Orbit Trackball with Scroll Ring

I've had the trackball for about a month now. I bought it to replace the wireless Mighty Mouse that came with my Mac 'cause it ate batteries like no tomorrow. VERY, VERY pleased with the trackball. It took me about a week to figure out how to comfortably use it as I had exclusively using a Wacom tablet in place of the mouse, before deciding to get some sort of mouse. The software: To start off, for those reading reviews of those complaining about the program, you CAN plug and play it. You don't actually need the program for the trackball to work. The mouse adjustments that you can make in the System Preferences will still work for the trackball. However, in order to access the additional features, you will need to download the software. It's a very easy process, just go to the website, download and install it (the instructions come in the packet). The icon will show up in your System Preferences window under the Other header. I don't know where it appears for Windows as I've only transferred the trackball between our Macs. In the trackball program, you can adjust the usual features (scroll speed, click speed, etc) and also the left/right combo click which you can set to do stuff like go back or forward. The program also allows you to choose which direction to have the scroll ring turn to go up or down. The default is set to clockwise for scrolling down. The buttons: overall, they're pretty standard in function. However, I do find that sometimes in certain programs like a Flash game, it won't always want to click on the first try, so I wouldn't recommend this for gaming purposes for games where you do need an immediate response. All other uses, I haven't really noticed any problems. I love the option of being able to set the dual click to do something :) As a first time trackball user, something else I also had to remember to do was take my fingers off the ball before clicking as I often catch myself nudging the ball when I click and then missing the spot I wanted to click. Same goes for the scroll wheel. I seem to subconsciously fiddle with that too. Trackball: No issues with it at all. It took some getting used to with adjusting from a mouse or my tablet and I found myself trying to click on the ball itself a number of times. *lol* But no fault of the device. The scroll ring: So far, I haven't experienced any of the major problems that have been complained about so far. Up till about a week ago, I hadn't gotten around to looking into the trackball's software and once I did, it made a huge world of difference with how smoothly the ring scrolled. It felt a little slow, previously to the point where it sort of staggered sometimes. I love how I can now just give the ring a quick flick with a finger and I'll be back at the top of a web page. I've actually caught myself trying to do that with a scroll wheel on a mouse at work and wondering why it just inched up instead of flying up where I wanted it! Keeping in mind of the complaints though, I have been careful with the wheel and trying not to use it when I don't feel I really need to, as not to potentially abuse it to death as I really like it. So if I'm scrolling to skim an article or search it for something, I'll use the scroll bar on the browser, which with the trackball is pretty effortless. Extras: It includes a wrist rest that you can attach to the end of the base. I didn't bother with it as my desk has a built in one. Size of whole unit: it's a decent size for me. My hand length is about 7 inches and the size of the unit allows me to perch my fingertips on the ball and comfortably roll forward to the middle joint of my fingers if I want to do one long continuous drag. I've play tested some older trackballs in stores many years ago when the majority seemed to be a lot larger, so this works fairly well. Advice: if you find yourself needing to clean your trackball, don't use Clorox wipes. It leaves a sticky residues that slows down the ball's spin. I just pulled out the ball and washed it with hand soap and water, wiped out the dust in the holder, dried off everything and stuck it back in. User troubleshooting: If you find that your hand is more tired using the trackball than a regular mouse, try adjusting your chair height. This can make a very big difference. If you have an arm rest on your chair, take advantage of it and adjust your chair height to make the rest level with your trackball.

I've been an avid trackball user since the 1990s and have used quite a few of them. I've been trying to replace my favorite discontinued model for years, and of the many I've tried I would say this is the best. Pros: Overall feel is very nice in my hand. It was broken-in within minutes (by this I mean the ease of rolling the ball in it's socket; there is typically a bit of drag or stiffness with most of the trackballs I've tried. This usually gets better over a few days' use). The scroll ring also feels nice. I would call the build quality mid-grade. It doesn't feel high end, but it also doesn't feel like junk. The wrist-rest is just a tiny bit lesser quality plastic, and I didn't expect to use it, but after trying it out it really does improve overall comfort of use. The software is simple, although there is room for improvement. Another pro for me is the ball being in the index-finger position. I really dislike models with the ball in the thumb position, but that is really a matter of personal preference. Cons: Not enough cons to impact overall rating. I would like more buttons, although that is probably a limitation of being a low-cost model, as the more expensive Kensingtons do have more. The ability to chord (press both buttons simultaneously to function as a third button) would be nice. I don't know if that is a limitation of the software, hardware, or both. The scroll ring is a tiny bit too sensitive for my liking. In summary, this is an excellent trackball for the price, and is significantly better than more expensive trackballs I have tried (I got this one for $17 during a Black Friday sale). I wish I bought a few of these at that price, because it seems like once a model becomes discontinued, the after market prices get crazy. For example, my all-time favorite is the Microsoft Trackball Explorer, which was perfect in every way. Long discontinued, they can still be found on Ebay for several hundred dollars. I may give one of the higher end Kensington models a try. I briefly tested one in a store years ago and didn't like the ergonomics, so the only reason I tried this one was because it was insanely cheap. I'm very glad I did.

