Tired of Mousing Around?
Written: May 10 '03 (Updated Apr 17 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Completely configurable. Smooth action, accurate pointing and acceleration.
Cons: Scroll wheel is a little stiff, sometimes "clicks" as a button while trying to scroll.
The Bottom Line: If your wrists hurt after using a mouse for any length of time, try this. It helps a lot!
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| caradoc's Full Review: ACCO Brands Turbo Mouse Pro (K64214) Trackball |
I've been using a keyboard for over twenty-five years, now, and a mouse for about seventeen years.
As much time as I spend on computers, I've been advised by a physical therapist to lose the mouse - and to try some alternative input methods other than the keyboard.
So, I've replaced my trusty old Logitech MouseMan Wheel with a shiny new Kensington Turbo Mouse Pro, and my old extended keyboard with its function keys and 10-key pad with a Happy Hacking USB Keyboard Lite II.
Of all of the trackballs available, the Kensington is by far the best suited to large hands. The ball itself is roughly the size of a cue ball or billiards ball, and the four primary buttons are also large enough for my hands. Some of the other trackballs use the fingers on the buttons, but the thumb on the ball itself. I find this awkward, so I went with one that I control with my fingertips.
Made from a heavy plastic, the ball is smooth, but has a slightly "tacky" feel to it. It's not quite "slick."
To the left and right of the ball, "forward" from it and "back," are the four primary buttons. Top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right.
These four buttons are made of the same slightly roughened matte-finish silvery plastic as the body of the trackball. They've got a slight ridge molded into the centerline of each button, so you can easily tell when you're on the button versus wandering off onto the body of the trackball.
Installing the software was easy - I didn't even insert the CD that came with it, because there was a sticker on the envelope reading "Please check the website for updated software before installing." I checked, and sure enough the drivers had been updated. So, I downloaded the new package, double-clicked it to install it, and then plugged in the trackball as the machine was rebooting. Rebooting isn't actually required for most installations under OS X, but it is recommended to make sure things get loaded correctly.
After the reboot, I opened the System Preferences MouseWorks Pane to get started with making the trackball work the way I want it to work.
The bottom left button is by default configured to be the "click" button. This works, as that button sits right under my thumb while my index finger, middle finger, and ring finger sit on the ball. By rocking slightly forward, I can reach the upper left and upper right buttons. A little bit further, and I can easily reach the six DirectLaunch buttons and the scroll wheel that is centered just above the ball.
Each button can be configured to perform different operations, like clicking, double-clicking, control-clicking, or various keystrokes. So far, I'm using the bottom left (default) button to Click, the top left to Command-Click, the top right is set for "Command-W" for "Close Window" and the bottom right is set for the Mac OS X default "Right-Click" for contextual menu functions.
The six DirectLaunch buttons and the scroll wheel are made of a rubber that is also slightly "tacky" to the touch - your fingers shouldn't be slipping off of them at all.
You can literally configure any of the buttons to perform any function - I've got the DirectLaunch buttons configured to open my e-mail application (Eudora), my newsreader (Thoth), my web browser (Netscape), dataComet (a text-based serial terminal application that I use to access my UNIX and Solaris machines via the four-port Keyspan SX Pro Serial Card), and AthenaIRC (an IRC chat client).
You can also configure the buttons to work as keystrokes, to launch specific applications, or to execute AppleScripts, simply by using the MouseWorks System Preferences Pane to select which button you want, and assign the action to it. I did all of the configuration without bothering to even open the little booklet that came with the trackball.
In addition to the regular button functions, if I "chord" the top two buttons it works as a "Command-C" for Copying, and chording the bottom two buttons works as a "Command-V" for Paste.
In addition to all of this configurability, you can also make the buttons perform different actions based on which application is in the foreground when you click it. Thus, the top right button might be "Close Window" in most applications, but "Next Unread Message" in Eudora, and "Next Thread" in Thoth. Good stuff.
It's also easy to control the tracking speed of the ball. There's even an editable acceleration control so that the faster you move the ball, the more it accelerates, making it very easy to cover the entire screen in very small, fast, controlled movements. The acceleration curve takes some getting used to, and you can always set the tracking speed to a a flat line instead of the curve. I can zip all the way across a Samsung 17" Flat Panel screen with a flick of a finger!
At over ten times the cost of the MacAlly iBall the Kensington Turbo Mouse Pro outperforms it by at least several orders of magnitude. The ball itself rolls smoothly, with no "grittiness" to it as the iBall has, and the buttons click easily but positively, giving you a very good feeling as to when you've clicked or not.
The rubber "scroll wheel" above the ball is the exception, here. It's got a very stiff rolling action, and it's very easy to accidentally "click" it when you're actually trying to "roll" it. So, I've turned off the "clicking" action for the scroll wheel until I get it "broken in" a little and it starts to roll a little more smoothly. Fortunately, I've got absolute control over which buttons do what...
I've been using the Kensington for about fourteen hours of computing time now, and already I can feel the difference in my wrist - it doesn't hurt.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 89
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Epinions.com ID:
caradoc
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Member: John Groseclose
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
Reviews written: 181
Trusted by: 133 members
About Me:
System admin, technology addict, knife thrower, and dog "caregiver."
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