I ordered thisone last week. It is due today, so I don’t yet have feedback for you. (And due to our weather it may not come today.)
It took about 5 seconds to get the hang of it. It does make control of certain games rather more difficult, though, because they’re designed for mice.
I used trackballs for many years and enjoyed them greatly.
The “thumb balls” worked great for a while, but eventually my thumb began to feel like something bad might be brewing.
I found that a larger ball worked out better for me, like this Kensington model. It appears to have a neat kind of dial around the ball that is used for scrolling.
I also liked using the kind where you can pinch the ball between thumb and forefinger, like this Logitech model.
I just got an Apple “Magic Trackpad” and pretty much like it. The trackpad area is 125 mm (5") wide by 100 mm (4") front to back, so it’s got much more room than laptop trackpads, and it has an audible click action that is surprisingly firm. By default, moving one finger around moves the cursor, moving 2 fingers scrolls, and moving 3 fingers executes forward and back in a web browser. Clicking with two fingers accomplishes a right-click.
I’ve also used a Logitec trackball, I think called a “Trackman” and purchased maybe 10 years ago. I like it too, like its precision and feel, and for CAD it has the advantageous feature that you can have your fingers off the ball when you click a button, so you never get that slight jump away from the target at the moment of clicking.
I just wish that there were a wireless version of my trackball.
When the Boston Computer Museum was still alive, they had a “walk-through computer” that was a huge somewhat working model of a computer, including a huge keyboard and monitor*
A Giant Mouse** would have been a liability – the kids would be riding it all over and running each other over. So the Giant Walk-Through Computer used a Giant Trackball instead. This points out one advantage of the trackball – it doesn’t have to move around, unlike a mouse.
*Part of the Computer Museum collection went to the Boston Museum of Science. For years afterwards, they had the giant keyboard letters decorating the walls of their own computer exhibit.
** [Sylvester the Cat voice] Giant …Mouthhhhh !![/Sylvester the Cat voice]
FYI, there are different types of trackballs. The Logitech wireless trackball is operated by the thumb; personally I never could get used to it, but some people love it. The Logitech Marble Mouse is operated by the tips of your index finger and middle finger. I personally find this to be the most comfortable, as well as being much more precise. Kensington trackballs usually have a larger ball, closer to the palm. You can use your palm or all 4 fingers to operate it. Also very comfortable and precise, but YMMV.
Mouse with the other hand some of the time, though that can be difficult to force yourself to do. I had some overuse pain back in the early 90s and really NEEDED to learn to mouse left-handed but simply could NOT.
I solved the problem by breaking my right elbow, forcing me to learn to mouse left-handed. Some might find this approach to be a bit extreme, however :D. Now I can mouse reasonably ambidextrously (though I’m still better right-handed). Rereading the OP, you’ve got an injury (the surgery) in the “need to rest” arm already; I think that’s a reasonable substitute for the broken-elbow approach!
My laptop has that “eraser-tip” for navigating. Reduces shoulder movement but very fatiguing on the finger muscles. I try to use the external mouse more because of the finger tension problem but I admit, the eraser-tip is less disruptive because you’re typing, and then the thing is >>right there<<.
My daughter has a graphics tablet with pen. Now, she doesn’t use it as a mouse substitute for everything - but I’ve read of people doing so.
Trackball, trackball, trackball. They take some getting used to but once you do you’ll never go back.
I really surprised that using a mouse is causing your shoulder or elbow to move at all. Perhaps you need to dial up the sensitivity of the mouse. I can cover 2 full 21 inch screens and the mouse moves maybe 2 inches. All the movement is in my wrist.
There is an angle built into my desk, and I just rest my elbow on the desk on a mouse pad. Don’t use a pad for the mouse, they are unnecessary unless your desktop is glass or something.
Both my wife and I use the Marble Mouse for our PCs, and they are indeed both comfortable and precise. She wore hers out and I bought her a new one for Christmas - it was in the $30 - $40 range I think. I use a regular mouse at work and much prefer the Marble Mouse. One big plus - if you are using a computer on an airplane, you can park the mouse on your armrest or something and work just as well. I despise the pad built in to a laptop.
Keep in mind that you can have more than one mouse hooked up at a time. If they are substantially different forms, just switching back and forth can help reduce the stress.
