I'm contemplating buying a new rodent for my PC, and am seriously contemplating a new trackball. Any suggestions or pros and cons for trackballs versus mice?

A friend of mine got one about a year ago, and he loves it. Having tried it out, I can say it takes some getting used to.

Given the types of motions involved, I can't say if it will improve the RSI problem at all, but I can say that most of the benefits of a good trackball device can be achieved with a quality optical mouse (such as the Logitech Optical Mouse).

Having tried an optical, I'll never go back - no more cleaning mouse balls, or cursing the sticky cursor when DeathMatching. :D

I'm using a Logitech optical right now, but on a 22" screen I find that I often have troubles moving the mouse from one side to the other even with all of the acceleration and speed controls set at their highest.
I use a Logitech trackball at work and find that with just a flick of my forefinger I can scoot the pointer to the opposite side of the screen quite effortlessly, but that's on a 19" monitor.
The part I'm unsure about is home use. For spreadsheets and documents the trackball is the cat's ass, but I'm unsure about the occasional game or general browsing.

My friend, who is an avid gamer and uses his machine extensively for video editing, has zero problems with it. I think you could take that as a recommendation. :D

I would think that the trackball would give you enough control to avoid any sensitivity problems.

Thanks, I appreciate your input. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I used a trackball to mix an album once. I hated it. Really annoying. The ball was on the side, just for the thumb. Really really annoying.

I use a Logitech Dual Optical Mouseman--awesome!

Also, I use a Wacom 9x12 Graphics tablet--REALLY cool for drawing, but also for surfing the web [img]smile.gif[/img]

I am using a Logitech wheel mouse optical (red) and it is very good so far. I am currently playing NOLF2 and the mouse works quite well.

[ 01-12-2003, 03:26 AM: Message edited by: Paladin2000 ]

The size of the monitor has nothing to do with moving your mouse. Its all about screen resolution (which, admittedly, you can set higher on large screens and still see it)

I have an MS Intellimouse Explorer (optical, 4 button + wheel), and I can't use other mice anymore (well, ones with balls anyway). if you're going to have a mouse, definately go for optical, reguardless of what PC mag reviewers say.

On the trackball side, they take a lot of getting used to. My mate loves trackballs, I hate them. I'd recomend getting a cheap one if you wanna try it, use it for a while to see if you can deal with the weird movements and then get a good one if you like it. otherwise, MS intellimouse explorer, or Logitech dual optical are probably the best choices out there (but you pay for them)

I suppose it depends on what programs you intend to use it for. It should work well for most any application with one notable exception. Any game that requires lightning mouse reflexes (I refer mainly, but not exclusively, to 1st person shooters) is unplayable with anything more (less?) than a good ol' fashioned mouse. Optical and track balls just don't cut it.

That said, you could always keep that sodding grime collecter tucked away for those special homicidal holidays. Unless, of course, you're not a quaker, in which case you could say farewell to your old mouse and lovingly carress your new digital input and use it to create pretty flowers and love hearts and fairies (yeah! lots of those!) all over your screen and live happily ever-

Erm..

Time for my holiday.