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Trackballs


Glen1980

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I've been using a logitech 8 button trackman for the last 18 months and am now reasonably happy with trackballs. However it has been getting a bit unpredictable lately and this morning completely died.

 

Does anyone else use trackballs and have any recomendations?

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I've done that in the past for cleaning the rubbish out from inside. I'm not very good with electronics though, so wouldn't know waht to do if there weren't loose wires.

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It's an optical trackball, I regularly clean the contacts and laser bit on the outside, just occasionally the odd bit dust bunny escapes into the body of the unit through the button.

 

I opened it up a few months ago to clear these bits out.

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Glen,

 

I use a Logitech M570 wireless trackball. Had it about 7 months so far and really like it. I am on this machine all day, 5 days a week, and even some on weekends and just replaced the battery for the first time. It uses a single AA (I used a duracell). I replaced a Microsoft Optical trackball that I'd had for several years with this one (left click quit working). It has a scroll wheel of course, left and right click and two more buttons that will act as forward and back, but the driver will let you select alternate actions or program a key sequence to any of the buttons. So far, I like it. Some of the folks warned me that wireless mice are squirrelly, but I haven't had any trouble with it so far.

 

My wife has a Logitech Trackman Marble on her machine at school and really likes it, but I prefer steering the pointer with my thumb instead of middle and ring fingers.

 

This is an interesting contraption, but not sure how useful it would be for cad.

http://gadgetsin.com/wireless-usb-trackball-mouse.htm

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I did some research on the 'net when I got home (very restrictive net nanny at work) and it seems most trackballs omit the wheel these days so I'll probably have to splash out on a top end one like the M570, which I'm thinking would be my first choice as my thumb joints are about the only pain free ones in my hand.

 

Just want to see if work will buy me it, I have a doctors letter saying I have RSI symptons on its way so legally they will have to buy me something to help prevent any further problems but I bet they'll balk at paying 50 quid.

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It's a miracle! I mucked about with the batteries, as I did yersterday, then reconnected the trackball to the wireless receiver, again as yesterday, then it started working!

 

This could be an indication that it's on its last legs but at least I can use it again. WIll definitely keep an eye on the MX570 in case I see it at a good price.

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There was a wired version that's about half the price of wireless one if you can find it. Kensington makes one that has a scroll ring instead of a wheel, not sure what that's all about. It's a ring around the rollerball instead of a wheel. don't know why that would be a good idea, but someone thought so.

 

I don't know anything about these, but they are about $25 US. Wired, and the scroll wheel is on the side. Kinda strange but interesting.http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6307997&CatId=540

 

 

 

Amazes me that companies would rather take the chance of having to pay for a work related RMI than spend $50 to prevent it. One office call to a doctor here in the states would buy 3 of those trackballs. Yet you see "SAFETY FIRST" banners hanging on the walls that cost more than the mouse would.

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Amazes me that companies would rather take the chance of having to pay for a work related RMI than spend $50 to prevent it. One office call to a doctor here in the states would buy 3 of those trackballs. Yet you see "SAFETY FIRST" banners hanging on the walls that cost more than the mouse would.

 

I worked out at a potash mine once, they had this saftey compliance officer that was hit by a train in his company truck, the trains were towed through the site by what basically amounts to a winch, at about a mile an hour, maybe lol, we still do not know how he managed to get hit by that train ..... I am no longer amazed by 'SAFTEY FIRST' faux pa's ...

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Maybe "amaze" was the wrong term...should have used "dismay" maybe. I know what you mean though. A die shop I worked in had an inspection form that you had to fill out at the start of the shift and the end of the shift for all the equipment you planned to use that day. The forklift had no brakes. It had a brake pedal, but it didn't do anything. You stopped by switching into reverse and applying throttle. When you parked it, you parked over a drip pan to catch the transmission fluid, which you periodically poured into a 5 pound coffee can to strain and reuse. Finally one day the engine blew and we thought we'd get a different one. Nope...they rented one while the maintenance man and I rebuilt it. They spent within $1000 of what a brand new one would cost, and when finished it still had no brakes. Absolutely refused to buy the brake shoes because the project was over budget by.......drum roll please.........$84. I left the company a year later and as far as I know, they never did put brakes on it.

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Karma?

 

I was working for a conveyor company as a fabricator, somehow ended up running the shipping area. :shock: One of the forklift drivers came up to me one day and told me the brakes didn't work on his forklift. So I told him to go signout another lift and I would take care of it. I went and got all the paperwork and filled it out, parked the lift, tagged it and took the key to the office. All finished right...NO. Next day the forklift driver is back on the unrepaired forklift, said the manufacturing supervisor (also incharge of the safety policy) told him to "drive it we have no other lifts". To make a long story short (I had words for the manufacturing supervisor), they unloaded steel around front (near the executive/office parking) in a drive in bay (with overhead cranes) but plates and sheets they needed a forklift. So mister got no brakes is recruited by the manufacturing supervisor to unload some plate. There is a slight slope in the front, there are plenty of automobiles in the parking lot, the plate was heavy, the forklift rolled backwords with NO BRAKES. Guess whose truck got smashed? Yep the manufacturing supervisor's. He tried to fire the driver, but I stopped that. I think the company even refused to pay for the damage to his truck.

 

The same manufacturing/safety supervisor.

