How does a trackball compare to a mouse, RSI-wise?

[NewbieOneKenobi]

As the title goes. As a bonus, you could tell me if you can still keep up with regular mouse dudes when playing multiplayer RTS games with one.

[Daniel Beaver]

I can't say anything about RSI, but I know a guy who plays Starcraft and Unreal Tournament fairly competently with a trackball.

[jpc]

No idea about gaming but for desktop use, my KEM v7 is my daily driver now. It's a joy to use, there's no sacrifice in speed or accuracy compared to a mouse.

Mice are less comfortable for me than they used to be. I'm old and falling apart. That's why I got started with trackballs.

I could not get used to the shape of the Clearly Superior Trackball, so it's for sale. Lots of people on geekhack like the CST L-Trac which is the same shape. It's an individual thing.

[microsoft windows]

For RSI, it's best to use both, switching every hour or so.

[NewbieOneKenobi]

Thankee. I've just bought one keyboard with a touchpad and another with a trackball, so maybe that will suffice for most of the mouse needs, i.e. whatever I do when using translation software and text editors (I typically use keyboard keys for selecting text). I might be having the same thing with mice: just no longer as good as they used to be. I have an A4tech X7 that certainly isn't the king of mice but is surely a good rodent and no matter what amount of weight I give or take using the weights attached, including zero load and very little weight, it's not good. It probably hurts less when using half load than when using none. The one I had before, a small wireless Logitech, gave me quite a lot of RSI.

[chrs]

For me, a large trackball (Kensington "Expert Mouse") is better than small trackballs or mice.  Better yet--put it on the floor and operate with my feet.

[Shawn Stanford]

I have a Trackman Wheel at work and a Creative Velocity mouse at home. The trackball is far more comfortable because I tend to rest the pad of my hand against the desk while using the mouse, leading to numbness.

Also, I've used both index finger trackballs and thumb trackballs and I prefer thumb. The finger trackballs made my index finger; your fingers weren't designed to go left and right like that.