honest guide to trackballs

[@user-nd7rg5er5g]

I've been enjoying my Kensington slim blade a lot, but there is one issue that I notice with many of the available trackballs around: They are lacking in cool colorways! Being able to use my trackball ambidextrously has helped a lot with my shoulder pain, but I still can't help wanting trackballs to look as stylish as the lavender Logitech lightspeed mouse lol. You're right when you said that it's a shallow rabbit hole. Great video! It was very well made. Thanks for showing off many of the available options right now!

[@rcbuggies57]

You could get the ploopy trackball kit which is 3d printed. So you can basically order the pcb and hardware and then get a 3rd party printing service to make the case with a custom filament since the cad files for the case are open source. But the issue is that the ploopy is just really meh compared to a modded elecom huge or a kensington in terms of smoothness. Also doesn't have any bluetooth options. I'm thinking I will work on making my own outer casing for the elecom huge at some point. It basically is the perfect trackball once you get marble scroll and replace the bearings.

[@nathanfranck5822]

I'm coming up to a year of using my Ploopy Adept and it's been really nice. The roller bearings are noisy, but it's the most consistent trackball experience I've had. I think it's a strong contender for the perfect showcase of the category - eccentric, consistent, space efficient. I just bash it as close to my keyboard as possible so I can type and mouse/scroll with minimal arm motion, and it's very fluid. I still am not quite as accurate/fast compared to a conventional mouse - getting roughly 90% the performance for pointing, but getting the massive ball for scrolling feels like a flat trade, plus all the other benefits and the goofy fun of using it. Also, if you want to dual-weild it with a regular mouse, it's fairly easy to find the space on your desk.

[@Isaacthemaniac]

ive been around trackballs since i was young cause my dad uses them for work, he took some home. i currently use a kensington expert that i found in my garage. its so good, its so much better than a regular mouse.

[@LadyMI777]

Love the charts, super helpful!

[@zevan9592]

I'm on the ProtoArc EM01 NL and I just ordered a Logitech MX Ergo Plus because I'm feeling the stiction and want to experiment with what is supposed to be normal. I feel like I can't accurately click small spots on my screen when moving the ball slowly.

[@willj3146]

Need another ergo. Currently have a slimblade and a Mx master. Hate the slimblade, love the Mx; but I miss the ergo. Just didn’t want to buy a another because it broke after only 2 years

[@zevan9592]

@willj3146 the protoarc was terrible compared to my new MX ergo. I sent the protoarc back. Still though, when I need to get stuff done quickly, I need to use my trackpad for efficiency/quick accuracy

[@mckelepic]

saw the epic koss, i also love trackball mice

[@andrii3810]

Great video, thanks! I've been using Elecom Huge and ProtocArc EM03 for 3 days now. Overall, I'd say I feel comfortable with both at this point. Stiction is a huge issue compared to my daily driver - Logitech MX Vertical. You mentioned that moded Huge doesn't solve the issues either - it's a bit pitty because I planned to replace replace the bearings soon. I was even looked at replacing bearings it EM03 out of curiosity as well. Poppy looks really interesting, I'll have a look at it. Which trackball suffers the least from this stiction? I feel like it's a deal breaker to me since I cannot select words using either trackball.

[@patebro4870]

For thumb trackballs logitech m575 (shown in video) is abosutely best for quality and value. Nothing fancy, but works better than and longer than other thumb trackballs I have used. Has been daily driver since release

[@explained6000]

you said "thumb track balls" but i hear "dumb truck ballz" 3:38

[@shareclipsave]

Do you know it Adesso trackballs can be modified with silicon nitride or zirconium oxide bearings? In interested in the T50.

[@rabokarabekian409]

wow, save your time - all he really says is that different ones are different = soooo helpful.

[@GreySectoid]

Excellent video

[@avsbq]

i have never met a trackball that masters scrolling like the g502 infinity wheel does...

[@bassheadlife492]

I have the g502x with the wireless charging pad but I want to try the kensington slimblade pro to see if I like it

[@OneKnifeYeHand]

What do known brands have to do with it? I have had stuck trackball movements with my Logitech MX Ergo as well or is Logitech also a “lesser known brand” these days?

[@kmemz]

Logitech is still pretty darn big... undeservedly so nowadays, in my opinion. My MX Ergo has issues as well, with sticktion and fast grime buildup. Got the wired version of the Porlei recently, never heard of them before and just happened to get it free, even before I readjusted to the index style it gave me a whole new perspective on just how bad the MX Ergo is, it glides so much better and it's even easier to pop out for cleaning when the grime does start building up and catching, which takes longer anyway. With all the Logitech peripherals that have failed me, that MX Ergo is probably my last purchase from them especially with the perspective of a cheaper trackball from an unknown brand making me feel stupid for ever buying the Ergo.