Trying to improve my desktop ergonomics, I raised my MacBook Pro up on a platform, purchased an external keyboard, and went searching for an external mouse. At first I thought I'd just use my iPod Touch, so I tried out four or five of the trackpad-type apps. Some were okay, but they were a pretty big disappointment coming from the MacBook's multi-touch trackpad. There were several minor annoyances like lag with some of them, but two big problems with all that I tried: (1) I found them almost impossible to drag-and-drop with, and (2) triple-click didn't work. Back to the drawingboard, I searched for an external mac-like trackpad, but wasn't impressed with what I found. Their reviews made them sound like they suffered from the same weaknesses as my iPod's apps. So I thought I'd try a trackball; back in the day, I loved my old mac laptop's trackball. I read all the reviews here, and ordered this one, the Kensington Orbit with scroll ring. Given the above history, after about a week's use of the trackball, here's what I found. On the positive side: (1) it's a trackball, so since it doesn't move around on your desk you can find it immediately without looking. (2) While some reviewers were disappointed with the ball's size or weight, I found them to be great. (3) I can accomplish drag-and-drop, no problem. (4) I can triple-click, no problem. On the negative side: (1) There is simply no way to scroll horizontally - the scroll ring only controls vertical scroll. I knew this when I ordered it, but hoped I wouldn't miss it; it has turned out to be as much of a pain as I feared. Two-finger scrolling in any direction on the MacBook's multi-touch trackpad is a godsend. (2) The vertical scroll wheel works, but the resulting scrolling on the screen is, in comparison to the multi-touch trackpad, very choppy, hard to control, and disorienting. This came as a big surprise to me after all the positive reviews, and I hadn't realized how smooth and controllable the multi-touch trackpad's scrolling really is. I don't attribute this to the scroll ring itself being sticky (though there's a bit of scratchiness if you move it fast and far), but rather to how the motion is being translated into on-screen scrolling. (3) Because of the position of the cord, the layout of the buttons, and the overall size of the device, you really can't position it directly in front of you, just under the space bar (the position closest to your hands and most like the position on a laptop). One of the consequences of this is that you can't really use it with two hands at once as you (at least, I) do with the multi-touch trackpad (or even the ancient mac laptop's trackball). I generally drag-and-drop by clicking with the left hand and scrolling with the right, and I select text in a similar fashion - it is much faster and more accurate; but this is highly awkward with the Kensington because it has to be off to one side of your keyboard. Looking at the device, I'm convinced they could make it significantly more compact and if it was wireless, too, then it could work well in front of the space bar. I had decided to avoid wireless, since I didn't want to be changing batteries; perhaps that was a mistake, but in the case of this device even that wouldn't be sufficient. On the whole, this is a fine and functional device - I expect that many people would find it a vast improvement over a mouse, or several other options. But it doesn't measure up to the MacBook multi-touch trackpad in terms of selecting text, dragging and dropping, or horizontal scrolling. If you're on your computer all day every day like me, doing that stuff quickly and accurately really makes a difference.

The trackball works well. The wheel is nice for scrolling - a feature missing on other trackballs. The push buttons contacts were a little bit un reliable, a problem easily fixed with anti corrosion spray along the side of the buttons. I have added blobs of hot glue so that i can feel where to press buttons without looking.

I have a Logitech M570, Logitech Trackman Marble, Adesso Trackball, Kensington Expert, and the Kensington Orbit with scroll ring. Trackball experiences are very subjective because our hands are all different shapes and sizes, and we use different techniques. In my experience the Kensington Orbit with scroll ring is the overall winner. With regard to performance, the Kensington Expert is the best. It is also two to three times the price of all the other trackballs listed. Additionally, the Expert is tilted at a steep angle toward the user. This can put your wrist in an awkward and painful position. The Logitech Trackman Marble and the Orbit are both tilted slighty away from the user, and this is very comfortable. The scroll ring on the Orbit is also much smoother than the scratchtastic Expert. The Logitech Trackman Marble is the most like the Orbit. The trackballs are the same size and have a similar form. The shape of the Marble is more comfortable overall and has two additional programmable buttons. The Orbit has somewhat less comfortable button placement, and lacks the extra buttons. The Orbit can be programmed to emulate a middle click by pressing both buttons. However, the Logitech does not have any scroll wheel or scroll ring. That's an automatic disqualification in my book. The Orbit wins by default. The Adesso Trackball gets a number of negative reviews, and rightfully so. It has the most useless button placement I have ever seen. However, it does have a much larger ball than the Orbit and Marble, has a higher resolution (800dpi), has a scroll wheel, and is in the same price range. With a couple of modifications and the use of arm rest (I use a thick text book), it is a truly fantastic trackball. However, out of the box the Orbit and the Marble leave the Adesso in the dust. The M570 is a thumb controlled trackball. Many people love them, while others abhor them. (I happen to have no preference, and use both) If you have a predilection for a fingertip controlled ball, the Orbit and other trackballs win this round. Otherwise, the M570 is a top notch device. While the other trackballs may best the Orbit in one way or the other, it scores well in all areas. It gets my recommendation as the best overall affordable trackball. The rundown Pros: -affordable -comfortable shape -smooth rolling ball -the best scrolling apparatus -a good size Cons: -no extra buttons -no dedicated middle click button -slightly awkward button placement

