| |  optical or trackball (minimal spam please ;) )
| 
03-01-2003, 12:44 PM
|  | Moderator and Twisted Sister | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: The maelstrom where chaos merges with lucidity
Posts: 19,215
| |
Alas, after five years of dedicated service my Logitech trackball is finally requesting retirement.  So, what I am wondering, since technology has advanced significantly, is what sort of able-bodied instrument should replace my faithful navigator.
Basically, which is better, a trackball or an optical mouse? I know that you can actually get optical trackballs, which look very nice, but I can't afford to spend $120 Cdn. on something like that right now. 
So, thoughts? 
__________________
testingtest12Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
testingtest12.......All those moments ... will be lost ... in time ... like tears in rain. | | |
03-01-2003, 01:03 PM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Holland
Posts: 248
| |
I would defenitly go for the optical. Having an optical removes the time of cleaning the inside of ure mouse. Not even speaking of the pain it sometime causes during that removal process. It can really mess ure fingers up you know
Having an optical mouse also means that you dont need a freaking mouse mat. That saves money too, since I need a mousemat every 4 months....
If you decide to buy an optical mouse, I would advise too buy one with a cord. Without cord, the mouse sometimes goes crazy and doesnt work then. It also spares batteries that way
Anyway, I would go for the optical.
__________________
"Sometimes Dreams are wiser than waking"
"One day I will leave this world and Dream myself to Reality"
"Dream your life, live that Dream"
"I have a Dream"........Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
| | |
03-01-2003, 01:07 PM
| | Moderator and Twisted Sister | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: The maelstrom where chaos merges with lucidity
Posts: 19,215
| |
@Archer, lol! thanks
Mind you, a trackball doesn't have a mouse pad, so that is not an issue. However, I must agree that cleaning the inside can be a touch tedious!
__________________
testingtest12Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
testingtest12.......All those moments ... will be lost ... in time ... like tears in rain. | | |
03-01-2003, 01:14 PM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Anchorage, Alaska
Posts: 5,573
| | I wouldn't trade my optical mouse for the world. 'Nuff said. http://www.linda-goodman.com/ubb/winkgrin.gif
__________________ Nature’s first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
| | |
03-01-2003, 01:50 PM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Mon Calamari
Posts: 4,059
| | |
I got a USB (1.1) Microsoft optical trackball at Wal-Mart for $30 USD. I love it. Even with the conversion, you're looking at about $45 CAD. If you can't find one at that price in a retail store, I'm sure you can order one over the internet for significantly less than $120 CAD even after shipping.
__________________
Jesus saves! And takes half damage!
If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough. Read the High Lord's Blog | | |
03-01-2003, 10:44 PM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Spanking Witch King
Posts: 1,989
| | |
As someone currently suffering from tendonitis in my right hand after using a typical mouse, I would opt for the trackball. I've since switched back to my old Logitech trackball (the trackball you move with your thumb) - had I used that, I believe I wouldn't have these problems now.
__________________
“I became insane, with long intervals of horrible sanity.” - Edgar Allen Poe
| | |
03-01-2003, 11:46 PM
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: May 2001 Location: This Quintessence of Dust
Posts: 6,251
| | |
You people are all wimps. I actually type my posts on a turn-of-the-century Underwood. I use carbon paper to make a copy to keep for myself. I mail the post via Pony Express (using lick-able stamps – none of these wimpy self-sticking stamps for me!) to Buck Satan, who then posts what I wrote in the forums. If my opinion really needs to be heard quickly, I might use the telegraph.
Tsk.
| | |
03-02-2003, 12:06 AM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Soviet Canuckistan
Posts: 13,420
| | |
Well, optical track balls are horendous! I don't think they're all that efficient, and take a long time to get used to.
That being said, Logitech Optical USB mice are very good. Traditional design, along with the opitically goodness.
| | |
03-02-2003, 04:29 AM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Rock 'n Roll Highschool
Posts: 2,682
| | |
LMAO @ Gwally!
It depends what you use it for.
I use a logitech trackball, which is excellent for digital art - it is much more precise than other mouse types (because you control it with a finger, not your whole hand), and is really essential if you want to draw anything on the computer - but if you don't have that particular need, I would recommend an optical instead (which I used to use) - it is a pleasure not having to scrape either finger-grime or desk-grime out of your mouse all the time...
__________________
Love and Hope and Sex and Dreams are Still Surviving on the Street
| | |
03-02-2003, 07:52 AM
|  | Super Moderator | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: The sun, the moon, and the stars.
Posts: 30,319
| |
I've got a Trackball Explorer. They're optical, so there's no cleaning involved. That gives me the benefits of a mouse, plus the ease of use and lack of tendonitis that are the hallmarks of the trackball. I can recommend it highly.
__________________
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe. | | |
03-02-2003, 10:55 AM
| | Moderator and Twisted Sister | | Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: The maelstrom where chaos merges with lucidity
Posts: 19,215
| |
Thanks for the replies !
I think I may well purchase the combination optical trackball that Microsoft sells (much as I hate their evil empire....) That way I get the best of both worlds I realised that the reason I thought an optical trackball was so expensive is because I was initially looking at the Logitech cordless model....  
Not that I wouldn't like a cordless trackball.... or a cordless keyboard for that matter.. but *sigh* priorities being what they are, I would rather get a second hard drive for that amount of cash.
@Gwally, ROFL!
__________________
testingtest12Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
testingtest12.......All those moments ... will be lost ... in time ... like tears in rain.
Last edited by dragon wench; 03-02-2003 at 11:09 AM.
| | |
03-02-2003, 11:48 PM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: 50° 26' N 104° 40' W
Posts: 256
| | |
Microsoft opticals all the way.
Hey! M$ hardware is not like its software! The hardware actually works!
__________________
The light at the end of the tunnel is the light of an approaching train | | |
03-03-2003, 03:46 AM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: The Netherlands - Sietch Tabr
Posts: 4,076
| |  Quote: Originally posted by Krusader
Microsoft opticals all the way.
Hey! M$ hardware is not like its software! The hardware actually works! | I had 2 optical microsoft mouses, both broke down within the year!!!!!
Myself I hate trackballs, I can't get used to them, If you can, go for a trackball (I myself have RSI at the moment, and believe me, it's no fun and a trackball could have prefented a big part of it,
bioware could have prefented the rest)
If you go for a normal mouse, switch to optical, it works very good for me!
Logitec is the brand for me, never had any trouble with it!
__________________
I do not have the touch, nor do I have the power. | | |
03-03-2003, 10:45 AM
|  | Moderator | | Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: London, UK.
Posts: 4,574
| | |
Go infra-red.
They're like cheap optical mice, can't beat em for price and reliability.
| | |
03-03-2003, 10:55 AM
|  | Exalted Member | | Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Skövde, Sweden
Posts: 2,563
| | |
I have an Wireless IntelliExpolorer... optical..... It's the best mouse I've ever used..... the only hing I can see that is bad about it is that I have to get new batteries every 5 weeks..... this time can however be extended by pulling the batteries out when your not using the mouse..... this is however quite time consuming and a waste of time......
__________________
"Those who control the past control the future, those who control the present control the past" And I rule the PRESENT!!
I put the 'laughter' back in 'slaughter'
| | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | | Display Modes | Rate This Thread |  Linear Mode | | 
Posting Rules
| You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
| | | |
