mice and trackballs and tablets (oh my)...
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Steve Hazel wrote:
I don't have much desk space, my keyboard,etc sits on a small wooden platform on top of my piano keyboard.
Maybe you should start with a Microsoft Natural, or even a standard 101 key. That might change your outlook and need for other input devices. :laugh:
oh i've got a keyboard. Here's an old pic[^] The large plywood platform shown has given way to a smaller one that only covers the right side of my lower piano keyboard. I could cover the complete right half of the piano, so there's enough room. Would just have to rebuild my keyboard shelf thingy. Which is something I'll probably need to do anyway. Another advantage of a trackball is the shelf could incline somewhat steeply if need be. (top 2 keyboard legs could grab onto something, too.) decisions decisions...
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oh i've got a keyboard. Here's an old pic[^] The large plywood platform shown has given way to a smaller one that only covers the right side of my lower piano keyboard. I could cover the complete right half of the piano, so there's enough room. Would just have to rebuild my keyboard shelf thingy. Which is something I'll probably need to do anyway. Another advantage of a trackball is the shelf could incline somewhat steeply if need be. (top 2 keyboard legs could grab onto something, too.) decisions decisions...
Steve Hazel wrote:
oh i've got a keyboard.
I assume so, but I was just joking at your reference to a piano keyboard, as in you using that for typing.
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oh i've got a keyboard. Here's an old pic[^] The large plywood platform shown has given way to a smaller one that only covers the right side of my lower piano keyboard. I could cover the complete right half of the piano, so there's enough room. Would just have to rebuild my keyboard shelf thingy. Which is something I'll probably need to do anyway. Another advantage of a trackball is the shelf could incline somewhat steeply if need be. (top 2 keyboard legs could grab onto something, too.) decisions decisions...
Steve Hazel wrote:
Here's an old pic[^] Seriously, you DON'T want to chop your fingers off building a keyboard stand. Your brain would go on irony overload.
Haha, too true. Good thing I learnt to use a table saw when I was a 'young laaitjie' (wee lad).
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ok, i'm outa work and lookin' for new "experiences"... so i thought i'd start with input devices... I hear people (cough, shog9, cough) swear by trackballs. And I like the idea of a stationary input device that doesn't fry my wrist. But I also REALLY like the whizzin' scroll wheel of my current mouse. here[^] (by whizzin', I mean you start it goin and intertia will keep it goin for a while - like those tops you could stack on top of each other and wrecked hardwood floors when we were kids) I like the whizzin' since you can have your text editor scroll allll the way through a long source file by a "whizz start" and "whizz stop". Instead of "scroll scroll scroll scroll..." I see some trackballs have scrollwheels, but not the whizzin' kind. And it seems wierd to me that a trackball would HAVE a scrollwheel. Wouldn't it make more sense to just use the ball as the scroll wheel? You might have to go into some mode or somethin (yuck). I'm also looking for a device that when you're in a paint program and working with 2 pixels next to each other doesn't make your head esplode coordinating the dang thing. Here are all the trackballs I've found: clearlysuperiortech[^] logitech[^] kensington[^] QTronix[^] trackballworld[^] So far, I'm leaning towards a black "clearlysuperiortech" one. Or maybe the logitech "cordless trackman optical" - but it's not corded and has a bulky comm dock thingy. I don't have much desk space, my keyboard,etc sits on a small wooden platform on top of my piano keyboard. Also, I've
I am a solid supporter of track balls. But there are good and bad ones. It's been years since I have tried alternatives, because I settled on the big old Kensington track ball and never found anything to match it with the possible exception of a touch pad. The Kensington ball will do the spin motion you like even better than any mouse and the big ball gives you incredible accuracy for positioning. The heavy ball makes it smooth and comfortable to use. Smaller/cheaper trackballs will send you back to a mouse because they are jerky and hard to position. I also like a laptop touchpad primarily because it is intuitive and you keep your hands closer to the keyboard for most activities. I have used tablet pads, but found them a pain because they were so disconnected from the keyboard and require too much motion to achieve the desired result. They may be good for graphics, but not the way I use a computer. Have fun!
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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Steve Hazel wrote:
Here's an old pic[^] Seriously, you DON'T want to chop your fingers off building a keyboard stand. Your brain would go on irony overload.
Haha, too true. Good thing I learnt to use a table saw when I was a 'young laaitjie' (wee lad).
Ya gotta admit. Tablesaws are awesome. Dude. Seriously.
