I have both a laptop and a desktop computer. Each has a wireless remote Logitech mouse without a ball. I don’t know if that’s standard or “nonstandard” but that’s what I use.
I use a mouse pad because it has all kinds of keyboard shortcuts printed on it. It’s tacked to the wall.
I’ve used something similar. I wound up not liking it very much, because I had to put it down when I wanted to move my hand to the keyboard, but there are definitely advantages to the style.
The one I had was wireless, which was even more convenient. I may still have it somewhere; I vaguely recall that it had a rechargeable battery.
Nowadays, I use a right-handed trackball mouse. I’d used the Logitech M570 for years and was very displeased with the longevity (they never lasted for more than 2 years). Plus my office setup now involves a chair with THIS mousing surface:
so I can really kick back and not be tied to the desk surface. The M570 worked OK with that, but kept falling down (including in the middle of a certification exam, where it broke!). I’m now using a wired version which is not as nice - much coarser control than the Logitech, but if it falls it’s less likely to hit the floor, also I now have a client-issued computer where wireless accessories are strictly forbidden.
I’m quite disappointed that Logitech has never made a left-handed version of the M570. There’s at least one off-brand knockoff that is left-handed, but I have not bothered due to the wireless-device restriction. I used to switch off hands for mousing (got pretty ambidextrous at it some decades back when I had a broken right arm), as that reduced fatigue and repetitive stress issues, but both of those are much less of a problem with the new trackball design.
I’ve tried traditional trackballs, like this one:
and LOATHE LOATHE LOATHE them. I just do not have fine control at all.
Elecom EX-G lefthanded trackball. It took some time to get used to the trackball but I love it now.
That’s another excellent feature of trackball-type mice (whether a traditional “ball on the top” type or the Logitech 570 / 575 variants). When I first started on the project that required wired peripherals, I couldn’t use my 570 any more and I had to go back to a regular mouse, since we had one in the house. I hated having to reach all the way over to the desk (lots of strain on my elbow). If I tried using it on the chair-arm-mounted mousing surface: that’s not always horizontal, since my chair tilts, and the mouse tended to move due to gravity.
The wired knockoffs are an acceptable compromise, though if I were doing a lot of heavy graphic stuff, they would not work at all.
Yep - that’s the one that’s on my Amazon shopping list to get… someday. It got pushed down in priority since I now must use a wired mouse.
This is the one I’m using now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0876CHLBY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Aside from the precision issues (tough to click and select on the exact right bit of text; I find myself using the keyboard cursor keys more than one would expect), it’s pretty good: the angle is adjustable, and it’s quite large for those of us with “truckasaurus hands”.