference in that aspect is that the CST uses native Windows settings.
Thanks a lot for your answer. I'll probably stick to the Slimblade.
I increased the cursor speed and set the acceleration at its maximum.
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I personally like it very much, hope you will appreciate it too.
If you wish to have some inertia, there is an option to do so for scrolling in trackballworks. I use it to scroll fast and eventually stop the ball by turning it slightly backwards. As precision is not so much a matter when scrolling it suits me perfectly.
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BTW it's SlimBlade, not SlingBlade.
(http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTM4MDMwNTMwOF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwNTMzODgyMQ@@._V1_SY317_CR4,0,214,317_.jpg)
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I was using an evoluent mouse and I found that the trackball is a great improvement for my elbow but is not so nice for my wrist as it tend to tilt your wrist upward.
From the table to the top of the SlimBlade, it is about 5 cm (2").
How much is it from the table to the top of the CST ?
If it is about the same, I might invest into the CST for the build quality. If it is higher, I would stay with the SlimBlade.
I can still return for free my SlimBlade (that costed around 80€) to Amazon and order a CST for around 120€ (shipment to Belgium included).
By the way, I find the scrolling of the SlimBlade really nice.
Thanks.
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I was using an evoluent mouse and I found that the trackball is a great improvement for my elbow but is not so nice for my wrist as it tend to tilt your wrist upward.
From the table to the top of the SlimBlade, it is about 5 cm (2").
How much is it from the table to the top of the CST ?
If it is about the same, I might invest into the CST for the build quality. If it is higher, I would stay with the SlimBlade.
I can still return for free my SlimBlade (that costed around 80€) to Amazon and order a CST for around 120€ (shipment to Belgium included).
By the way, I find the scrolling of the SlimBlade really nice.
Thanks.
theres a good comparison video
it looks like the Ltrac's ball sits higher up and it has less surface exposed (at the same time it has more DPI, like 4x more dpi)
~5:30 he talks about how the difference in angle is and how the slimblade has more surface of the trackball exposed, which i thought would be a good thing but it may be a bad thing due to how much you might find you tilting your hand to left and right (ive caught myself doing it)
i really want to try the ltrac because of the higher dpi and dpi adjustment, but i like how the slimblade sits lower, the scrolling is great, and really a big thing for me because i have dirty hands sometimes...it's easier to clean the slimblade. I just don't think its worth me dropping that amount of money to try out something. I already did that for the Slimblade and i was making a gamble.
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I will agree that the LTrac sits a little high for my taste. I will, at some point, cut into my keyboard shelf to ease that a little bit.
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I just measured the CST Ltrac, and the top sits about 2 5/8 inches from the table. The slanted front part does reduce the wrist angle. I tend to move the trackball with my thumb, so the forward position of the scroll wheel is less of an issue.
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After using the Slimblade for a few more weeks i really can't go back to a mouse though i am forced to with fps gaming to use my mouse because it just seems impossible to play fps with the slimblade. Starcraft 2 works fine with it though.
its far from perfect though
The dpi could be higher and it would be nice if the software allowed you to map the top 2 buttons to dpi/sensitivity adjustment.
The slimblade base and buttons is really slippery and when you use it for 12-16 hours daily like i do it requires some regular cleaning. Yes this does mean i'm a bit nasty for having sweaty palms but i cant help it! :(
its not as smooth as i remember it when i started using it, it makes kind of a scratchy sound sometimes and i keep cleaning it thinking it will help but it doesn't.
also it does feel lower in build quality compared to my other input peripherals like my sturdy keyboards.
I always love adding new stuff to my computer; i just feel like the full size trackball technology could be better but i haven't found any news of a kensington successor to the expert or slimblade and other brands don't seem to have any plans for anything extraordinary. I'm fearing that the Ltrac and Slimblade are like the final designs of full size trackballs. Shame i joined the game so late.
