optical mice

I have used a Logitech Trackman Marble (this product's predecessor) since it was released in 1995. I still use that original one at home. (When was the last time you used a computer product for eight years?) I enough that I can feel the difference between the muscles on my right thumb verus my left. I love it so much I have gone so far as use my soldering iron to replace the worn-out button switches. (They happen to use the exact same switch as the ubiquitous MS mice.)

This device fits my hand like a glove, and saves desk space since it never needs to move. The lack of rollers isn't such a big plus since the advent of optical mice, but it is still nice.

While this is a stupendous product, you should never buy a pointing device or keyboard for the first time via mail-order. The only way you will know if it fits your hand is to go to a physical store and try it out. It may fit my hand like a glove, but it may not fit yours.

I'm a computer nut. Between work and being online at home I'm probably on a computer 15 hours each day. As you can imagine that takes quite a toll on your wrists after a while. While I love the old-style roller-ball mice, moving that mouse all day pretty much paralyzes my wrist. To address this problem I bought nearly every mouse on the market to test them out, and ended up returning all but one. The Logitech Trackman Wheel optical mouse was the only one I kept.

This mouse is very easy on the wrist due to it's fixed position. The ergonomic design is extremely comfortable. The trackball, operated by using your thumb, takes some getting used to but is super smooth and ultra precise. The mouse buttons are also comfortable to use and the scroll wheel glides like butter. This mouse really enhances the computing experience, in my opinion.

Aside from the steep learning curve involved in using the thumb-mounted trackball, the only other caveat to this mouse is that it makes playing games a bit difficult. If you are a hardcore PC gamer good luck using this mouse, it is very awkward. I tried it for awhile and got slaughtered in every game I played. Now when I want to play a game I always switch back to my old roller-ball mouse. Once I'm done gaming I switch back to the Logitech Wheelman for relaxed wrist-healing mousing. All in all I wouldn't give up my Logitech Wheelman for anything.

I've been using this mouse for a little over the last 3 years. It has worked well without any problems until recently. I think due to excessive use the left button is starting to fail.

I would like to add that I completely disagree svtman21 about this mouse (and trackballs in general) not being good for gaming. I've been gaming successfully with trackballs for the last 6 years and would never consider going back. I consider myself quite competitive in online games and have competed in CAL-O and CAL-I for SoF2 for just under 2 years.

I admit that at first I noticed a little bit of thumb fatigue with excessive gaming but that subsided after repeated use. I find that trackballs offer increased precision in online FPS games like Q3A (RA3), SoF2, BF:V, UT2Kx and others.

Trackballs certainly take sometime to get used to (a few months) but after that you will notice the enhanced control and precision a trackball provides.

This mouse also performs well at mundane usage such as programming, document and picture editing, etc. Not to mention it is so much easier on the wrist!

I highly recommend this mouse for general desktop use and gaming a like.