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Steve Hazel wrote:
oh i've got a keyboard.
I assume so, but I was just joking at your reference to a piano keyboard, as in you using that for typing.
Heheh. Ok, I'm followin' ya now. My midi sequencer DOES use the piano keyboard in sort of that manner. In addition to recording notes as usual, the VERY rightmost key is used as a "shift" key to edit stuff. While held down, a little help window pops up telling you what (other) keys do what functions. And, well, those keys DO stuff instead of record stuff while the "shift" note is held down. When released, the help window shuts and you're back to standard recording mode. I'm pretty happy with that :)
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I am a solid supporter of track balls. But there are good and bad ones. It's been years since I have tried alternatives, because I settled on the big old Kensington track ball and never found anything to match it with the possible exception of a touch pad. The Kensington ball will do the spin motion you like even better than any mouse and the big ball gives you incredible accuracy for positioning. The heavy ball makes it smooth and comfortable to use. Smaller/cheaper trackballs will send you back to a mouse because they are jerky and hard to position. I also like a laptop touchpad primarily because it is intuitive and you keep your hands closer to the keyboard for most activities. I have used tablet pads, but found them a pain because they were so disconnected from the keyboard and require too much motion to achieve the desired result. They may be good for graphics, but not the way I use a computer. Have fun!
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
Snowman58 wrote:
big old Kensington
Do you mean the "slimblade" one? Or one of the others? (Here's the current kensington[^] lineup)
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Snowman58 wrote:
big old Kensington
Do you mean the "slimblade" one? Or one of the others? (Here's the current kensington[^] lineup)
I use the earlier two button version of the Expert Mouse. I think I have three or four of them around here! The only problem is that they occasionally (every couple years) need a good cleaning. The rollers will collect dirt and fuzz which causes skipping and it will sometimes block the optical pickup. Proper cleaning requires disassembly, but it’s easy. As I said, I have not tried any of the newer ones. I wasted a fair amount of $ trying out less expensive ones and never found one to match the Expert Mouse.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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I use the earlier two button version of the Expert Mouse. I think I have three or four of them around here! The only problem is that they occasionally (every couple years) need a good cleaning. The rollers will collect dirt and fuzz which causes skipping and it will sometimes block the optical pickup. Proper cleaning requires disassembly, but it’s easy. As I said, I have not tried any of the newer ones. I wasted a fair amount of $ trying out less expensive ones and never found one to match the Expert Mouse.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
Ah, thanks much. I think i read in a review that that thing doesn't work on Vista. That's not a problem for me, though.
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Ah, thanks much. I think i read in a review that that thing doesn't work on Vista. That's not a problem for me, though.
I can't imagine why it wouldn't work. It's possible the Kensington software has not been updated, but I use it with the standard mouse driver. But I have never tried it with Vista, so as broken as Vista is, it's possible that it will not work.
Melting Away www.deals-house.com www.innovative--concepts.com
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ok, i'm outa work and lookin' for new "experiences"... so i thought i'd start with input devices... I hear people (cough, shog9, cough) swear by trackballs. And I like the idea of a stationary input device that doesn't fry my wrist. But I also REALLY like the whizzin' scroll wheel of my current mouse. here[^] (by whizzin', I mean you start it goin and intertia will keep it goin for a while - like those tops you could stack on top of each other and wrecked hardwood floors when we were kids) I like the whizzin' since you can have your text editor scroll allll the way through a long source file by a "whizz start" and "whizz stop". Instead of "scroll scroll scroll scroll..." I see some trackballs have scrollwheels, but not the whizzin' kind. And it seems wierd to me that a trackball would HAVE a scrollwheel. Wouldn't it make more sense to just use the ball as the scroll wheel? You might have to go into some mode or somethin (yuck). I'm also looking for a device that when you're in a paint program and working with 2 pixels next to each other doesn't make your head esplode coordinating the dang thing. Here are all the trackballs I've found: clearlysuperiortech[^] logitech[^] kensington[^] QTronix[^] trackballworld[^] So far, I'm leaning towards a black "clearlysuperiortech" one. Or maybe the logitech "cordless trackman optical" - but it's not corded and has a bulky comm dock thingy. I don't have much desk space, my keyboard,etc sits on a small wooden platform on top of my piano keyboard. Also, I've
I have the Logitech and I really like it. Large ball, smooth motion, lots of extra button to program
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I have the Logitech and I really like it. Large ball, smooth motion, lots of extra button to program
Hmmm, let's sing that old refrain agin'... :rolleyes: Exactly which Logitech do you have?