[@RoboJut]

**For normal PC use:** The Kensington Orbit Wired is amazing! Its cheap, its super smooth and doesnt get sticky, comfortable, comes with a added wrist rest you can choose to use or not, ambidextrous, and takes no batteries. **If you want to competitively game:** The wireless Orbit with the wired blue ball in it is my favorite setup. The gameball is amazing, but too expensive and is a little uncomfortable. The wireless Orbit is great, but only when you use it with the wired blue ball in it, because the ball it comes with is too sticky for some reason (its weird but its true, both the red and grey balls are more sticky than the wired blue in my experience by quite a big margin). Im currently using the wireless Orbit+blue ball, and I am Diamond 4 dps role queue, and Masters 2 in open queue. Cannot recommend the Orbits enough!

[@BioShocklt]

I have orbit wireless with red ball and gameball and smoothness is on par pretty much, did i got lucky or is it a real thing and i need to get wired orbit just for a ball?

[@RoboJut]

@BioShocklt Maybe you just got lucky haha. I think I have tried 2 wireless orbits myself and both had stiction with the ball. SudiT (another trackball player I know) also said his grey ball was "meh" a while back and also uses the blue ball. Zerggy (another trackball player) also uses the blue ball.

[@RoboJut]

​@@BioShocklt But if your red ball is working fine for you, you probably dont need to swap it lol.

[@BioShocklt]

@@RoboJut i know them both and i just talked with zergy, he said he likes blue ball better just for preference but cant compared to a red one unfortunately because he doesnt have it anymore lol, but its literally same or even smoother then even gameball, my gf thinks that too or its same atleast so i know its not placebo, i guess i just got lucky or maybe its some unknown issue, that they already fixed?

[@BioShocklt]

@@RoboJut one side note, i replied to u on discord yesterday about ur videos being private because i am confused about my grip and u made video about it, i wonder which finger is dominant for aiming index or middle one, i cant decide if i want to use index as dominant finger with 2 finger grip or middle one while using with 3 fingers, hopefully u can understand what i mean🗿

[@bossd1410]

do you have a link? where di u buy ittt

[@bossd1410]

specifically those kensingtons

[@arbjful]

Kensington isn’t very good never buy Kensington, the left click buttons goes bad very quickly. I have two Kensington trackballs, one has defective left click button, it worked for few months. The other (Expert trackball) has a sticky ball, the scroll ring is also very unwieldy. The only brand that uses long lasting buttons is Logitech. The thumb track balls are the best

[@GreySectoid]

My logitech mice have all developed double clicks (broken microswitches) within a few years, the switches they use are cheap, I have desoldered and replaced them to genuine good quality japan-made switches, I would reckon the same is possible for trackballs as well

[@matthewsheeran]

Ugg cleaning again, I remember balled mice, if trackballs mean this all over again, then I'll stick to a regular LED mouse with larger monitors to reduce RSI instead!

[@RoboJut]

Trackball mice actually arent as bad as the ball mice back in the day. The reason why is the old balls would roll along the table/matt and pick up all junk from the surface so they needed cleaned a lot (hair, dust, crumbs, etc). These trackballs stay off the table, so they mainly only get dirty from your fingers. Some may be a lot stickier than others depending on the one you get though, because bearings play a big role in trackball selections. If you are looking into a trackball to try, the Kensington Orbit Wired is amazing for the price (like $30 usd I think) and is the trackball I recommend to everyone! The ball is one of the smoothest ive ever used (and ive had a ton of trackballs), its cheap, and its so comfortable in my opinion.

[@CaptainACAB]

Trackballs are also generally a lot easier to clean and in my experience, don't need it as often. My Slimblade Pro trackball isn't even held in place in the socket at all, I can simply pick it up and give the three bearings a quick swipe with a fingertip and it's good as new. My Elecom balls are slightly held in place, but I literally just have to poke them from a hole in the bottom of the device to pop the ball out and do the same. The only one I have that's even remotely less convenient is my Kensington Orbit Fusion, which also uses the poke-from-below method to pop the ball out, but the hole is smaller so I have to use a pen instead of my finger. I use a trackball for ~12 hours a day at work, formerly my Elecom Huge for several months and more recently my Slimblade Pro, and I take a few seconds to clean them maybe twice a week.

[@GBR9794]

@@RoboJut pretty sure this dude isn't going to try anything but whine