thessa's Full Review: Microsoft Explorer (D68-00002) Trackball
As I've mentioned in my other reviews, I have bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome. In an effort to avoid surgery, I'm making as many changes to my environment as possible. One of these changes involved replacing all my mice with trackballs.
If you've been using a mouse, the first thing you'll notice about trackballs is they're usually more expensive than mice. The Microsoft Trackball Explorer cost me about $69, but it's been well worth the price.
The second thing you'll notice about trackballs, is their fun design. The Microsoft Trackball Explorer almost looks like contemporary art. It has a very futuristic design. Mine is a gunmetal gray, with darker gray buttons and a deep red trackball.
The trackball itself is fingertip-controlled. When I was doing my research on the best trackball to buy, many articles recommended a trackball that is fingertip controlled because thumb-controlled trackballs can lead to repetitive stress injuries in the thumb. With a fingertip-controlled trackball, you're not putting the same kind of stress on any one joint. You also have the option of varying which fingers you use to move the ball.
The trackball feels slightly too large in my hand. My wrist is in almost neutral position, but not quite, due to the slight eversion caused by the angle your hand rests on the trackball.
The ball itself is quite large. Of all the trackballs I tried (at least 4), this one had the smoothest rolling action of any. It is an optical trackball, meaning it "reads" the design on the ball itself to determine the cursor position. This is a great advance in trackball technology, because it means that, unlike the old trackballs, you won't be having to be cleaning the trackball every day or two. That's important if you consider that the natural oils from your hands (not to mention from the potato chips and other goodies you may eat at your computer) are always touching the ball. An unnecessary but fun extra - whenever you touch the ball, a red lighted strip around the ball turns on.
The Microsoft Trackball Explorer has four configurable buttons and a thumb-operated scrolling wheel. Two buttons are thumb-operated and typically used for left- and right-clicking, though you can reconfigure the buttons any way you like. Right-clicking takes some getting used to. If you're like me, you'll find yourself right-clicking with the other two buttons for a while. Once you get the hang of it, it's not bad, though.
Your right ring finger and pinkie also have their own buttons with slight indentations that fit the fingers nicely. I chose the default configuration, which is to use the ring finger for going "back" in the Internet browser, and the pinkie for going forward. It works wonderfully. No moving the cursor to the "back" button at the top of the screen. Just one quick click gets takes you forward or backward.
Dragging is the only function that has taken me some time to try to master. You have to click, and while holding down the lower thumb button, move the trackball to highlight and move the highlighted portion. You have another option, however, which is to turn on "Click Lock". If you do this, you can click and hold for a moment, and then you are able to move the selected portion without holding down a button. You can configure how long of a "hold time" you want. The software that comes with the Microsoft Trackball Explorer allows you to make other minor adjustments to customize your trackball.
Looking for a fingertip-controlled trackball without all the bells and whistles and a lower price? See my review on the Logitech Marble Mouse - I purchased that one for home, and this one for work, and am very pleased with both.
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