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I always love adding new stuff to my computer; i just feel like the full size trackball technology could be better but i haven't found any news of a kensington successor to the expert or slimblade and other brands don't seem to have any plans for anything extraordinary. I'm fearing that the Ltrac and Slimblade are like the final designs of full size trackballs. Shame i joined the game so late.
Trackball innovations just seems to have stalled. I can only think of three companies--Kensington, CST, and Logitech--making a variety of trackballs, and the CST seems to be the only one with strong build quality. But I haven't looked at the market above the price point of the CST, so maybe I'm forgetting a few out there.
Regardless, I'm the biggest fan of the Rollermouse, but it doesn't work well with my ergonomic keyboards.
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its not as smooth as i remember it when i started using it, it makes kind of a scratchy sound sometimes and i keep cleaning it thinking it will help but it doesn't.
The guy that convinced me to try the Slimblade suggested to use some vaselin on the bearing to make the trackball roll smoother.
I tried it this morning and redid it this afternoon and it is much better.
I guess, I need to do it every time I clean the trackball.
Do not use oil or you will mess up your trackball.
You may use silicon oil but I did not try it.
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Scrolling is confusing. But I think it is something to do wthi the software - google chrome, IE, winword, other programs seem to scroll differently resulting in some slow and some fast scrolls.
it's smooth, haven't gotten used to scrolling by turning like that though
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After using the Slimblade for a few more weeks i really can't go back to a mouse though i am forced to with fps gaming to use my mouse because it just seems impossible to play fps with the slimblade. Starcraft 2 works fine with it though.
Matter of practice and getting used to it. I think it took me around 2 months to nearly adapt to it perfectly, granted I was running on the smaller orbit which has much less precision due to the smaller ball. I still have a mouse hooked up but I never touch it any more... Borderlands, Minecraft (ok not much of a FPS), World of Tanks work great with the slimblade.
Scrolling is decent once you get used to it... If you came from the lower end products from kensington (in my case, the orbit with scroll wheel), it reacts in an identical manner; you can just glide your finger around the ball's bezel and it will be nearly perfect for scrolling. It gets to the point where you get used to also resting a finger at the top of the ball to prevent cursor movements and scrolling is effortless.
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I was right to buy the Slimblade!
I thought the LTRAC was not as well designed because you have to keep reaching over to get at the middle mouse button and the scroll wheel. It's much better to keep my hand in the same place and pivot the ball for scrolling.
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I have had the slimblade trackball for the last 9 months and I really like it. I mainly got it to reduce the strain on my finger tendons. I can left click with my thumb and (vertically) scroll by moving the ball with multiple fingers at once. I use Linux and I find the default button behaviour ideal (bottom row - left click, right click, top row - middle button and back).
Unfortunately, it seems that the device has slowly stopped working. The movement is not registered at all (so there is also no scrolling 'click' sound), although the buttons still work. Sometimes I had to remove bits of fluff from around the sensors, but in those cases the movement was there, just not very accurate. When I plug the device in, I can hear a faint click, perhaps made by the same speaker as for the scrolling sound. I've had this issue before, and it seems to have resolved after trying the trackball with a few different computers. Now nothing helps.
Has anyone experienced a similar problem? I am trying to contact Kensington customer service, but it's a bit slow. I am thinking of getting the Expert mouse in the meantime, but I am not very keen on the high profile.
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The guy that convinced me to try the Slimblade suggested to use some vaselin on the bearing to make the trackball roll smoother.
What kind of Vaseline did you use? The liquid kind? Or just the stuff you put on your dry lips?
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I'm a trackball freak. If I like a particular trackball - I tend to buy multiples - in case it gets discontinued. ( CST Ltrac 3200 DPI for instance). I have 2 Ltrac for gaming on my Xbox 360. I have several Kensington Expert Trackball for backup and 1 Slimblade - which I can't get used to because the top 2 buttons are unusable unless - I install and configure it on Mouseworks. So it stays in the box. My Expert gets majority of the use.