This trackball isn't terrible, but it could be so much better. The price point is attractive, and the addition of a scroll ring is welcome. It is also nice that it is ambidextrous, since many of the higher-feature trackballs are for right-handed users only (at least with Logitech). The device itself is deceptively small and lightweight. For some reason when I looked at pics of this online, it always looked as though it were a large and bulky chunk of plastic. It is not. In fact, I found the Orbit to be very small and very low to the desk (in other words, it was not very high at its highest point - the trackball). Logitechs seem to rise up to support your palm before they curve towards the buttons. Overall, their models just seem taller on the desk compared to the Kensington. For me, the result was that my hand was splayed open all the time to hit the buttons, and it was much lower to the desk, with my wrist hitting the edge causing discomfort. There are ways to work around this, as Kensington supplied a little rubber wedge that slips on the end of the trackball housing to lengthen the supported area for your hand and wrist. This support simply slips on to the end, and there is a tiny rubber catch that hooks on the bottom of the trackball. The catch doesn't lock the pad onto the end of the Orbit, rather it just helps keep it lined up. At first this support was very uncomfortable, but after a few days, it became less so. I found that the support seemed to stay on the trackball fairly reliably. One of the great features of this trackball is how smoothly the ball rotates in its socket. After a hour or so, I felt hardly any resistance or friction, especially when compared to my Logitechs. I also liked how you could just plug it in and use Windows to configure the features for you. Kensington provides its own software for download, but I ran into several snags getting it to install and run on Windows 7 64 bit, so I stuck to the Windows drivers. It only has two buttons, which was fine by me, so that wasn't a turn off for me. The downsides I found with this trackball were the extremely light weight of the device (I found I was accidentally moving it during usage), and the overall cheap feel of the unit. The housing felt very flimsy to me, and the largish buttons made a hollow, cheap sound when clicking. They also require a bit more force to depress than other trackballs or mice, so double clicking got to be a bit tiresome after awhile. The scroll ring, which worked perfectly for me seemed cheap too; it had a plastic-on-plastic rubbing noise to it, and although it moved without resistance I wondered how long that would last. Another reviewer wrote a piece on here telling about how he took his Orbit apart and put graphite lubricant under the scroll ring. Its an intriguing thought, and if I had the time and truly loved this trackball, I might have tried it myself. All said and done, I didn't hate this trackball. I probably could have lived with it if there weren't other choice out there (granted, not many choices, which is a shame)that met my needs better than the Orbit. For me, it worked flawlessly with the Windows drivers. It just wasn't my favorite. Edit 7/22/2012 Well, I reacquired one of these Orbits, and followed that aforementioned reviewer's advice. I never really had a scroll wheel issue, but depressing the buttons was problematic, fatiguing, and ultimately uncomfortable. As he suggested, I opened up the trackball and glued two plastic shims cut from a zip tie to the plastic 'plus-sign' contact points under each button that hits the actuator (I believe that's the term). I used Loctite super glue which has held well, but I also have Plastruct Plastic Weld which I will try if it doesn't hold. After letting it sit for about 12 hours, I put it back together. Like the original reviewer, I, too, found the shims a bit thick. When the housing was screwed down the button were permanently activated. I simply loosened the front two screws slightly, and the buttons required far less effort to activate. So, I suppose with the modding done, I would add a star. But I won't do so officially for this review because it came from Kensington needing to be modded in the first place (at least in my opinion). But I hope this helps.

After using a laptop trackpad at work all day, my wrist was beginning to give out. I was worried a regular mouse would not help much, so I took a gamble on this wacky device. It has turned out excellently, and I am able to do work tasks without issue using the Orbit. The clicks are satisfying, the trackball itself is very precise and enjoyable to use, and the scroll ring is a lovely convenience I wonder how I lived without. Thoroughly recommended.

2.5 Months into ownership review Things I love about this mouse: - The trackball makes maneuvering 3 screens incredibly easy - Switching from mouse to keyboard is so much easier to transition to for some reason. Not sure why but it feels faster and easier - The hand's resting position is comfortable even for all day use. As a cubicle worker, this was a must. - The resting position also makes it very easy to reach each button, and use the track ball at the same time Things I don't love about this mouse: - The trackball needs to be cleaned regularly. More specifically the little nodules that hold the trackball in place do. They get clogged with oils and dust from your hands, which can impact the trackball's smoothness. I have to clean those off every few days or the trackball loses all fluidity - Sometimes "disconnects" so you have to unplug it and plug it back in. Not super annoying, but annoying nonetheless All-in-all I do really like this mouse, but there were some things I hadn't thought of before I bought it. Wouldn't stop me from buying it again though. Likely has better applications than what I'm using it for, but if nothing else, no one else in the office has one, which is fun.