I could not agree with you any more. They had two trackballs in their lineup and they dropped the better one of the two. I cover up the MS logos with stickers.;)
I have 6 of these, never had one fail, although they do get a little sticky after a few years of Unreal Tournament. (The little steel standoffs get a flat spot from rough use) My last one I bought on eBay just last week and it went for almost $120 with shipping. Worth every penny to keep one of those at my disposal. Are you saying the MS company store still carries these things??? I have a friend who is an ex-MS employee, who can still get access to the Co store!!!
I have been an avid trackball user for almost 5 years now. My favorite pointing device is the Microsoft Trackball Explorer (Discontinued as of this writing) recently got one used for twice what a new one would have cost 5 years ago. I have used the Kensington and found it to be almost as good as the Trackball Explorer, but the buttons are not placed as well. I agree that the ones with the smaller balls under the thumb to be not as good of a design. Also agree that trackballs make the ultimate gaming controllers, especially for FPS style games. I used to get bad cramps and soreness in my neck after hours of gaming/mousing. Once I switched to the trackball they all vanished.
I also am curious as to why this technology seems to be getting passed over for inferior solutions.
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I could not agree with you any more. They had two trackballs in their lineup and they dropped the better one of the two. I cover up the MS logos with stickers. ;)
I have 6 of these, never had one fail, although they do get a little sticky after a few years of Unreal Tournament. (The little steel standoffs get a flat spot from rough use) My last one I bought on eBay just last week and it went for almost $120 with shipping. Worth every penny to keep one of those at my disposal. Are you saying the MS company store still carries these things??? I have a friend who is an ex-MS employee, who can still get access to the Co store!!!
I have been an avid trackball user for almost 5 years now. My favorite pointing device is the Microsoft Trackball Explorer (Discontinued as of this writing) recently got one used for twice what a new one would have cost 5 years ago. I have used the Kensington and found it to be almost as good as the Trackball Explorer, but the buttons are not placed as well. I agree that the ones with the smaller balls under the thumb to be not as good of a design. Also agree that trackballs make the ultimate gaming controllers, especially for FPS style games. I used to get bad cramps and soreness in my neck after hours of gaming/mousing. Once I switched to the trackball they all vanished. I also am curious as to why this technology seems to be getting passed over for inferior solutions.