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True Bluetooth Trackballs?
danaris asks: "I've been using a Logitech Cordless TrackMan with my PowerBook for some time now, and I'm very happy with it, except for one thing: I still have to plug it in. Not the trackball itself, of course, but the receiver. Now that I have a laptop with built-in Bluetooth, I'd really like to be able to use a trackball that doesn't -have- a receiver. However, after hours of searching, I found exactly one trackball (from MacMice) that uses Bluetooth, and it's not exactly what I'm looking for. It looks very awkward for someone used to the TrackMan, and (the killer) it only has 2 buttons. If I'm getting a brand-new Bluetooth trackball, I'm not settling for anything less than 4-5 buttons (the TrackMan has 8). So, has anyone else have better luck than me in finding such a thing?"
Keep the RF Trackball. Bluetooth is still funky on OS X. I hate the delay in waking from a sleep.
Don't mod me, bro'!!!!
First, you use a trackball. This begins to get on my nerves, but okay, different strokes for different folks.
Second, you want to use bluetooth, which is far less common than something more sensible, like a usb reciever.
Third, you want something with MORE buttons than is "standard", further limiting your options to less than 2.
Finally, you are unwilling to compromise on any of the existing solutions. This is nothing short of unreasonable.
Waaa waaa waaa, i have all these special needs that nobody else does and i want a product with x and y and z and w and theta and i want it under $5 and it needs to be made out of machined titanium and unobtainium and custom made just for me! And i'm not compromising on any of my demands (which are reasonable individually but absurd in sum) so thbbttbttthtbbtbt!
The reason these things don't exist is called "the market". Go back to econ 101 and ask a professor why there aren't cars with a kitchenette, flatbed, convertible roof and a hybrid engine, all in one.
Furthermore, why are you using a giant trackball (as opposed to a small wireless mouse) on a powerbook? If you are using this primarily at a desk, why does the cord or reciever matter? And if you are using a laptop because its portable, the trackball adds considerable size to your required-to-carry volume such that a usb reciever or cord is negligible.
I have Kensington's Expert Mouse (the black one) and it's wonderful but USB. My ThinkPad X31 has bluetooth and I would also love to have a wireless trackball..... I e-mailed them and they had no information on if they would make a bluetooth version or not.
:)
I've seen the RF wireless versoin and I don't like that the batteries run out evey few months. I have a docking station at my desk with the trackball plugged into it so I'm not even so sure how useful a wireless trackball would be for me. I mean, I'm not going ot carry the honking thing around with me.....
Ah well, just keeping on the fringe.....
-m
http://www.invisik.com
Mac OSX can use mice with one to infinite buttons. This isn't System 7.
Nothing for you to see here, Please move along.
I've actually been in the market for a Bluetooth trackball as well. Most of my home PC's peripherals are Bluetooth; my mouse, my keyboard, my printer... unfortunately, while I'd like to switch back to a trackball (I used to use a Cordless Trackman Optical for years), I've run into the exact same problem: apparently, they don't exist.
I've resigned myself to the fact that it's just not going to happen. Thankfully, wireless USB (as in the new standard, not an RF receiver that plugs into a USB port) products should be hitting the shelves this fall, from what I understand.
Here's to hoping Logitech jumps on board with the wireless USB and makes a Trackman variant that doesn't have that obnoxious receiver.
It's really clever. I'm not at home right now, so I can't give you the URL, but I'll follow up as soon as I get there.
Trackpads are one of the worst human input devices ever invented. I'm not sure why they're the de facto solution on laptops these days. They're hard to use, offer no direct feedback, etc, etc.
That said, why doesn't a computer company with human-computer interaction in mind develop a laptop with a trackball BUILT INTO the laptop?
It wouldn't take that much more space, if it was a very small trackball. It could perhaps stick out the right hand side (customizable for lefties?), so it wouldn't bump into the screen.
Anyways, i wish you luck in your search for a bluetooth trackball.
Do you really want a bluetooth anything these days?
Ha! Typical loss-of-functionality scenario that Apple keeps trying to force feed us. Some of us remember NeXTSTEP 3.3, which supported zero to infinite plus one mice- and hell, some of us still use it. This thing about mice and OS X- it's almost as bad as the lack of window/application remoting in OS X ala X11. OS X's ancestors had it, in NSHost and NXHost, but Apple decided not to reimplement that little nugget of joy when moving from Display PostScript to Quartz/Display PDF.
Now this! Oh, the injustice! Let's hope we get a tablet mac, that might make up for it.
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
How many buttons does your mouse have? With an upper limit of infinity, I'd say your mouse needs at least 10k buttons to be really cool.
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
sorry, but my post was a drugged-out joke. i mean, apple did drop the x11-like remote ability of {NS,NX}Host, but the rest of it was bullshit. heh. sorry!
Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad