I just bought a logitech marble trackball, it's something I've been meaning to try out for sometime and now I finally got one.
Over the years I have mainly used mice, sometimes the built-in touchpad on laptops and occasionally a tablet and pen. I've even tried voice commands with some funny results but I'd never used a trackball.
It does take a little getting used to but after using it over this weekend i must admit that it is growing on me.
I wanted to try a trackball mainly for photo editing but also had the need of something to use with the laptop when not at a desk. Not being a great fan of laptop touchpads I would normally try to find some way of using the usb mouse but that can be awkward when sitting on a sofa or armchair.sits firmly in one place while you move the ball with your fingertips.
It has the usual left and right buttons and an additional function button on each side. Out of the box it comes with the left function set up as a back button and the right to switch the page scroll on/off. You can change the functions to whatever you want but I have left them as they are for the time being. It came with drivers for mac, xp and vista but there are windows 7 32bit and 64bit drivers on Logitech's website. The setpoint software for it gives you the options to set pointer speed and acceleration as well as button configurations etc.
This trackball seems to me the ideal solution. It eliminates the need for a surface to move a mouse on as it
Over the last day or so I have started to get quite used to using it in place of a mouse but have found that the position of the buttons has meant that I find myself left-clicking with my thumb rather than my finger. When I started using it there was the urge to drag it around the desk like a regular mouse but I fought it and soon begun to like the way it works. With the acceleration and speed set to my liking, the pointer now moves around the desktop with ease. With just a flick of my finger the curser can move rapidly from one side of the screen to the other or with gentle movement can move slowly and accurately in a small area.
I have yet to try it out for photo editing and will update this at a later date, so far as general use and surfing the internet I give it a thumbs up and do feel it was worth buying.
Surfing with a trackball?... I'm glad I tried it


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