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ok, i'm outa work and lookin' for new "experiences"... so i thought i'd start with input devices... I hear people (cough, shog9, cough) swear by trackballs. And I like the idea of a stationary input device that doesn't fry my wrist. But I also REALLY like the whizzin' scroll wheel of my current mouse. here[^] (by whizzin', I mean you start it goin and intertia will keep it goin for a while - like those tops you could stack on top of each other and wrecked hardwood floors when we were kids) I like the whizzin' since you can have your text editor scroll allll the way through a long source file by a "whizz start" and "whizz stop". Instead of "scroll scroll scroll scroll..." I see some trackballs have scrollwheels, but not the whizzin' kind. And it seems wierd to me that a trackball would HAVE a scrollwheel. Wouldn't it make more sense to just use the ball as the scroll wheel? You might have to go into some mode or somethin (yuck). I'm also looking for a device that when you're in a paint program and working with 2 pixels next to each other doesn't make your head esplode coordinating the dang thing. Here are all the trackballs I've found: clearlysuperiortech[^] logitech[^] kensington[^] QTronix[^] trackballworld[^] So far, I'm leaning towards a black "clearlysuperiortech" one. Or maybe the logitech "cordless trackman optical" - but it's not corded and has a bulky comm dock thingy. I don't have much desk space, my keyboard,etc sits on a small wooden platform on top of my piano keyboard. Also, I've
I love my Trackball Explorer[^]s. Unfortunately, they're discontinued and mine are wearing out. I'll end up switching to a Logitech soon, and don't yet know how i'll get along with that... The advantage of the scroll wheel on the TE is that it's under your thumb - you can scroll without repositioning your hand, holding a button, or moving the cursor. You can also click the button (when configured as the "middle" button) and still move the ball with your fingers to pan around in programs that support it. I've had one of those Bamboo tablets for a while. They're very useful for some things (quick and precise annotations) but the tablet is just a bit too small to use comfortably for long tasks.
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I love my Trackball Explorer[^]s. Unfortunately, they're discontinued and mine are wearing out. I'll end up switching to a Logitech soon, and don't yet know how i'll get along with that... The advantage of the scroll wheel on the TE is that it's under your thumb - you can scroll without repositioning your hand, holding a button, or moving the cursor. You can also click the button (when configured as the "middle" button) and still move the ball with your fingers to pan around in programs that support it. I've had one of those Bamboo tablets for a while. They're very useful for some things (quick and precise annotations) but the tablet is just a bit too small to use comfortably for long tasks.
So I'm guessin' you'll be tryin' out THIS logitech?[^] Think that'll beat THIS kensington[^] (with it's scroll "ring") I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go get one of those bamboo fun - small tablets today. Just cause they're actually IN STOCK (oh the shock!) If'n I like it, I might go for one of those IntuOS ones... Not too sure... Thanks :) ...Steve
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ok, i'm outa work and lookin' for new "experiences"... so i thought i'd start with input devices... I hear people (cough, shog9, cough) swear by trackballs. And I like the idea of a stationary input device that doesn't fry my wrist. But I also REALLY like the whizzin' scroll wheel of my current mouse. here[^] (by whizzin', I mean you start it goin and intertia will keep it goin for a while - like those tops you could stack on top of each other and wrecked hardwood floors when we were kids) I like the whizzin' since you can have your text editor scroll allll the way through a long source file by a "whizz start" and "whizz stop". Instead of "scroll scroll scroll scroll..." I see some trackballs have scrollwheels, but not the whizzin' kind. And it seems wierd to me that a trackball would HAVE a scrollwheel. Wouldn't it make more sense to just use the ball as the scroll wheel? You might have to go into some mode or somethin (yuck). I'm also looking for a device that when you're in a paint program and working with 2 pixels next to each other doesn't make your head esplode coordinating the dang thing. Here are all the trackballs I've found: clearlysuperiortech[^] logitech[^] kensington[^] QTronix[^] trackballworld[^] So far, I'm leaning towards a black "clearlysuperiortech" one. Or maybe the logitech "cordless trackman optical" - but it's not corded and has a bulky comm dock thingy. I don't have much desk space, my keyboard,etc sits on a small wooden platform on top of my piano keyboard. Also, I've
Been using trackballs for about 10 or so years, currently using a Logitech trackman wheel (wired as I hate running out of battery). Would not go back to a regular mouse, but it takes a little while (read a day or two) to get used to it, and initialy it makes your thumb hurt as it gets exercise at long last. Once used to it, pixel selection is so easy, and you can move the mouse pointer, leave it there and then press the button - without the pointer moving at all. Try that in photoshop with a regular mouse and I start swearing. Plus, it is realy good for FPS since you don't run off the mouse mat at a critical moment...
