The answer to your wrist problems
Written: Aug 06 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Excellent ergonomics (assuming proper hand placement and positioning). Top-notch programmability. Awesome 5-year warranty.
Cons: Top 5 buttons are almost useless. Scroll wheel becomes slippery over time.
The Bottom Line: Excellent trackball, but expensive. Can save you from RSI and Carpel Tunnel. Extremely programmable and very handy for gaming.
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| riskable's Full Review: ACCO Brands Expert Mouse Pro (K64245) Trackball |
I use this mouse for two purposes: Regular mousing and computer gaming (heavy). I've been using the Expert Mouse since the 4.0 version for Macs (Turbo Mouse--it was a box) and I will say this... It saved me from repetitive stress injuries.
At one point in college I switched from Macs to PCs and I went without one of these babies for a very long time, utilizing various scroll wheel mice and trackballs. I was heavy into playing Quake 2 at the time and as a result ended up injuring my wrist. Mostly due to the side-to-side movement of the wrist associated with such gaming.
I then purchased an Expert Mouse 5.0 and I've been sticking to the series of trackballs ever since. The design hasn't changed much over the years and it's won numerous ergonomics awards. Anyone who says this trackball is "clunky" obviously never spent enough time with it. Also, it's easy for a new user of these mice to position their hand improperly and that just plain HURTS after a while.
In my honest opinion, this mouse isn't for everyone. I'd tell heavy computer users and gamers that they shouldn't live without it, however, the cost is amazingly high for such a simple device. Unless you have extra money to blow, you're better off sticking with a cheap MS or Logitech optical mouse w/scroll wheel.
As far as this version of the Expert Mouse goes, the addition of the scroll wheel is an excellent feature, but I believe they should've placed it on the side of the mouse (or two, one on either side) rather than in the top-center position. The 5 "QuickLaunch" buttons are just about useless. The buttons are very rubbery and hard to press (moves the whole damn trackball when I try). This is a universal complaint after purchasing two and getting warranty replacement on one (i.e. 3 different trackballs). However, if you do have your heart set on using these buttons, you can program them for things other than websites by holding down control and clicking on the drop-down in the Mouseworks software (you can do this for any button). Just don't expect to be able to set them per-application like the other buttons.
The scroll wheel also seems to be a little too hard to scroll, but you get used to it after a while. If you have greasy fingers you might as well forget about it.
The bearings inside the mouse have to be cleaned regularly or the mouse will become very un-smooth in it's use.
Expect the price to come down on these significantly now that Kensington just released their 7.0 version with the scroll ring (optical).
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 80
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Epinions.com ID:
riskable
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Reviews written: 1
Trusted by: 0 members
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