Anyone Used This Trackball

[bilyo]

I'm looking for a small trackball to use with my laptop, but I don't like the hand held ones that are designed for presentations. The Microtrac 650 by Microspeed looks like what I want, but I can't find any user information about it.  See it here:  http://store.ergocube.com/mimiu.html
Has anyone here used it? Or, do you know of anything similar? The Kensington trackball/mouse looks good, but I've read about problems with the rollers inside getting dirty quickly with no way to get in to clean them.
Thanks

[The Chief]

Where, oh where, is Thumbelina when you need her?  Unfortunately, laptops today don't even have the port...

Seriously though, I have always been a Logitech fan, but they don't seem to have any really small ones.

[bilyo]

Exactly!  I've used the Logitech mouse marble (or, is it marble mouse) for years and have two of them.  Love 'em! I wish Logitech would make a miniature version for laptops.  There is a dearth of track balls on the market no matter what size.  Seems they have lost what ever popularity the once had. 

[The Chief]

They're still popular, but mostly in military and industrial applications, where there is either no stationary surface to use a mouse on, or the vibration levels make them unusable.

[bilyo]

TheChief,
Sorry to take so long to reply. I haven't been here for a while.  I assume you are referring to the Microtrac.  Do you know anything about the internal workings.  Are they optical like the Logitechs or do they use rollers that contact the ball?
Thanks

[kc1di]

Exactly!  I've used the Logitech mouse marble (or, is it marble mouse) for years and have two of them.  Love 'em! I wish Logitech would make a miniature version for laptops.  There is a dearth of track balls on the market no matter what size.  Seems they have lost what ever popularity the once had. 

+1
I've also use the logitech and love them.

[The Chief]

TheChief,
Sorry to take so long to reply. I haven't been here for a while.  I assume you are referring to the Microtrac.  Do you know anything about the internal workings.  Are they optical like the Logitechs or do they use rollers that contact the ball?
Thanks

I seem to have missed this, too. 

Uhh, Thumbelina was a popular laptop trackball brand back in the early days.  Not sure who made it.  Laptops had a port on the right side near the front that it plugged into and that physically supported it.

Know nothing about Microtrac... but I suspect most track balls are optical now-a-days.

All my experience is with military/industrial trackballs, 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inch diameter balls, most usually with an RS-232 interface, although I have seen some with an I²C interface.

[Jeremy.Bailey]

if you're talking about this one logitech trackball, I LOVE IT! I have three (two backups). nearly impossible to find in stores these days, sad, but boy, they are NICE!

http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-910-000806-Trackman-Marble-Mouse/dp/B001F42MKG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1294262780&sr=8-4

[bilyo]

My wife bought me the Kensington trackball/mouse for Christmas.  In general, I like it.  Its size and shape takes some getting used to after using the Logitech marble mouse.  It is Bluetooth.  So, no wires to get in the way.  And, it is small enough to fit in your shirt pocket. Also, it is switchable from mouse mode to trackball mode.  In mouse mode, the ball is used as a scroll wheel; left, right, up, down.  Neat!  But, it is pricey.

I am having some problems with it when it comes to reconnecting after the computer wakes from sleep mode (suspend?).  It happens randomly and is a minor irritation as it is pretty easy to reconnect it by running setup in "Blueman".  But, I wish I could find a way to correct this.  Has anyone else had this problem with Bluetooth devices?

Bill