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So I'm guessin' you'll be tryin' out THIS logitech?[^] Think that'll beat THIS kensington[^] (with it's scroll "ring") I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go get one of those bamboo fun - small tablets today. Just cause they're actually IN STOCK (oh the shock!) If'n I like it, I might go for one of those IntuOS ones... Not too sure... Thanks :) ...Steve
Steve Hazel wrote:
So I'm guessin' you'll be tryin' out THIS logitech?[^]
Probably, if i can find it locally. No way i'm mail-ordering something like this - need to be able to return it fast if i don't like it.
Steve Hazel wrote:
Think that'll beat THIS kensington[^] (with it's scroll "ring")
Man, that is ugly. And there's no way i'm palming the ball - finger-tip operation is key to accuracy and pain-avoidance.
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Been using trackballs for about 10 or so years, currently using a Logitech trackman wheel (wired as I hate running out of battery). Would not go back to a regular mouse, but it takes a little while (read a day or two) to get used to it, and initialy it makes your thumb hurt as it gets exercise at long last. Once used to it, pixel selection is so easy, and you can move the mouse pointer, leave it there and then press the button - without the pointer moving at all. Try that in photoshop with a regular mouse and I start swearing. Plus, it is realy good for FPS since you don't run off the mouse mat at a critical moment...
I don't have PS, but've never had issues with moving the mouse a pixel while clicking in paint or a few games where 1 pixel accuracy was occasionally needed.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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I don't have PS, but've never had issues with moving the mouse a pixel while clicking in paint or a few games where 1 pixel accuracy was occasionally needed.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
Sorry about that -- I have the Cordless Trackman Marble. I also have a Trackman Marble FX (which I don't even know if you can get now) that I bought back in '98 -- it's based on the same optical technology and still works great, using it every day.
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Sorry about that -- I have the Cordless Trackman Marble. I also have a Trackman Marble FX (which I don't even know if you can get now) that I bought back in '98 -- it's based on the same optical technology and still works great, using it every day.
Trackman Marble FX - ooh, tried that when they first came out and couldn't get on with it. I just found it too slow, and it was alkward to use the buttons when moving the ball. You can't rest your fingers on all the buttons and move the pointer at the same time, which is a horrible drawback.
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ok, i'm outa work and lookin' for new "experiences"... so i thought i'd start with input devices... I hear people (cough, shog9, cough) swear by trackballs. And I like the idea of a stationary input device that doesn't fry my wrist. But I also REALLY like the whizzin' scroll wheel of my current mouse. here[^] (by whizzin', I mean you start it goin and intertia will keep it goin for a while - like those tops you could stack on top of each other and wrecked hardwood floors when we were kids) I like the whizzin' since you can have your text editor scroll allll the way through a long source file by a "whizz start" and "whizz stop". Instead of "scroll scroll scroll scroll..." I see some trackballs have scrollwheels, but not the whizzin' kind. And it seems wierd to me that a trackball would HAVE a scrollwheel. Wouldn't it make more sense to just use the ball as the scroll wheel? You might have to go into some mode or somethin (yuck). I'm also looking for a device that when you're in a paint program and working with 2 pixels next to each other doesn't make your head esplode coordinating the dang thing. Here are all the trackballs I've found: clearlysuperiortech[^] logitech[^] kensington[^] QTronix[^] trackballworld[^] So far, I'm leaning towards a black "clearlysuperiortech" one. Or maybe the logitech "cordless trackman optical" - but it's not corded and has a bulky comm dock thingy. I don't have much desk space, my keyboard,etc sits on a small wooden platform on top of my piano keyboard. Also, I've
Logitech Trackman Wheel - thumball control, haven't used anything else for years it's the only thing I found that doesn't make my wrist/arm ache after a few hours. They do a wired version too in case you (like me) never have a spare AA battery around!
Apathy Rules - I suppose...
Its not the things you fear that come to get you but all the things that you don't expect