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its not as smooth as i remember it when i started using it, it makes kind of a scratchy sound sometimes and i keep cleaning it thinking it will help but it doesn't.
The guy that convinced me to try the Slimblade suggested to use some vaselin on the bearing to make the trackball roll smoother.
I tried it this morning and redid it this afternoon and it is much better.
I guess, I need to do it every time I clean the trackball.
Do not use oil or you will mess up your trackball.
You may use silicon oil but I did not try it.
Hi, I'm the guy who made that youtube video on the previous page. The simplest way to make the trackball's rolling smooth is to pick up the ball and just roll it around in your hands and rub it for a bit. The natural oils from your hand will give it a bit of lubrication. I'm entirely serious and learned this from someone else who did this with his trackballs.
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its not as smooth as i remember it when i started using it, it makes kind of a scratchy sound sometimes and i keep cleaning it thinking it will help but it doesn't.
The guy that convinced me to try the Slimblade suggested to use some vaselin on the bearing to make the trackball roll smoother.
I tried it this morning and redid it this afternoon and it is much better.
I guess, I need to do it every time I clean the trackball.
Do not use oil or you will mess up your trackball.
You may use silicon oil but I did not try it.
Hi, I'm the guy who made that youtube video on the previous page. The simplest way to make the trackball's rolling smooth is to pick up the ball and just roll it around in your hands and rub it for a bit. The natural oils from your hand will give it a bit of lubrication. I'm entirely serious and learned this from someone else who did this with his trackballs.
Unless you have greasy hands it might be a better idea to roll the ball around your nose, if you have greasy hair that works fine as well.
Might want to check on the bearings every now and then just to make sure they don't gather gunk. I've heard you should do this quite often but mine never seem to gather any gunk at all.
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I have slightly oily hands, and I have to clean the little nubs inside the housing pretty much daily. When there's a decent amount of buildup it can affect the feel of the trackball pretty dramatically.
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Have never used yet.
Someday I want to try using.
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Hi, I'm the guy who made that youtube video on the previous page. The simplest way to make the trackball's rolling smooth is to pick up the ball and just roll it around in your hands and rub it for a bit. The natural oils from your hand will give it a bit of lubrication. I'm entirely serious and learned this from someone else who did this with his trackballs.
That was a very informative and nicely done video. I have been a Kensington Expert Mouse user for years, beginning with the 2 button model, and they have served me extremely well. I was curious about the CST trackball and the difficulty in cleaning it. Unless the bearings are better sealed than the Kensington, it would appear that routine cleaning would be a hassle, as the housing has to be unscrewed and taken apart. Is that indeed the case?
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I just got a Slimblade this week and I really enjoy using so far. The scrolling is a great feature, along with the two button click options and Trackball works software.
Compared to the CST LTrac that I previously owned, the Slimblade has a lower profile, a more efficient scrolling feature, more flexibilty, and better aesthetics. Also, my wrist sits at a more comfortable angle, The CST takes the cake on build quality and the on-the-fly DPI adjustment, but I find the Slimblade superior in every other aspect.
So over the months, I have owned a CST, Slimblade, Rollermouse Pro, and Rollermouse Free. Overall, I like the Rollermouse the best, but they are not very compatible with the ergo boards that I prefer to use. I might purchase the new Rollermouse Red, but I need to lay off keyboard purchases for awhile.
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I got a new slimblade in the mail today. The ball was very sticky and even squeaky at first, but it's okay after few hours. I have a bit mixed feelings about buttons as well. They're a bit plasticy sounding and stiff when pressed anywhere but at the narrow part on the side. There should have been some dots like on FJ keycaps.
BTW works fine on GNU/Linux (Fedora 19 KDE spin).
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I received my slim blade just as couple of days ago and absolutely smitten. Agree that the enclosure feels cheap plasticky and for the money invested i expected better. I am clicking mostly on a trackpad using left hand but toying with idea of adding mouse event buttons to the centre blank area of my kinesis.
