Rating: 
Summary: Great Mouse
Review: I purchased this mouse after having a earlier version of this mouse except that one wasn't optical. This mouse is great. It works well with any software. My greatest use for this mouse is for my game playing. I play SOF2 online and this mouse has worked wonders for me. Its programmable buttons are great. Overall trackballs are much easier and more comfortable than regular mice. Microsoft has created a great buy!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Not Accurate
Review: I have used a trackball since 1991. I got this product because I got a new computer and wanted something else new. I like the button options and the wheel that can be accellerated. However, these pros do not compensate for the poor accuracy. As I had read in other reviews, the ball will stick unless you press hard on it sometimes. It's hard to explain, but there are times when your thumb glides across the ball without the ball moving. So you have to press harder, but the bushings (little pins that support the ball) will hold the ball in place. The result is jerky performance. I reconnected a couple of old Logitech trackballs and could not reproduce this effect. Yes, I do regularly clean the Microsoft ball as well.
It isn't the optics or anything electronic, it is simply the makeup of the ball and bushing.
Good Luck
AJ
Rating:
Summary: This is the Hot Lick for CAD.
Review: I use this for AutoCAD, it's the best thing out there short of the high dollar CAD devices. Buttons are all programmable, I typically set the buttons for Clic, esc., enter and shortcut menu or toggling OSnaps on and off. The wheel is what I zoom with, and when pushed, I have an extra button that I set to pan. It's really comfortable, and I'd never try to draw with anything else. Unless my employer sprung for one of those 400 or 500 dollar devices designed for CAD. There is only one, just one thing I would change about it and that would be to make it cordless. Hey Bill Gates!!! Can ya make this thing with Bluetooth???
Rating: 
Summary: I hate to say it but it blows my Kensington away.
Review: For years I have used many Kensingtons for production purposes and home use and what always frustrated me was that the rollers had to be cleaned at least once a day because when they got dirty would skip or slip and it was very frustrating to stop what you were doing just to get your trackball to work. I tried a friends Microsoft trackball mouse and noticed how smooth it was and how I could control it it so easily so I asked for one at work, I got it and it has sped my accuracy up and I have never had to clean it yet! and it still is just as accurate and smooth as when I got it 5 months ago! The only problem I have with it is that the right 2 buttons are too close together and so sometimes I hit the wrong buttons but this is nothing compared to the speed and lack of frustration I use to have.
I like it so much I had to get one for my Mac at home.
Kensington should get on the ball if it wants to keep up with this mouse.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but I miss my Logitech
Review: I recently purchased this product after my LogiTech trackball, that I'd been using for 3 years, finally bit the dust. After searching everywhere for the same model, I cam up empty handed and had to switch to this product.Let me just say, that Microsoft has a long way to go before their trackballs are as comfortable or as intuitive as LogiTechs. First off, the fit of this one is just not there, it's too in your hand, and even I, who dosent have all that big of a body, seems to swarf it with my hand. Also, the placement of the buttons, especially the right two, can be difficult to use and get used two. There are two buttons side-by-side, that are completely identical. If you're not paying attention, it's easy to mistakenly click one instead of the other. Second, the track ball just dosen't seem substancial.. It's lightweight, and tends to float around in the holder, making for less-than-smooth scrolling and foget precision pointing. I often times have to ferverntly clean the optical sensor, something I rarely had to do with my LogiTech. Lastly, it just seems like it's a cheaply built product. The butons aren't tightly affixed, so clicking isn't clean and precise, rather the bottons are somewhat loose, and tend to 'float' around. Like I mentioned earlier, the trackball isn't substantial, and dosent seem to fit snug into the device. I've been an avid trackball user for YEARS, and they've evolved leaps and bounds from the past decade. But I must say, after going from a Logitech to a Microsoft, I feel that I've gone back to my Pentium 60 days . . .
Rating: 
Summary: New technology? Not with this product!
