CST - hot or not?

[MarkWilliamson]

Hi all,

I'm considering purchasing a CST L-Trac but I've got mixed messages from the reviews I've found here, on Deskthority and on the wider Internet.  Everyone does seem to agree that it's quite a nice rodent - and lots of people do speak up to say how pleased they are with it.

I've also seen complaints by some new users that it seems light and cheap, seemingly contradicting some other reviews that call it high quality or built "like a tank".  (I'm also a bit surprised that with that massive ball in the thing could be *that* light; presumably the casing seems flimsy to some...).  I use a Maltron (which I bought at a substantially reduced price), so I'm aware that good input devices can be surprisingly light (and flexy) - but I'd like to have an idea what to expect before I put down money.  Are these really light / cheap feeling, or is it just a case of people expecting Model M solidity?  Are they at least solidly put together?  Do they feel nice in the hand?

The other thing, which did surprise me a little, were users reporting that it didn't move smoothly, or offered different resistance in different directions.  Maybe that is something that just goes away with use?

Other than that, it sounds like a CST would be a good bet for me.  I can't afford a CH trackball, they're just ridiculously expensive - even before the import duties are added on.  My Logitech Marble Mouse (which I still really like) is going to move to a secondary computer, probably...

Thanks in advance for your help!
Mark

[funkymeeba]

My opinion on the L-Trac: Awesome.

I don't find the casing feels cheap. Yes, it's plastic, but I wouldn't call it light. It feels solid enough to take a little beating. I wouldn't recommend beating it, though, because such a nice device deserves your love and respect. It's definitely nice in the hand, but due to its size, I would like to have it sit a bit lower than the keyboard is. I may have to mod my desk for this.

I don't have weird issues with resistance varying by direction. It did have that feeling a little bit, though, when it first showed up. Probably just takes a slight bit of breaking in.

One thing that gets a lot of complaints is the scroll wheel position. I don't have issue, but maybe I'm just using mine a little different than everyone else is. I keep my L-Trac at an angle (maybe 10 degrees clockwise) to the right of my keyboard. I use my thumb for the left mouse button, index (and to an extent, middle) for moving the ball, middle for scrolling and middle click, and ring for right click. Am I strange for doing this?

[rsantos97]

I had two of them at different times and wound up selling one and returning the other. To me they felt like they had excellent costruction and felt high quality. The reason I got rid of them is because of the position of the scroll wheel. Very un-ergonamic. It is something that I use too often. The scroll wheel is to far back to reach comfortably. I am using a Kensington SlimBlade and really like it.

[vivalarevolución]

I am happy with the quality.  I have used some Kensington products, I feel like the CST is better quality than the Kensington products.

I tend to use my thumb for the trackball rather than my fingers because it puts my wrist in a more comfortable position.  Then I use my index or middle finger to use the scroll wheel.  I find that much easier than using my fingers for scrolling.

But I agree with another poster than said the scroll wheel is positioned too far up on the device.  If one uses their fingers to scroll, they have to move their hand forward to reach the scroll wheel.

I also am a Rollermouse user, and I find that to be the best input device that I have used.  However, the Rollermouse is difficult to use with the Kinesis Advantage, my home keyboard at the moment, because of the height differential between the keyboard and the rollerbar.   

[MarkWilliamson]

I've now got a CST - I'm tentatively happy with it.  Certainly I find it has a high quality feel - it's pretty heavy, along with its hugeness.  To my surprise, I'm actually using the highest available resolution (1600dpi) and would probably use 3200dpi, if it were still available (I understand that model has been discontinued).  I may write more as I get more experience.

Thank you, everyone, for your advice.

[Alex]

I'm not completely happy with my CST2545-5XW-RC Trackball. There is a point where it sort of gets "stuck" and then jumps to get unstuck. And the rolling is a bit loud and not as smooth as I thought it would.
I'm almost considering looking into replacing some parts if that's a possibility. Rolling diagonally seems uneven to rolling in straight directions.

But I have never really used any other trackball, so I can't tell if this is flaws with my specific unit, the CST overall or if they're all characteristics of trackball usage overall.

I've tried cleaning it according to the instructions on the CST page, without much improvement.

