Rating: Summary: A great trackball to make the switch from a mouse Review: Because of the way you drap your hand on this trackball, it feels very familier and natural for mice users. But, unlike mice, this requires no side-to-side movements of the wrist and therefore, is SO MUCH BETTER on your hands, wrists and arms.About five years ago, I was having all kinds of problems with my wrist. I looked up some info and picked up one of these. It was the best - and most inexpensive! - solution. Though it does have a slightl learning curve, it's really a lot less then you'd think. It's very comfortable and right away I noticed that my wrists never hurt anymore. I used this trackball happily at both home and work for five years (it lasted that long as well before it finally started to wear out). This year, I decided to upgrade to the slightly more complex Cordless Optical Trackman, but the Marble Mouse is still a GREAT input device. * It's small, doesn't take up desk space and doesn't require a mouse pad. * It's optical, so the ball is lightweight and sails easily with the slightest touch of your fingers. (You can control with software the speed of the cursor if you don't want it to move quite as zippy as perhaps I like it to go). * It's a very logical step up from a normal mouse and still gives the benefits of being ergonomic and comfortable. * It's a great laptop addition since it can be used on a lap or other small surface without the problems of a mouse. * It also has the benefit of being 100% right OR LEFT HAND usable. It's utterly neutral and can be used by either. I've always liked Logitech's trackballs and find them to be far superior to other ones on the market. I prefer the finger-controlled ball rather then the thumb-controlled ball since the thumb one caused a LOT of fatigue and actual pain in my thumb. It wasn't nearly as natural as this one is. Try it, give it a few days and you'll wonder how you ever got by with a regular mouse.
Rating: Summary: Superior trackball design Review: I've used many different types of trackballs, and this is one of the best. You use your index or middle finger to guide the trackball, which allows more fine motor control than using your thumb. Also, the optical sensor is very responsive. Most importantly, the ambidextrous design means that you can switch between right and left hand as needed. Other trackball designs are mainly for right-handed use, which is very limiting. The Logitech driver software is not really necessary, as the Windows XP driver seems to work fine and doesn't sit in your system tray taking up resources.
Rating: Summary: very comfy Review: this is a very comfortable, in-the-hand, slick and smooth mouse. It makes a great upgrade; I bought it for use with a Dell laptop that has only the trackpad, and personally I consider this mouse an essential add-on for it. Great product, and the price is right.
Rating: Summary: Works well on my iBook Review: I used this to replace the ergonomically-challenged trackpad on my iBook. It was much easier to use and I was pleased with it overall. The only reason I don't give it five stars is that if you have big hands (as I do) it is not completely comfortable - but I have the same problem with just about any pointing device I have ever tried. If your hands are normal-sized to small I think you'll like this very much. My colleague down the hall loves hers (she uses a desktop PC).
Rating: Summary: Returned it; couldn't get used to index finger trackball Review: I had this less than a day when I returned the product and went back to a traditional thumb-based trackball. I couldn't get used to the placement of the ball under the index finger and just couldn't get the kind of pointer precision I needed. Plus it felt uncomfortable. A lot of reviewers love this item but any individual should try it out first in an actual work environment to see if it is right or wrong for them.
Rating: Summary: My favorite mouse Review: Needs little desk space, never sticks, and my cat likes to chase the ball. Doesn't need mouseware to run, but install it anyway, it helps. Clean fuzz off three spots under the ball once in awhile.
Rating: Summary: No Fatigue, User Friendly, Very Mac Compatible Review: I will never use a traditional mouse again. I never liked using a mouse and have used trackpads for a few years. I like the Marble Mouse so much, that I now have 2 of them. I use a 500 ibook and an 800 ibook and the Marble Mouse works flawlessly (yes it does need occasional cleaning but not a problem at all... the marble lifts right out). Programming is easy and very functional (be sure to go to Logitech website for the latest update). The small scroll buttons are very cool. Just place the cursor anywhere in the window you are working on and you can scroll up and down with ease. Works great with Jaguar. I also have 2 Logitech Internet Navigator Keyboards that are fantastic. Same software is used for Marble and Keyboard. I am glad that Logitech supports Mac users in such an excellent manner.
Rating: Summary: 4 years and no turning back Review: I am at a computer almost all day long and about 4 years ago, I decided to try out the Logitech Optical Marble Mouse, because my arm and wrist were getting too tired from the old mouse. It took about 1 week to get used to it, but after that learning curve was through, I was so convinced, that I haven't used a mouse extensively since. In fact, when I started a new job, the first thing I did, was buy another Marble Mouse, so that I wouldn't have to struggle with a regular mouse at my workplace. Except in extreme situations, hand fatigue is a thing of the past for me and the marble mouse I bought four years ago is still working perfectly. One trick is to set it up so that the right button is the main button and the left button is the context button. In use, I press the right button with any combination of my pinkie, ring finger or middle finger. By distributing the clicking duties between three fingers, the muscle usage is more evenly distributed and repetative motion problems are not a problem. In fact the beauty of this design is that it is so simple that one is able to use it however you want to. Other trackballs that are overly molded to fit your hand end up causing problems because they force your hand to be in a particular position all day long. It is also easy to switch between left and right hand use -- though I almost always use right hand. I do have to clean it during the day, but this is extremely easy. Basically I just pick the ball out of its socket and flick away any dirt that has built up. It takes about 15 seconds and no special cleaning solutions or anything. If I was running a company, I would make everyone try one of these out for a week. They are amazing computing tools and would be standard issue for all computers if I ran the world.
Rating: Summary: Would buy another if this ever failed. Review: I have used an older version of this model for over five years. I love not having to have a mouse pad any longer, and that it doesn't roll around on my desk. I put it where it is comfortable for my arm and it stays. I don't have to move my whole arm around any longer. I would say the only drawback is that my daughter wanted to play with the ball, but that was easily corrected.
Rating: Summary: Jittery when it comes to precision work Review: For the most part, this mouse works great. But whenever I try to move the mouse slowly, it bounces all around. This could be due to the fact that you have to clean this mouse more often that you would think. Unless you wash your hands everytime before using it, expect to flick out the dirt at least once everyday. It's a minor nuisance, but it does get irritating. The software is also rather user-unfriendly, I've had to reinstall it several times.
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