Review: As a Trackball user, I've been happy using my first Trackball, a Logictech. One of there first I believe. It simply wore out and I replaced it on November 5,2002 with this Microsoft Trackball. I was at first, happier than a new kid with a bike. I could go anywhere with it, and finally, somebody decided that using the internet does indeed have different demands: include a forward and back button on the mouse! 8 months later,around April or May 2003, I removed my dead mouse. It became unstable and wouldn't function at all. Microsoft Fed Ex-ed me a brand new replacement. Now thats service. On November 8, 2003, this replacement mouse also became unstable and I had to remove it: I can't do graphic work with a mouse that won't function. But this time, I have already ordered a non-Microsoft Trackball. They do need to perform a final test on this series of mice. 8 months is way too short for a $49.00 mouse! No, I have not contacted Microsoft. I'd never hear a word. I won't waste my time. I really wish this mouse would last. It incorperates many fine features that make it a mouse of choice.
Rating:
Summary: Save your wrist now with a trackball!
Review: I first thought it would be bizarre to use a trackball as an architect, doing AutoCAD drawings, so I been avoided the trackball for years. My boss at work kind of force us to use it (actually, he said try it for a month). The one I used was a Logitech's Trackman which use a thumb to control the ball. It took me 2 weeks to get use to it. I was slow at first, thing were hard to click, and I got a little frustrated. But, your brain is always learning new tricks. I decided to get a trackball for home. I pick Microsoft, because I surf more at home and there are more buttons, 4 buttons, 1trackball and 1 scroll wheel, which is more luxury. It took me a day to get use to the index finger. I programmed this trackball to close program with just a click. I prefer to use the thumb trackball over the index trackball. It has a more accurate feel to it. This trackball use the index finger, but the thumb trackball are made with 2 less buttons. The Logitech index trackball use batteries, I got a MS's laser mouse with batteries once and you always wondered when do you have to replace the batteries, so it because a mental hassle. MS's service is great, my laser intelli-explorer died about a year. I call up MS and they sent me a new one like 2-3 months later. Wash your index fingers, when it gets wet it pick up dirt and you get a chucky movement and you have to rub the dirt off, so this product is not as clean free as it is stated. Another problem is this mouse is huge. Your whole palm is on the mouse. Overall this product will save my wrist in the long run. I don't get little wrist sprain anymore. It is hard at first to switch to a trackball, but it is worth the try. I would give this five stars, but the 3-buttons thumb Logitech is much smoother, by far.
Rating:
Summary: prevents arthritis discomfort.
Review: hated using the regular mice at work and library. bought a computer with optical mouse included. it was much better, but kept going off the pad and had to be repositioned. then saw this at a store. it sits in one spot and the red ball is rotated with my index finger to move the on-screen pointer. i'm able to sit it on edge of table, elbow on arm of chair, with no wrist or shoulder movement; thus no arthritis discomfort. this thing even comes with software to make a bunch of cool adjustments and screen displays. amazon had the lowest delivered cost.
Rating: 
Summary: Good trackball with some drawbacks
Review: I bought the MS Trackball Explorer about a 1 1/2 years ago. It works well, with a couple of major flaws: 1. The cord is far too short; if you have a computer desk with the CPU a distance away from the trackball, it simply doesn't reach. I have a pull-out shelf, and the trackball pulls up under it every time I slide it out. 2. The Explorer needs to have secure rubber "feet" to keep it from slipping all over the place on a smooth surface (such as veneer). 3. Those who say you don't have to clean this device are in error. Sweat from your hand, dust, etc. form gunk that looks like earwax around the three metal sensors, and these have to be cleaned periodically; otherwise, the trackball won't move the cursor around properly. This was my first trackball, so I do assume mechanical ones required far more frequent cleaning than this one does-I average about once a month (use my PC about 2 hours per day). Because of the cord problem, I am considering buying a Logitech MX 700 Cordless Optical Mouse.
Rating:
Summary: Looks Cool, Feels Great
Review: I used a mouse for years and suffered with hand cramps and stiffness. When my wrist started to ache I decided it was time to lose the mouse and get a more ergonomic input device. I ended up with a Logitec TrackMan. It took a little getting used to but, hey, the pain stopped and hasn't returned. A few more years and a new job I moved to the MS Trackball Explorer and quickly became a convert. What sold me was the thumb scroll wheel which became a necessity when scanning web sites or when using almost any MS Office or Windows product. How could I have ever lived without this marvel? The buttons are all programmable and the wheel can be set to skip lines for faster scrolling. The optical tracking works great and since the unit doesn't move there's more desk space for piles of loose papers and junk. It's a great product and, for me, an easy way to solve the irritation of pain and cramping.
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