Logitech Optical Trackball Marble Mouse

I was going to give it 4 stars, but then realized I couldn't really advise a way to improve on this mouse. I think there is more a need for user improvement, as it takes a while to get used to trackball navigation after being used to gripping the mouse to move the whole thing. I have a bad habit of squeezing the mouse unecessarily, which causes me to accidentally right-click a lot of the time. I also have a bad habit of flexing my wrist to hold it above the mouse, which is unecessary too.Ideally you place this mouse on a flat service in the perfect location so that your arm has support and your wrist can remain straight and supported. Then you fully rest your hand, mostly on the mouse, so that your index and middle fingers are resting on the trackball, your pinky is resting on the desk, and your thumb is resting on the left mouse button. It takes a little development of index finger dexterity, as well as breaking the habit of gripping the mouse, but once you get used to it this turns out to be a relaxed way to navigate, other than a little stress on the ring finger as it tries to avoid the right mouse button as you track towards the thumb. For me the perfect hand position for the middle and index finger to have maximum range on the trackball lands the ring finger right on the right mouse button some of the time. This is unavoidable if you want an ambidextrous mouse though. Some people, of course, are left handed and they should be able to buy this mouse too, so it's a small price to pay to have to sometimes lift up the side of your hand a litle instead of always leaving it resting on the desk. You can also page forward and back with the little silver buttons.I really love this mouse, which is something I never imagined myself saying. A mouse never seemed that big a deal to me to bother having any real opinion on it, but then I got an HP laptop with a horrific touchscreen that was driving me nuts, so had to get an external mouse for my laptop. I use an old fashion mouse at work, and thought to get that, but on my laptop I often work in an environment where I don't have that kind of desk space, so a trackball seemed the better choice. Now I like this one so much I'm getting another one to use at work. On top of it, I love how it looks. It's a very stylish design and it gives me pleasure to see it sitting on my desk. I may be a grown-up, but I still like my shiny new toys, I suppose. Anyway, this is a cheap and extremely functional little gadget that I am so glad I came across.

I had a PS/2 one that is still working fine, but I no longer have a PC with a PS/2 interface. Rather than go with adapters I bought a new one with a USB interface. The only functional differences are the extra mini buttons on the sides and a raspier feel when moving the ball. It has smoothed out somewhat with use and it may eventually become as smooth as my original. It may be that I had the same issue with the original and have just forgotten about that. I don't use the mini buttons so I never installed the Logitech Driver. I also mouse with 2 hands. I have a wireless mouse in my left hand and I use the Logitech for zipping around the screen, rarely using the buttons.I have a thumb tendon issue and very little desk space at home. So using a wireless mouse to push buttons with my left hand while using my palm and/or my index and middle fingers to move around the screen works great for me. Otherwise I'd either have a sore thumb or I would have to pick the mouse up and move back to the right (or left) multiple times to traverse the screen once. I only have about an inch of space on either side of the mouse/trackball and this setup solves that space limitation very well (and keeps my thumb feeling fine).Solid product, always recommend the Logitech trackman to anyone interested in them.

I received and installed the mouse less than an hour ago. I will only be discussing my experience thus far, and focusing on installation and instructions, so you may want to look at other reviews to get an idea of durability. Summary: Easy to set up, feels good in one's hand, compact, useful, inexpensive, but the Amazon product information was poor and almost caused me not to make the purchase. Also, the Logitech help is confusing because it provides only one set of instructions for all their models and leaves it to you to pick through the information that is irrelevant to your model.Amazon wasted a substantial amount of my time by including incorrect product information. First of all, the product info blurb said that the product requires batteries, which would have been ridiculous for a wired mouse and would have dissuaded me from making the purchase. However, since none of the reviews referred to batteries, I decided (correctly, as it turned out) that Amazon must have made a mistake. Secondly, I needed the mouse to fit into a narrow space on an extendable shelf below my desk, so the dimensions were important to me. The good news is that the mouse is actually a good deal narrower and shorter than the product information indicates, so it does fit, and doesn't force me to extend my fingers way under the desk itself. The fact that the mouse is so low (2 inches -- the only dimension that the product info got right) is great. Just wish the other info had been more accurate. I would have wasted less time researching the product and bought it sooner.I intentionally ignored Logitech's installation instructions, which asked me to power off the computer before connecting it and then to install the software. I hooked up the USB directly to my computer, which was already on. No puff of smoke, no hung computer, and I saved myself a good five minutes by not restarting. The mouse's rolling and clicking actions worked even without installing the software, but I couldn't figure out how to scroll with the mouse, so I did install the software.I found that the default "Universal Scroll" was not good for me, since it scrolls horizontally as well as vertically. Since I almost always want to scroll in a purely vertical direction, I changed to "Auto Scroll", and was glad I did. It's a little unintuitive at first, though. You have to press the button and wait a fraction of a second for the icon to change before you start scrolling. I also found that I needed to change the scrolling speed to the slowest available. I can imagine that people with slower reflexes (perhaps myself in a few decades!) would have liked slower speeds still. I don't know why anyone would like to scroll at their default speed, let alone faster, since the words become a blur.Finally, the Logitech one-size-fits-all instructions wasted my time by mentioning a lot of features that were not relevant to my model without segregating these sections from those that apply to all models. I'm not sure if their intention was to make me toss the mouse I'd just bought and buy one of the other versions, but if so, it didn't work. Ideally, they'd write a different set of instructions for each mouse, but failing that, they could do a better job of using special formatting to set off the model-specific information. Also, finding an explanation for the unusual terms used in the UI (e.g., "Document flip") took far too many steps, since "Index" and "Search" took me not to the relevant page, but only to a page that led to the relevant page.In conclusion: I like the mouse. Not crazy about Amazon's or Logitech's written material, or Logitech's defaults, but those are easy to get beyond.