#21

Thanks everybody for the responses so far. Lots of good options. I’m genuinely surprised there are so many trackball fans.

Has anybody used Corsair stuff? The Harpoon seems like an affordable, less busy option with less buttons.

#22

I used a Logitech Trackman Marble (older white version) for many years and was happy with that. It recently broke and while looking for a new one I saw the Kensington Expert, which my brother has and he highly recommends it, but I didn’t have the budget at the time, and also it’s a bit big. It’s also the industry standard mouse among many sound engineers. I ended up going for the Kensington Orbit Trackball which so far I am happy with, though I slightly regret not getting another Trackman. The Orbit has scroll ring, which is a nice feature, but to be honest I don’t use it much yet. The Orbit also comes with an extension rest to help against wrist pain, I think the Trackman is a bit more comfortable though extended use on either leads to wrist pain.

I am also left-handed so good trackball options are limited.

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#23

Another ex Magic Mouse victim here transitioned to Logitech MX Master. Can’t be happier editing video / grading color / working with music. Very reliable with normal Bluetooth, too. I have an older model that I bought refurbished and nothing happened to it in 2 years yet except i have to charge it maybe once in a week but it charges fast and works well while charging, too.

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#24

I can echo this! The MX is fabulous

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#25

I had the original Trackman Marble and loved it. Eventually moved on because I wanted a scroll wheel and then USB, but every other trackball I tried was a disappointment for years – I wore out two Intellimouse Explorers before going back to trackball.

#26

There are at least four MX models out there, though, only two of which have the Darkfield sensor, and I cannot vouch for any of them except the MX Anywhere. I’m not really sure what “MX” even means.

#27

On my desktop system, which I mainly use for graphics work, I use a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet. This is not a sensible solution for most people, because it is expensive and consumes quite a bit of desktop real estate. That said, the Wacom tablet mice and pens are utterly infallible.

#29

For me it depends on the job- if it’s just for web / everyday use, the Apple trackpad is unbeatable imo. All the multi-touch gestures and best 2-finger scroll / pinch. That said, so much of this is the software, so it’s not the same on a Win/Linux machine.

For CAD / illustrator work I used Microsoft Intellimouse for many years. Comfortable, simple, wired & cheap.

The last year I’ve been using a CST Trackball which I love for Eagle but not much else. I’ve come to enjoy the “time to do circuit layout- grab the trackball!” approach, but it’s certainly a luxury not a necessity.

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#30

I’ve used a Kensington Expert Mouse or its predecessors for about 20 years. It’s big, so not really a great option for travel, but it’s solidly built, has four programmable buttons, programmable chording (actions assigned to the two bottom and two top buttons together), is programmable system-wide with application specific configs, and has a scroll ring that I find more comfortable than scroll wheels.

For me I find a lot of my “mousing” can be done by giving the trackball a throw, which minimizes my arm and shoulder movement. It’s not as big as an old arcade machine trackball but it free rolls like that when thrown, and so over time you learn to throw and catch it and can navigate around your screen very quickly.

https://www.kensington.com/p/products/control/trackballs/expert-mouse-wired-trackball/

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#31

This was one that was high on my list in terms of price and form. Unfortunately the new versions offered (pro and classic) do not support Mac OS at all. The other thing reviewers say is that the rubber peels on the classic version. :frowning:

#32

So I’ve noticed a lot of the gaming mice have pretty poor or no mac support, although some of them have adjustable DPI on the mouse itself. It can be an issue with the LED mice or ones with tons of extra buttons (which would be rendered useless in some cases).

#33

I’ve used a number of mice/trackballs over the years. I do suffer from carpal tunnel in my right wrist so I’ve changed a lot.

For a long time the Logitech Trackman was my savior , the move from standard “wrist resting/pointer middle finger clicking” mice helped alleviate a lot of the pain, and I got really fast with it by throwing the trackball as other people have stated. Eventually the pain returned with this one, was probably my fault but I went looking and found the Anker Vertical that @zoundsabar had mentioned. It was immediately effective at getting my wrist off the table and mostly free from pain. I will say for really long sessions the Anker can start to hurt between the thumb and pointer finger, it’s a bit sharp in there.

I think they’re both good starts if you’re looking to try out vertical or trackball mice. I’ve also done the gamer mice thing and I can say the cloud based Razer software is very customizable but goddammit I AM NOT creating an account to use a mouse, ended up selling it.

Based on this thread I’ve decided to give another track ball a try with the Kensigton Expert Mouse, will report back.

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#34

After doing a lot of research and reading the recommendations here, I’ve ordered a Logitech Trackman to give the trackball thing a shot. Very weird at first but I’m getting used to it. You definitely need to download and use the software to speed up the tracking speed and adjust the scrolling up and down via the 2 small buttons. Pretty good for 22 bucks!

I may also try out the Logitech G MX518, which is an acclaimed gaming mouse.

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#35

If you are having carpal tunnel or other pain from extensive mouse usage, I’d recommend that you mix up the shape of mouse or trackball that you use. Have two completely different shapes of mouse and alternate between them. I use the Anker vertical mouse at work and a Logitech gamer mouse at my home studio. The variation is helpful.

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#36

I picked up the Logitech MX518 to use at the office and it’s pretty comfortable. I wasn’t too crazy about the look but it looks better than in the pictures (besides the big ‘G’ that Logitech uses). The adjustable DPI is nice to have on the mouse even if you’re not gaming.

At home I’ve been using the Logitech Trackman for about a solid week. Scrolling is a little odd at times since it’s in increments, but you kind of get used to that. The ergonomics are great.

What I’ve learned from this whole search is that if you use a Mac, Logitech is pretty much the winner in terms of choices and drivers.

#37

Got one of those as well. It looks weird, with that bumpy pattern effect, but I agree that it’s quite comfortable.
My only gripe with this mouse, and many others, is the rubbery surface coating on some of its parts.
While it might feel nice and comfy the first couple of weeks, this will start to disintegrate quite quickly over time, making the mouse look pretty ugly and messing up your workspace with all that black fluff flying around. Also, dust will stick to it like it’s glue.

It’s become surprisingly hard to find a mouse that doesn’t have this crap on its surface though.

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#38

The one that I got is a newer version, the ‘legendary’. They’ve replaced the rubbery coating with a matte plastic and the design does not have the bumps/bullet holes or whatever those were. It’s rather tame looking now, compared to the old design.

The rubbery coating issue definitely affects a lot of mice including the microsoft classic intellimouse, which I ultimately didn’t get because of that and the lack of Mac support.

#39

Good to know, thanks for the info! At one point I got a cheap Dell mouse (which turned out to be rather bad) because I couldn’t find any other non-rubberized one.

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#40

I’ve been looking at some of those QI wireless charging mousepads that are around and they seem pretty useful, so I looked around for some mice that could work with it, I found the logitech G703 and the 903 which seem ok but way too overpriced, most likely geared for gaming.

I was wondering if any of you know of any mice that can make use of QI charging but are a bit cheaper and more work oriented (side buttons, ergonomic tilt wheel etc)?

#41

It’s awesome. I use it with this wrist rest. Scroll wheel works well and is customizable on Win and Mac with TrackballWorks software. All four buttons are programmable. TrackballWorks also has software to store canned text and then use a hotkey to either enter it or bring up a menu of items, saves a lot of time if you have canned text you need to use often. I’m still using the Anker vertical periodicaly to mix it up but Expert Mouse is really great.