 

Coworker and I were welding something and someone had left an open 1 gallon paint bucket nearby and a spark caught it on fire. And the manufacturing supervisor starts yelling fire, my coworker lifts his hood up and reaches for a 12" x 12" piece of plate laying near him to lay over the top and smother the fire. Right as he gets within a couple feet of the bucket-o-fire, the manufacturing/safety stupidvisor cuts loose with a fire extinguisher blowing flaming paint all over the place and straight into the tool crib, burned my coworker, the tool crib workers and spread the fire everywhere. Had to call the fire department. The language and names yelled at the manufacturing/safety stupidvisor cannot be repeated here.

 

I later went to work at another company and come to find out the same manufacturing/safety stupidvisor had been the shop foreman there, they were like, yea sounds like that idiot.

 

:rofl:

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Back in November I started to show some serious symptoms of Carpal Tunnel and immediatley bought the M570 for home and work bought a vertical mouse (http://www.evoluent.com/vm3.html) for my use. The pain during computer usage went away immediately and only comes back when I use a standard mouse. I haven't used a standard mouse for any length of time in a while since and have not missed it at all. Initially, there was a decline in my production but that soon went away. Along with the equipment changes, I also started doing regular stretching which I'm sure helped in the longer run but the change in mice really helped a lot in the short run.

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When I worked for the dinosaur, they refused to supply anything except the mouse that came with the system, nor would they allow me to buy one myself, which I offered to do. Citing compatibility and security issues, they said that no employee owned equipment would be allowed to replace company property. I even had a dr.'s note recommending it due to a bit of arthritis in my wrists. So, I brought my own anyway, plugged it in when I was at work, took it off the machine when I left and put it in my briefcase. Original $3 dell mouse stayed connected, but placed out of the way. About a year later, one of the corporate guys saw me plugging it in one morning and asked why. Told him the whole story, showed him the dr. note. He went away and I never saw him again but the next day the IT guy brought out a new trackball just like the one I was using. Told me to take mine home and use it. Since it had already been there a year, I took the new one home and used my old one.

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It's a miracle! I mucked about with the batteries, as I did yersterday, then reconnected the trackball to the wireless receiver, again as yesterday, then it started working!

 

I use a wireless mouse and it wasn't working correctly to rotate parts in SolidWorks (hold middle wheel), but worked fine in my other CAD applications.

I thought there was something wrong with SWx install since that is the only program I had trouble in.

I put off re-installing SWx because I still needed to use the program and didn't have time for the uninstall/reinstall.

Several weeks later I changed the battery in the mouse for some reason.

Viola - everyting working in SolidWorks again. So the battery wasn't dead but just weak enough that it would not do this one operation.

Now evertime rotate doesn't work in SWx I know it is time to recharge battery.

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I use a wireless mouse and it wasn't working correctly to rotate parts in SolidWorks (hold middle wheel), but worked fine in my other CAD applications.

I thought there was something wrong with SWx install since that is the only program I had trouble in.

I put off re-installing SWx because I still needed to use the program and didn't have time for the uninstall/reinstall.

Several weeks later I changed the battery in the mouse for some reason.

Viola - everyting working in SolidWorks again. So the battery wasn't dead but just weak enough that it would not do this one operation.

Now evertime rotate doesn't work in SWx I know it is time to recharge battery.

 

Isn't interesting what happens when the signal gets a little weak? That tiny transmitter barely radiates any rf anyway so if it gets a little interference the results get unpredictable. I mentioned earlier having to change the battery in mine...it was double clicking everything. Sometimes click and hold, or click 4 or 5 times! I thought the computer had a virus or was possessed or something.

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Back in November I started to show some serious symptoms of Carpal Tunnel and immediatley bought the M570 for home and work bought a vertical mouse (http://www.evoluent.com/vm3.html) for my use. The pain during computer usage went away immediately and only comes back when I use a standard mouse. I haven't used a standard mouse for any length of time in a while since and have not missed it at all. Initially, there was a decline in my production but that soon went away. Along with the equipment changes, I also started doing regular stretching which I'm sure helped in the longer run but the change in mice really helped a lot in the short run.

 

I like the vertical.

 

I use an ergonomic shaped mouse at work, my hand does ok.

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Maybe "amaze" was the wrong term...should have used "dismay" maybe. I know what you mean though. A die shop I worked in had an inspection form that you had to fill out at the start of the shift and the end of the shift for all the equipment you planned to use that day. The forklift had no brakes. It had a brake pedal' date=' but it didn't do anything. You stopped by switching into reverse and applying throttle. When you parked it, you parked over a drip pan to catch the transmission fluid, which you periodically poured into a 5 pound coffee can to strain and reuse. Finally one day the engine blew and we thought we'd get a different one. Nope...they rented one while the maintenance man and I rebuilt it. They spent within $1000 of what a brand new one would cost, and when finished it still had no brakes. Absolutely refused to buy the brake shoes because the project was over budget by.......drum roll please.........$84. I left the company a year later and as far as I know, they never did put brakes on it.[/quote']

That maintenance man went on to invent the Segway. It stops by applying reverse throttle too.

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It's not just my hand that aches when I have to use a mouse, it's my elbow and shoulder too. No muscular pain anywhere other than my hand, with my elbow and shoulder it's the joints that ache. Go home for the weekend when I avoid computers like the plague and everything is fine. I have noticed that I can't play on consoles for more than an hour now and guitar hero hurts like hell!

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