Kensington Orbit Trackball
It looks like a mouse, but it works like a trackball!
The new Kensington Orbit Trackball fits your hand like a mouse but offers the advantages of a trackball.
In the early days of PC computing, there were very few programs that allowed the use of a mouse. Of course the Macintosh was a mouse oriented machine, and I was jealous of the convenience my Apple friends enjoyed using a mouse to accomplish their work. Soon, mouse manufacturers appeared with software that would add mouse functionality to DOD based programs that weren't designed with a mouse in mind. I got one right away and struggled with the chunkiness of the device. When Windows was finally introduced the mouse came of age.
The first generation of mice required maneuverability space on your desk. When traveling with a 14 pound laptop, the airplane drop-down tray just didn't afford the room to maneuver a mouse.
I saw an ad for a Kensington Expert Mouse. I was familiar with trackballs, having used them on video games. I instinctively knew that this device would be superior to the standard mouse.
It was love at first roll. If you haven't
used a trackball, you don't know what you are missing.
It takes up the same space as your mouse but it doesn't move. Your index finger rolls
the ball and your thumb and middle finger do the clicking. The movement is very natural
and very accurate. It also is faster in actual operation and less fatiguing. Once you use
a trackball, you will never return to using a mouse.
I owned on e of the original Kensington Expert Mouse trackballs. I still use a version 2 on my desktop. I would guess its age to be about 5 to 6 years by now. It still performs flawlessly.
I wanted a trackball to take with me when I travel. My Notebook Computer has a mouse built in, but I hate fiddling with the little green joystick and the buttons. I prefer the feel of a trackball. The Expert Mouse is a bit to large to use for this purpose. When I saw the Orbit, and tried it, I decided to use it as my take along trackball. It travels well and works as smoothly as my Expert Mouse. The orbit fits my hand perfectly. It is also very light in weight. I liked it so much that I got one for my backup computer.
The Kensington MouseWorks Software will allow you to customize the mouse so that if you are left handed as I am, you use the buttons in reverse order. I use the right button to click with and the left to drag and popup the windows that right clicking usually does.
Other trackball manufacturers who design their devices in an ergonomic shape, do so for right handed users. That is why I avoided Logitech Products. Kensington always thinks about us lefties and their devices are designed to work for us as well.
Quality and design innovation are the hallmarks of Kensington Products. I use quite a few of them because they are simply the best in their class.
The new MouseWorks Software allows you to customize the Orbit so that you can switch functions easily. It also includes an auto scroll feature that is outstanding when it comes to using the web. All you do is move the ball on a web pages in the direction you want to go and the pages automatically scroll for you.
The new MouseWorks software that come with all the new Kensington
Pointing Devices gives you complete control as to how the Orbit will function. The screen
on the left is the opening screen for the Kensington Expert Mouse version of the
MouseWorks Software. As you can see, you need only click the information buttons pointing
to each button on the mouse to change it's operating method. Note the menu tabbed items
which allow you to control the acceleration of the mouse across the page, what the buttons
do, the click speed (important for novices) and the mouse movement. With competitive
products, the control is not nearly as extensive.
This screen show the view you
see when you select the buttons tab. when you select the buttons tab. Note that I have
changed the function of the right button to perform the click or selection function that
opens a program and the left button to perform the Right-Click function that performs the
opening of the menus normally opened by the right click button.
Tired of double clicking? Just program MouseWorks to open your files with a single click.
No more double clicking.
The Kensington Orbit retails for $59.99. I have seen it discounted for as little as $29.95 at Comp USA.
For more information, please visit the Kensington Web Site at:
Date Last Edited 04/25/07