Kensington Orbit TrackBall - Wired Ergonomic TrackBall Mouse for PC, Mac and Windows with Ambidextrous Design, Optical Tracking & 40 mm Ball – Space Grey (64327EU), Silver

UPDATE 24 FEB 2011Here is an update to my original review. I just as keen on this excellent input device as I was a year ago when I bought it. It has been in constant use and it really is imho the best input device I have ever used.I use it for graphics, mostly in Adobe Illustrator for example and there is so much control and it is precise. Equally it can go very quickly across screens so I can get across my two screens easily.I also use it for editing video in Final Cut Pro and here, it is really superb. It's great big trackball makes it very easy to just creep forward and back a frame at a time.I really do think that people may overlook this terrific input device because it is not slick and cool, but it is very much the best possible thing for the job.My only comment that could be negative, but isn't, is that using it exclusively may risk RSI problems with you shoulder. I think this is true of any mouse of this sort. That is why I also use the Contour RollerMouse Free. This I use for scrolling around word processing documents and that kind of thing.ORIGINAL REVIEW MARCH 2010I bought mine on 30 January so I've had it for six weeks now. I absolutely love it!I do not use it exclusively, I use it in conjunction with a Contour RollerMouse Free. However I use the Kensington Expert Mouse for graphics. I recently just finished doing a lot of editing of a video with Final Cut Express and the Expert Mouse is superb for this kind of thing.Many years ago I used a Kensington trackball, I think in about 1995, and I really like that one, but this is so much better because it has such a large trackball.The negative things about this trackball are that it feels a bit cheap in construction compared with say, a Logitech or Microsoft mouse at this price, however I think it is well constructed nevertheless.It looks rather 70s to me but I don't mind this. In actual use the feel is very good. The scroll wheel bearing surface is noisy in a plasticy way but there is no problem with this in use.From time to time it is a good idea to remove a build up of gunge on the three little ball bearings. I keep an old toothbrush nearby for this purpose. It's also quite good to take the ball out and polish it, perhaps with your shirt :)Any of these small negatives are hugely outweighed by the fact that the level of control over the cursor is superb. That is what an input device like this is for and that is what it does so well.Before I got this I tried the most expensive Logitech mouse, however the software for that on my Mac was a disaster so I had to send it back. IMHO the Kensington Expert Mouse is a far better buy than that more expensive Logitech mouse. The level of control over the cursor is much better.The software for the Kensington Expert Mouse works very well indeed on my Mac. I use it with the default settings and it is fine. The scroll direction can be switched with a menu in the menu bar at the top of the Mac OS screen and this is very handy.If you buy this you will be initially disappointed when you take it out of the packaging. You will think it is a prop from the Star Wars movie.When you first use it you will think it is a bit weird if you have not used a trackball before. You will still be having doubts.After a week of using it you will never want to use a "normal" mouse again!

I am a programmer, and spend a lot of time in front of computers: I generally use a computer for 7 hours each day at work, and also use one a lot in the evenings at home too. For the past few years I have been experiencing muscle twitches and spasms in my arms and hands, especially in periods where I have spent extra time on the computer.A while back I decided to buy a trackball, and bought a Logitech thumb trackball. I really liked it, but after a while some of the buttons stopped working properly, and I also found it difficult to move the ball forwards and backwards with the same speed and accuracy as I could move it side to side.A few months ago, I bought one of these trackballs to use at work, and I absolutely love it! I find it so much easier to use than the thumb trackball, and I find it easy to use with my left and right hand, which means that I can switch hands when I get twitches or pains.A week after buying this I bought another one to use at home so now I own 2!A lot of people have complained about the scroll wheel feeling cheap and scratchy, and I even read somewhere that it feels like it has sand inside it! This is definitely true when you first buy the unit, and it still does feel like that to some extent, but the action of the scroll wheel gets better and better as you use it and feels much more fluid.I have used this trackball with both Linux (Ubuntu) and Max OSX and it works fine with both of them. The (unofficial) Ubuntu driver is brilliant, as I can set one of the buttons to be a scroll button. If I tap it, I have set it to navigate backwards, but if I hold it down then the main ball works like a scroll wheel which is really smooth. Unfortunately you can't do this with the Mac driver and I don't know if this is possible on Windows.Overall this is the best 'mouse' I have ever owned for general usage (I have a regular mouse for gaming still), and takes up a lot less space on my desk than a regular mouse as I don't have to move it around. I don't think this has cured my RSI on its own, but it definitely helps as I can switch back and forth between this, my thumb trackball and a normal mouse depending on the state of my hands. I 100% prefer this to a thumb trackball.Edit: 5 Years later this thing is still going perfectly. The mouse wheel is smooth, I get less weird muscle twitches in my thumb and it's a joy to use. I definitely recommend this.

dropped a star due to the price but it is a good quality item so maybe I'm being a bit harsh. It works exactly as you'd want it to and the scroll wheel is very good. Overall I found all the functions responsive and accurate. It's comfortable to use, well designed and the ergonomics work well. It sits flat on the desk and whilst bigger than a standard mouse it needs less space because it doesn't move around.I've seen some questions on here so I can report that it works perfectly on my Linux Mint 22 system. No setup required. Just plug in the USB and away you go. No extra drivers needed.I don't use it for gaming so I can't comment on that aspect.