I spend many hours per day at the computer and I’ve tried a lot of different mice and trackballs. Trackballs seem to be a love it or hate it kind of thing and I’m a hater. The two mice that I have been using for several years now that keep me completely pain free are:
Evoluent VerticalMouse. Puts your hand and forearm in a much more relaxed and natural position. No adjustment period, it just works, and gives very precise control. Recommend a wired model because they are so light; the batteries in wireless mice actually do add enough weight to be a significant factor when you’re talking pain.
Gyration Air Mouse. Hold your hand anywhere in any position – doesn’t have to be flat on the desk. Pretty easy to use left-handed even for an extreme righty. I do nearly all my general web browsing with this one, but don’t find it good for things requiring precise control.
Neither are cheap, but 10 years ago a mouse-click would send a shooting pain from my finger to my shoulder. After finding these two things, I can play all day with never a twinge.
There used to be a site where you could get a variety of replacement trackballs - eyeballs, 8-balls and others. I can’t find it right now, but I always thought it was a fun idea.
I also have a logitech (it’s the thumb variety which I like much better), and I could have sworn that there was a wireless style, but it was more than twice the cost of my regular one, which aren’t cheap at $50 bucks (at least in Anchorage, where I purchased mine).
Thanks for all the replies! I plan to go down to a shop today which has all their mice and trackballs on display so I can try them out and see what feels the best.
Well, with my dual screen setup even moving 2 inches is enough to irritate what is already irritated. Especially when I do it over and over for hours on end. For years it was not a problem, but as I am getting older, it is obviously becoming a problem. So trackball sounds like a better alternative as then there is no movement from the joints - just finger action.
Another vote for the Logitech Marble Mouse.
They let it go out of manufacture for a few years but popular acclaim brought them back.
The idea of a thumbball is counter-intuitive to me. After all, when we fingerpaint as children, do we typically use our thumbs as the primary manipulator? I suggest that the forefinger-middle finger pair allows quick and accurate movement.
I have been using these things for decades (since they came out) *[ETA: Hmmm… maybe not decades… how about since 1995… OK?] *and I can categorically state that I have never suffered any repetitive stress problems with my hands/wrists/arms using these peripherals even when working in cramped non-ergonomic environments for hours at the end. My back, on the other hand…
But that is another story.
I’ll second this. I use this in combination with the mouse alternative I came in here to recommend:
Contour Rollermouse Pro: Yes, it’s crazy expensive, but it’s the only solution I know of where you can keep your elbows firmly at your sides and don’t have to move your arm out to the side to mouse. Plus you can precisely operate the little bar in many finger/hand positions, so it’s much easier to avoid repetitive motion.
These two in combination have made a huge difference in reducing mouse-related RSIs for me.
You can do this with the Kensington ExpertMouse, too, if you place the mouse on your knee. Not that I do that from day to day, but it does make mousing on airplanes and other transportation much easier, since you don’t have to have a flat surface, and the ExpertMouse is big enough that it can rest on your knee with some practise. I much prefer mousing on my knee to trying to use my laptop’s fingerpad ::::shudder::::
Seconded; I currently have THREE mouse-equivalents plugged into my work computer: a regular optical mouse, a LogiTech Marble Mouse (my favorite), and a small Wacom tablet. I keep the plain mouse on the right, the Marble Mouse on the left, and the tablet nearby; I switch whenever I feel a tiny bit of strain or if there’s something I want to do with a particular device or hand.
And you only asked about mouses, but I’ll chime in to say there’s a lot you can do with your work setup, too. Adjusting the height of my monitor helped my shoulder issues a lot. I also find sitting on an armless chair – or even a backless stool – keeps me from leaning all ergo-horrifically all the time.
Finally, you might consider getting a numpad-free keyboard so you can position whatever mouse-ish thing you use closer to your centerline. Or even a keyboard with a built-in pointer or something smack in the middle, like laptops have.
Oh, yes. It really does help, the numpad takes up a significant amount of space where you’d really like your mouse or trackball instead. I use this keyboard, which is something of an acquired taste and expensive, but extremely nice to type on. Topre also makes these, more standardized boards which by all accounts are even better regarding key feel, and a little less expensive. Personally, I think they’re worth the cost, but then I’m at the computer, typing pretty much all day, and these keyboards should outlast any other.