Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan - trackball

This really does have to be the best of Logitechs cordless series.

For those of you that are unaware of what a trackball is, imagine an upsidedown mouse. So instead of moving the mouse around the table you just move the ball.

This has 2 advantages.
1) Reduced risk of RSI as body movement to control the device is far less.
2) Less desk space required, as the body of the device does not move.

...
...into a standard mouse port or a USB port, and the actual trackball itself, which is powered by 2 AA batteries.

The shape of the trackball is similar to that of ergonomic mice, i.e. countoured to fit the inside of your palm. Under your thumb you will find 3 buttons, the larger of whichequates to the left mouse button, and the other two perform the back and forward functions on Internet Explorer. Your middle three fingers will generally ... more

This really does have to be the best of Logitechs cordless series.

For those of you that are unaware of what a trackball is, imagine an upsidedown mouse. So instead of moving the mouse around the table you just move the ball.

This has 2 advantages.
1) Reduced risk of RSI as body movement to control the device is far less.
2) Less desk space required, as the body of the device does not move.

The device is in 2 parts, the reciever, which plugs into a standard mouse port or a USB port, and the actual trackball itself, which is powered by 2 AA batteries.

The shape of the trackball is similar to that of ergonomic mice, i.e. countoured to fit the inside of your palm. Under your thumb you will find 3 buttons, the larger of whichequates to the left mouse button, and the other two perform the back and forward functions on Internet Explorer. Your middle three fingers will generally be used to control the ball which is about the size of a ping-pong ball, however just to the left of this, for use by your index finger, is the scroll wheel that is used for scrolling windows up and down. Under you little finger is the equivalent of the righ mouse button.

Hope all of that made sense.

Although there is software with the mouse, it is generally not required as most operating systems (Microsoft ones anyway) from ME onwards can detect the mouse without any installation occuring.

The one ongoing expense for this item is the fact that the device itself is battery powered, as being cordless, it cannot draw power from the machine. However with a good set of AA batteries (I highly recommend Duracell Ultra M3) they will last 4-6 months.

This particular model is not based on InfraRed signals, but radio frequency signals. This mean that line of sight is not required between the device and the receiver. Useful for a tidy desk since it can hide behind the machine. Even more useful for me as I have the capability to output the PC video and audio in the TV in the bedroom, so the trackball can still control the computer from the bedroom through a wall and about 1.5-2m away!

The trackball and the reciever are both black although the trackball does have a silver panel on it, around a red ball. I think it looks a lot more stylish than most models. Its nice to see PC compoments and PC themselves in better colours than the drab off white they always used to come in.

The pricing of this model always seems a little variable, Amazon currently retail it at about £40 which I think is similar to PC World, although I got mine on special offer for £30.

To understand the relevance to the dog in the title, read about the fate of my previous cordless trackball in another op.

--Additional Information 27/01/2004

With the advent of relatively cheap wireless technology on the horizon, if you already have any wireless technology in the house already, check with your retailer about possible cross-device interferance. I am not entirely sure what frequency this trackball operates on, although I do remember it saying in my long lost manual. Prime culprits of interferance can be wireless LANS (local area networks) and cordless phones. Each of these should say which frequency they operate on so there will be no problem avoiding interferance if you are sensible
 

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