Ahhh. Springtime. The time when a twenty-year computer veteran’s wrists start to ache like there’s no tomorrow whenever the barometric pressure drops.
In an effort to put off having to wear one of those wrist protectors like so many in my industry have, I’ve decided to try ditching the mouse in favor of a trackball in hopes that it’ll give me some relief, as well as free up some desk space.
Well, I expect the relief to materialize eventually (maybe), but after three hours of use, I’ve gotta say that I hate the frickin’ thing as an interface device.
I understand that it should take me awhile to get used to, but does anybody have any tips on making it slightly less of a pain in the ass to work with?
Maybe it’s because I’ve got to turn the pointer speed all the way down and the threshold nearly all the way up to get any sort of accuracy. On a large monitor, that makes for one slow-ass pointer moving experience.
Anybody else have any ideas, other than to just suck it up until I get used to it?
Yes, it does take a little time to get used to it, but I wouldn’t have suggested that as a first trackball. I use a Kensington Orbit Optical trackball, or perhaps you might prefer the wireless version.
I’ve tried the “thumb-ball” models of trackball and have never been happy with them, trackballs with a Center-mounted trackball allow much more precise pointer control
I have both of the trackballs linked above, the ExpertMouse at home, and the Marble Mouse at work, both work flawlessly, and since you control the ball with your fingers, not your thumb, you have much more control over fine motion
I use a simple logitech trackball, thumb control, I hate using anythinng else. I keep it as fast as it will go, control comes from getting used to it and realizing you just barely have to move it at all. I keep my forearm on a wrist pad for comfort.
I got the thumb ball specifically because it appears to be closer to the way I use the nipple pointer on my Thinkpad. Maybe I should have picked something else.
Come to think of it, why the hell doesn’t somebody make a Thinkpad-style trackpoint + 3 buttons that I can put just below my keyboard’s space bar?
I have ExpertMouse at home and I’m a firm believer, it’s great for everything, including aiming games (for the middle-weight player, that is, I’m sure Gaming Mice have better fast fine control if you’re an expert, but an ExpertMouse has the best medium and low-granularity control I’ve ever seen, and what’s more, DOESN’T WOBBLE WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR FINGER OFF THE MOUSE, which can really mess up your aim in shooting games.)
One problem, though is that I cannot fine tune my settings to get the auto double click for Vista. I just thought it wasn’t rated for Vista but it had the logo right on the product page And their drivers are not available for Vista. I guess I need to ask them about that while I’m at it.
I agree, the Kensington allows for much more control. I can deal with the thumb-controlled trackballs for casual use, but for real graphic design work, or anything detailed, I vastly preferred the Kensington.
Even so, it took me a few days to really get used to it at the beginning. Now I’m back to a mouse, because my kids lost the ball to my trackball.
I developed pretty severe RSI in my right wrist from mousing. It got to the point where the pain kept me up at night yet the nerves were so shot that I couldn’t feel being stuck with a needle. I made myself learn to mouse with my left hand. Problem solved. It did take a number of years for the pain to go away and for the nerves to heal.
Problem not solved! Problem only delayed. Get yourself a trackball or something. There are a large number of alternatives to mice and most of them are very cheap.
I’ve been using the wireless version of that logitech trackman for several years now. I love it. I use mine mostly for computer games, and I’m not moving the mouse over the whole screen all the time. Mostly just the lower third.
I actually like the wireless better, because it allows me to move the mouse between me and the keyboard, and tipped at about a 45° angle. To me that has a much more natural feel to my arm placement. Sit at your computer, push your keyboard back about 6" and rest your arm in that space, with your mouse hand directly in front of you. Now take the trackman and place it right under that hand.
And their drivers are not available for Vista. I guess I need to ask them about that while I’m at it.