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Microsoft Trackball Optical

Microsoft Trackball Optical

List Price: $44.95
Your Price: $19.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: not a game thing
Review: i've read all the reviews and there's a lot of people who says that this trackball is inacurrate : the intellieye technology scans the position of the ball about 2000 times per second when a mecanic trackball do this about 200 times per second. So it's time to stop blinking your eyes when you move your trackball.

Other peoples says that it's not designed to play games. Everybody knows that you WON'T play faster with a trackball (have you ever tried to make a U turn in a FPS with a trackball ?).

This trackball is well designed and very functional (and it works very well) but it's not the latest game-peripheral.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Neat, yet dirty
Review: When i bought this mouse, i expected it to be so much to what i read on so many reviews. Well, it turned out to be pretty nice, except it tends to get dirty every few days and which make the trackball uneasy at movement. Another dissapointment i have is that it doesn't react at first touch, and which has cons at drawing precisely on any image editor. And if you've got a shaky thumb (even if it's just a little) it reflects on the mouse, but guess that doesn't count as a bad point to this mouse, because it's not the mouse's fault.

The mouse is pretty loyal though. It's MS. It costs a lot of money! (though i got it for half price, heh). It's supposed to be good and it is, just not as good as other mice and as i expected.

I'll be moving back to the old "move me with your hand" mice (optical, of course). At least you've got more control over them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Awesome product
Review: I do a lot of technical writing at work and I must say that I was very scared of getting an RSI. I read at a lot of places that mouse devices with trackballs are more ergonomic than the normal ones. Hence, I bought this product to use at work. I must say that I am extremely pleased with it in the one day that I have used it. Its extremely convenient; Learning how to use the trackball is not a pain at all; I was comfortable with it within 30 minutes. (I have used the conventional mouse for 10 years now, and was apprehensive that I would not be able to adapt to the trackball). My only complaint is that I like to use the left hand for the mouse (its better ergonomically) and that Microsoft does not have a model that can be used with both hands. Overall, I highly recommend it..

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Love it!
Review: I just installed this today and I am thrilled!! I'm a software trainer, as well as a training designer, so I am on the PC constantly. I work on a lot of very long documents, lots of graphics that need editing AND I use the PC for presenting software classes. This trackball makes all of these tasks easy, even the very fine detail work of editing jpeg files.

I initially was looking for an inexpensive alternative to a traditional mouse for my classroom presentations. I FOUND ONE!! The only drawback is that it is a little big for my hand (on the smallish size) but it will work from any angle so I can actually cradle it in my upside down hand and run with it. The software has lots of adjustments to set the trackball movement and click operations/speed for the users skill level.

A great mouse alternative for all levels of users!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Sticky Fingers
Review: I too think this is a good add on. It feels nice on your wrist when you use it, and I'm not in the market for a replacement yet, though I still use my laptop fingerpad most of the time.

My two complaints are:
1) If you're anal like me, you'll find that you have to clean those metal nubs that act as bearings for the trackball several times a day if I want to maintain that nice smooth feeling.

2) It's not the best mouse if you play those shoot-em up games a lot. It's hard to move the trackball small distances (as in, you're trying to aim at an opponent). This is compounded by sticky issue no. 1 above.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Nice :)
Review: It takes a little while (not long) to get used to using your thumb to move the mouse, but after you do, it is "second nature." I really like using the programable buttons to navigate forward and backward in my Web browser and up and down directories within Windows explorer. The USB interface is nice too; I can plug it in to my laptop if I ever want to play a game.

The only reason I don't give 5 stars is because I do have to periodically pop the ball out and clean it. No big hassle though, it's painless. ;)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Trackball!
Review: I love this trackball! I spend a lot of time on the computer, both for work and entertainment - probably 4-10 hours on a typical day. I was having carpal tunnel problems, and one of the recommendations was to switch to a thumb-controlled trackball. I was VERY skeptical that it would work for me - I remembered trying a couple of different trackballs 6-7 years ago, and I was very frustrated with the poor level of control and accuracy of the old models.

Microsoft's Optical trackball is a different trackball altogether! It is fantastic! It took about 3 days for me to get used to its layout, and now I prefer it to a mouse. In fact, I bought a second trackball two weeks later so I could have one on both my home and office computers. I added a $5 wrist pad from Belkin and have seen my carpal tunnel symptoms disappear almost completely!

I've used this trackball with my laptop and my desktop systems, and with both the USB and PS/2 connections, and have had no problems. Software installation was a snap! The programmable buttons are quickly addictive. I use the "extra" buttons for moving backward and forward between web pages - web surfing has never been so easy!

I have noticed that the ball sometimes gets a little "sticky." The stickiness is caused by gunk accumulating on the 3 metal nubs in the depression where the ball rests. It's quick and easy to fix though - just pop the ball out, wipe off the nubs and it's as good as new! And it's much easier than cleaning off the rollers in a conventional mouse.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Very Pleasantly Surprised
Review: No sooner had I placed my order for this gadget, than my helpful friends all warned me that I had selected the wrong Mouse, that I should have chosen the one with the trackball on top. Since I have become thoroughly fed up with standard goop catching mice, I had ordered the first optical trackball my search engines turned up. As it transpires, I don't think I could have done better with even more research or experimentation. I like the set-up on this model. The ball on the side is highly responsive and the shape of the device fits my hand perfectly. For me, having the trackball on top would be a distraction. I recommend the Microsoft D67-00001 Trackball Optical with no reservations.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: If you like tendonitis...
Review: Who came up with the bright idea that a thumb operated trackball was ergonomic? Ten minutes after installing this thing, there were shooting pains up my forearm. I unplugged it and went back to a logitech trackball which is not great but doesn't require medical attention subsequent to use.

A pity, 'cause their intellimouse explorer mouse is by far the best mouse around.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: The Ball is TERRIBLE
Review: I'd give it no stars if that were an option being that it doesn't do the simple job it should.
I don't care if when it comes to computers you're an idiot or Bill Gates, either way steer clear of this trackball. At first it seemed fine once I got used to the ball itself (having changed from a typical mouse to the traking ball to try to save desk space and my wrist's health) but it took less than one evening of use for the ball to begin studdering, other's who have revieved this have written the same thing. Why sell a product whose primary function is faulty? You can't accurately do anything if the ball doesn't roll smoothly, and IT DOES NOT. ... DON'T BUY THIS. I like trackball concept and will look into other brands and designs. I'm just annoyed with microsoft for wasting my time with this. (although the fact that it's a microsoft product should have set off alarms that something would go wrong, I just assumed they could at least get a simple track ball right, my stupidity.)


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