Here's a little cellphone video of the sound it makes, not sure if one can make any conclusion from it.

[MarkWilliamson]

Here's a little cellphone video of the sound it makes, not sure if one can make any conclusion from it.

Sounds pretty loud to me!  I don't think mine is as loud; I've also not noticed a significant difference in rolling resistance with diagonal motion.  I might be able to have another check tomorrow, when I'm back in the office.

Equally, I don't find the CST ball rolls much more easily than in my Logitech Marble Mouse.  The Marble does get stiffer when the plastic / teflon pads supporting the ball get dirty - the CST is supposed to be less vulnerable to this, so maybe I'll find its performance more consistent.  Neither trackball will spin for very long, even if I start it off with quite a fast rotation.  In fairness, if the resistance was much lower I suppose I might lose some precision.

The main advantage with the CST is I don't need to "fling" the ball to traverse my screen - the higher DPI makes it easier to get there with just fingertip motion.  I like the left and right button placement and I like the scroll wheel; the middle button is surprisingly awkward, though.  I'll have to attach some more buttons to the jack plugs and see if I can make things more convenient for myself.

[blueSmoke]

That sounds like the bearing is toast or needs cleaning/lube. As far as I remember (dont have one, still looking to buy one at cheap price), CST brochures mention a sealed delrin bearing, so may be either the steel roller is stuck to the bearing OR the bearing is stuck to the holding brackets. Anyway I have a similar mechanism on a old trackball and it makes the exact sound from two seized bearings rolling inside its holding plastic bracket.
Things that can clog the bearings: thin pet hair, skin flakes(the white-ish dust you see around laptops are mostly these), carpet tissues (yes, these are even thinner than cat hair and can clog anything) etc.

good luck fixing that.

[Alex]

That sounds like the bearing is toast or needs cleaning/lube. As far as I remember (dont have one, still looking to buy one at cheap price), CST brochures mention a sealed delrin bearing, so may be either the steel roller is stuck to the bearing OR the bearing is stuck to the holding brackets. Anyway I have a similar mechanism on a old trackball and it makes the exact sound from two seized bearings rolling inside its holding plastic bracket.
Things that can clog the bearings: thin pet hair, skin flakes(the white-ish dust you see around laptops are mostly these), carpet tissues (yes, these are even thinner than cat hair and can clog anything) etc.

good luck fixing that.

Thanks. Upon opening it up, there was no visible "gunk" in the bearings, I did not dare to wipe them since I suspected that might remove the lube that is there. All bearing seems to roll as well.

I have now mailed CST, asking if it would be possible to get/buy replacement bearings.

[blueSmoke]

On further check my trackball was a old mouse-trak one that had the trackball attached to two thin spindles (x & y axis), each spindle supported by 2 sealed roller bearings on both ends. The bearings were seized and rolling inside the mounting studs and making sound.

The only other cause may be that the trackball may had some hard top-coat that is coming off at some places OR the spindle is slightly worn (visibly?) at the contact points. Otherwise try cleaning the ball in soap water, dry it and spread very little petroleum jelly/lip balm etc over the trackball, wipe it thoroughly and check again. If the sound gets reduced then it may be the ball or the ball-roller contact area. Then no option other than to contact CST.

[Alex]

I linked the video to CST, as well as describing my problems, and they will now send me a replacement kit of the rollers. So, I suppose it is not intended to have those problems

I will get back to this thread with the results when I receive them.

[Alex]

Yep, smooth rolling with my new rollers! 
The older ones were definitely the issue.

CST even included some lube in a bag, thumbs up for their customer support!

[Tylerbrainerd]

I've been happy with mine since I got it. I had a Logitech marble mouse before, but I wanted a trackball with a larger ball. I actually sort of like the scroll wheel, other than I wish it had a higher resolution and I wish it would roll a bit easier. But I like it's placement quite a bit.

The thing to remember is that the l-tracs are intended as accesibility pointing devices, which is why it has the overlarge buttons and such.

[tayot]

Yea I got Ltrac also - love it. I have 2 of the 3200DPI before they were discontinued. I always buy backups. I use it mostly for gaming on my Xbox360 with a keyboard because of the higher dpi.