I like the trackball and its scroll ring, but in 10 minutes, the just-a-touch-too-stiff action of the thumb click button has me worn out. How have you dealt w/this?

1. It doesn't appear that the buttons will loosen up much over time, at least not after a trial few hundred rapid clicks (using different fingers...). Maybe practice and time will help, but this seems pretty anti-ergonomic.

2. So far, the easiest way I've found to click the thumb button is position the thumb at the extreme inner right portion of the button, closest to the scroll ring. This puts the hand position way on the Rt side of the ball, and loses use of the upper L button.

3. I thought about re-assigning the upper L button to be the main clicker, to use w/index finger. But then finger does not rest on the button after most any trkball motion...

the button will never loosen up btw. The way it is designed, it just does not work that way.

I am not sure how stiff is too stiff. My 3 trackballs all work great.

The best position is bottom lower left but really it all clicks the same.

I would suggest some thumb calisthenics...

I have three of these trackballs on machines at work and home and haven't found the button to be too stiff. These ("Expert Mouse" are kinda the Bentleys of pointing devices in my opinion, or at least they're priced that way -- in any event I like them the way they are.

I've assigned the buttons thusly:
Lower left: single click
Lower right: right click
Upper right: shift click (to open link in new browser tab)
Upper left: control-w (to close window or browser tab--inconvenient to reach, but OK, it should be)

You can also set up stuff to occur when you chord the top two or bottom two buttons but I haven't found that very usefu.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2008 04:40PM by tenders.

I like the bottom two chorded to act as the shift-click or third mouse button for opening new windows and the like.

my set up (for left hand use) is:

TL - single click
TR - back one page
BL - down one page
BR - double click
BC - open safari
TC - unassigned

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I will leave no question unanswered and no butt unkissed as I slog my way to retirement.

weapon, and others please test yours: Playing around w/the LL button, pressing w/the eraser end of a pencil (hold the pencil upright, VERY lightly to more accurately judge the needed pressure). On mine, the right side part of it adjacent to the scroll ring -at about 7:00- is noticeably easier to click than the rest of it, especially the lowest part that's farthest S of the scroll ring. Is this the same on yours?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2008 05:39PM by Psurfer.

Same. The reason is that the button is directly under that position. The higher up you go the further away from the actual button you are.

to clarify, I mean that the lowest part that's farthest S of the scroll ring requires the Most pressure to click.

I think the real answer will be to allow time to gradually get used to it.
But, really, why would they design so much resistance to the buttons, esp the lower ones!? Compared to an old MS 4-button mouse, the Expert feels like a hand workout device.

But I am starting to get used to it a little. Breaks are key.

The old TurboMouse was a very heavy duty device. Every piece was much heavier than the current trackballs.

And I thing the microswitches were of much higher quality. That combined with the weight of the buttons themselves made for a very light touch.

The scroll wheel of my Expert Mouse isn't stiff, but it's not smooth. If only this device had been built back when Kensington put money into their product.

All my trackballs are programmed:

Exposé - . . . . . . . . . . Right Click
Desktop



Click . . . . . . . . . . . . . Return

Exposé, index finger; Right Click, middle finger; Click, thumb; Return, little finger.

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Quote
Psurfer
weapon, and others please test yours: Playing around w/the LL button, pressing w/the eraser end of a pencil (hold the pencil upright, VERY lightly to more accurately judge the needed pressure). On mine, the right side part of it adjacent to the scroll ring -at about 7:00- is noticeably easier to click than the rest of it, especially the lowest part that's farthest S of the scroll ring. Is this the same on yours?

Psurfer,

I find the area you describe slightly easier, but not significantly so.

If you think there is a problem, I urge you to write to Kensington. After answering a few troubleshooting questions, they will send you a new one. You don't eben have to send in the old one.

Best customer service in the business.