What's the best trackball replacement for a despondent Microsoft Trackball Explorer lover?

June 6, 2009 9:06 AM

Please recommend a replacement for my dying Microsoft Trackball Explorer, which I love as though it were my own child.

My Trackball Explorer is dying a slow, jittery death. I've clung to it as long as I could, but it's become almost impossible to use.

I know I'm not the only one who loves this trackball, given the prices that used ones command on eBay. Can any of you fellow Trackball Explorer lovers who've lost yours to the ravages of old age tell me what you replaced it with, and what you thought of the replacement?

posted by sjthomp to computers & internet (12 comments total)

I use a Kensington Expert Mouse. Very comfortable and highly functional. I don't know how I survived the internet without the scroll ring.
posted by EnsignLunchmeat at 9:17 AM on June 6

I think you can order another one for $59.99. Isn't this the same one?
posted by Houstonian at 9:42 AM on June 6

(They have 116 in stock.)
posted by Houstonian at 9:43 AM on June 6

Hey, sorry about that -- it seems it's a CD.
posted by Houstonian at 9:45 AM on June 6

Among trackballs that are currently manufactured (the best ones seem to go out of production quickly), my favorite is probably the Logitech Trackman Wheel.
posted by box at 10:01 AM on June 6

Have you tried cleaning it? Trackballs have a way of getting much more gunked up than standard mice.
posted by rhizome at 10:08 AM on June 6

Among trackballs that are currently manufactured (the best ones seem to go out of production quickly), my favorite is probably the Logitech Trackman Wheel.

The Trackman Wheel is my favorite as well (I even bought a spare in case they stop making 'em), but if you look at the layout: for a right handed user, the trackman wheel is thumb->trackball, fingers->buttons, but the MS Explorer is the other way 'round so that difference could cause some problems. Personally, I don't think I could get used to the Explorer's layout.
posted by juv3nal at 10:28 AM on June 6

It's true (and Logitech makes another one that's closer to the Explorer-style layout, but I don't like it as much). The closest thing Logitech ever made to the Explorer was probably the Trackman Marble FX--it's a member of that surprisingly-large group of discontinued trackballs that command insane prices on the secondhand market.
posted by box at 10:46 AM on June 6

I also love the Logitech Trackman Wheel.

I tried the MS Trackballs and didn't really like them. I also hate the symmetrical trackballs like the Marble or the Expert Mouse. They really hurt my hand.
posted by reddot at 5:39 PM on June 6

This guy refurbishes them.
posted by carmicha at 7:09 PM on June 6

I use a Microsoft Trackball Explorer at work (still going strong, fortunately) and the "other one" linked above (the a Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman) at home. The layout isn't identical, but it's close enough that I don't have any problem switching between the two. If the Microsoft one dies, I'm getting a second one of the Logitechs to replace it.

(Still miss my old Marble FX though. I still keep its corpse around in case I figure out a way to fix it -- it's probably a cabling problem.)
posted by Lazlo at 6:54 PM on June 7

I use a Kensington Expert Mouse as well, but it's a bit older. When are they going to make a Bluetooth version of these things? One more wire off the desk. And I concur, everytime I think its dying I clean it and it comes back to life.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 5:08 PM on June 17