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Definitely not a liquid one. Not a lipstick.
I found some kind of pasta in a DIY shop.
Edit: that was a reply to #40 :-/
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its not as smooth as i remember it when i started using it, it makes kind of a scratchy sound sometimes and i keep cleaning it thinking it will help but it doesn't.
The guy that convinced me to try the Slimblade suggested to use some vaselin on the bearing to make the trackball roll smoother.
I tried it this morning and redid it this afternoon and it is much better.
I guess, I need to do it every time I clean the trackball.
Do not use oil or you will mess up your trackball.
You may use silicon oil but I did not try it.
Hi, I'm the guy who made that youtube video on the previous page. The simplest way to make the trackball's rolling smooth is to pick up the ball and just roll it around in your hands and rub it for a bit. The natural oils from your hand will give it a bit of lubrication. I'm entirely serious and learned this from someone else who did this with his trackballs.
Very good video, informative and enjoyable.
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After using the Slimblade for a few more weeks i really can't go back to a mouse though i am forced to with fps gaming to use my mouse because it just seems impossible to play fps with the slimblade. Starcraft 2 works fine with it though.
Matter of practice and getting used to it. I think it took me around 2 months to nearly adapt to it perfectly, granted I was running on the smaller orbit which has much less precision due to the smaller ball. I still have a mouse hooked up but I never touch it any more... Borderlands, Minecraft (ok not much of a FPS), World of Tanks work great with the slimblade.
Scrolling is decent once you get used to it... If you came from the lower end products from kensington (in my case, the orbit with scroll wheel), it reacts in an identical manner; you can just glide your finger around the ball's bezel and it will be nearly perfect for scrolling. It gets to the point where you get used to also resting a finger at the top of the ball to prevent cursor movements and scrolling is effortless.
I agree. After practicing for a while, I found the slimblade fine for gaming.
The only thing stopping me however is the left click behaving strangely in some games.
For example in FF14, I need to double click for it to register as a normal single click.
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I got a new slimblade in the mail today. I have a bit mixed feelings about buttons as well. They're a bit plasticy sounding and stiff when pressed anywhere but at the narrow part on the side.
I also found the button feel to be less than ideal. There is a sweet spot on the sides where the button feel is better. Other than that the Slimblade is a nice trackball. Because I changed the trackball switches in my ErgoDox/trackball setup, the bad switches are just a distant memory.
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I am waiting to pick up my Trackball at the post office tomorrow, looking forward to try it out. Never used a Trackball type of pointing device before, so this will be a new.
Edit:
So I've got my SlimBlade now and it feels very well built. So now I am getting used to using it as a pointing device instead of my mouse. First thing that is annoying me a bit is, when going from moving the mouse and you want to click something, just touching the ball can move the pointer away from the thing you are trying to click. Also I find it hard to point at small things. Hopefully that will go away with some training.
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How do you cope with precision on Trackballs? Right now I am experimenting with the built-in slow pointer speed shortcut in the Kensington software, because when using the pointer at normal speeds it just overshoots the target I want to click on. So to get the precision the speed of the pointer must go down.
I have been thinking that it might be a good idea with acceleration on this type of input device, so at low speeds it is super accurate and at higher speeds you can get to where you want it to be quickly.
How do you use your Trackball?
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I keep the acceleration set all the way up in Trackballworks. I don't find that I need to use the slow speed function when the pointer speed is set at about 75%.
It may take a little time to get use to it if you are coming from a mouse. A mouse is probably a bit more intuitive and faster but I find the ergo benefits outweighs a few negatives.
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Going to try it with Acceleration now. But as I said I find it very hard to control it precisely when the mouse speed is high, so I think I am staring off by having it a like 1/3 pointer speed and full accel to see how that works out.
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Yeah, so it seems like Acceleration is the way to go for me as well, even though I do not like it on a regular mouse, it makes much sense on a Trackball. This way you can be very precise at low speeds and move quickly around the screen when you need to. Works pretty well for me.