Hmm... checked the 3dconnexion Spaceball, looks quite interesting. But no Mac support. And $549 - play the blues...
I'm based in Europe too. And back in 2003 the only way to get Kensington's Expert Mouse was ordering it from the US. In the meantime Amazon's European sites have it listed too. In case you wonna check back in a while, on amazon.com are tons of (mostly) useful reviews. So i learned f. ex. that the wireless version is a serious battery hog... oh well. Just enter "Expert Mouse" and you will find them.
Hmmm... don't wonna sound like being into a Logitech vs Kensington discussion. Truth is that i'm only familiar with the Kensington Expert Mouse. And that one has, instead of a scroll WHEEL, a scroll RING. That's a big ring placed around the huge ball. So for scrolling you kinda just "slap" it to the left or to the right. I (this might be personal) find that action more 'human' than turning a wheel. And f. ex. finding a cue point (in a video) that way looks ideal for me.
The only thing that i'm misssing here is: acceleration sensitivity. Like when i'm hitting the scroll ring fast that it would scroll faster/move larger distances.
That's interesting...
The bonus of the Kensington Mouseworks software - allowing to configure the 4 + 2 buttons INDIVIDUALLY for each application - indeed is priceless. I do a lot of surfing the web, a few hours every day. So i configured all my browsers that way:
- lower left button: default
- lower right button: default (context menu)
- upper left button: open link in new tab
- upper right button: close tab
- chord click (lower buttons clicked simultaneously): go back
That gives me a very instant and relaxed surfing experience
Or, different example: Quicktime, what i'm using a lot too, by default scrolls horizontally (the video). Very kool indeed.
BTW: chord clicking the two upper buttons i'm not using - the 4 buttons are positioned around the huge ball and that's why the 2 upper buttons are not that easy accessible... oh well.
Anyway, i'm that much used to this environment that even on train rides i'm always navigating my 12" iBook with the Expert Mouse. And the Expert Mouse is nearly bigger than my iBook. Well, not exactly LOL
I too am using the Kensington's trackball oddly named Expert Mouse since something like 3 years. With spending 10-12 hours per day at my system i knew i needed a different input device. Took me a longer research because i also wanted to get:
(1) - an optical sensor (= less cleaning)
(2) - a scroll wheel or ring
(3) - the ball moved by my fingers (not the thumb)
(4) - multiple (programmable) buttons
In the end the Expert Mouse remained as the only option. And i'm more than happy with it. The whole device is rather huge, meaning that your hand lies flat over it. The 4 buttons are quite big too and very easy clickable. And i'm using my thumb only for right-clicks. All in all it's the least stressing device i've ever used. Should mention however that it took me a couple of days to get used to this huge ball - after getting the habit to roll it with both my pointer finger and middle finger that problem was history too
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Hmm... checked the 3dconnexion Spaceball, looks quite interesting. But no Mac support. And $549 - play the blues...
I'm based in Europe too. And back in 2003 the only way to get Kensington's Expert Mouse was ordering it from the US. In the meantime Amazon's European sites have it listed too. In case you wonna check back in a while, on amazon.com are tons of (mostly) useful reviews. So i learned f. ex. that the wireless version is a serious battery hog... oh well. Just enter "Expert Mouse" and you will find them.
Hmmm... don't wonna sound like being into a Logitech vs Kensington discussion. Truth is that i'm only familiar with the Kensington Expert Mouse. And that one has, instead of a scroll WHEEL, a scroll RING. That's a big ring placed around the huge ball. So for scrolling you kinda just "slap" it to the left or to the right. I (this might be personal) find that action more 'human' than turning a wheel. And f. ex. finding a cue point (in a video) that way looks ideal for me.
The only thing that i'm misssing here is: acceleration sensitivity. Like when i'm hitting the scroll ring fast that it would scroll faster/move larger distances.
That's interesting... The bonus of the Kensington Mouseworks software - allowing to configure the 4 + 2 buttons INDIVIDUALLY for each application - indeed is priceless. I do a lot of surfing the web, a few hours every day. So i configured all my browsers that way:
... oh well.
- lower left button: default
- lower right button: default (context menu)
- upper left button: open link in new tab
- upper right button: close tab
- chord click (lower buttons clicked simultaneously): go back
That gives me a very instant and relaxed surfing experience
Or, different example: Quicktime, what i'm using a lot too, by default scrolls horizontally (the video). Very kool indeed.
BTW: chord clicking the two upper buttons i'm not using - the 4 buttons are positioned around the huge ball and that's why the 2 upper buttons are not that easy accessible
Anyway, i'm that much used to this environment that even on train rides i'm always navigating my 12" iBook with the Expert Mouse. And the Expert Mouse is nearly bigger than my iBook. Well, not exactly LOL
I too am using the Kensington's trackball oddly named Expert Mouse since something like 3 years. With spending 10-12 hours per day at my system i knew i needed a different input device. Took me a longer research because i also wanted to get:
(1) - an optical sensor (= less cleaning)
(2) - a scroll wheel or ring
(3) - the ball moved by my fingers (not the thumb)
(4) - multiple (programmable) buttons
In the end the Expert Mouse remained as the only option. And i'm more than happy with it. The whole device is rather huge, meaning that your hand lies flat over it. The 4 buttons are quite big too and very easy clickable. And i'm using my thumb only for right-clicks. All in all it's the least stressing device i've ever used. Should mention however that it took me a couple of days to get used to this huge ball - after getting the habit to roll it with both my pointer finger and middle finger that problem was history too