Logitech Marble Trackball Mouse - Pointing and Clicking Faster and Smoother Than Ever

I’m something of an oddity in the computer world. I much prefer a trackball to a traditional mouse. I like not having to move it all over the desk. A trackball stays in one spot and I move the pointer around by rolling the ball with my finger. This can be hard to adjust to, initially, after you’ve used a traditional mouse for so many years. After a while, though, I go back and forth between the two types of pointing devices with ease.

I hate the touchpad on my Sony Vaio Notebook Computer. After much frustration, I decided I needed an external pointing device. With my predisposition to trackball devices over the traditional mouse devices, it was a no-brainer what I would purchase.

My local Staples carried the Logitech Marble Trackball Mouse. The price was right and it showed promise. This was not in the shape of a traditional pointing device but was long and slim at the bottom, widening as it went up toward the top, the curving quickly as it came to the point where the connecting wire entered the device. It’s a darker gray and silver in color and made of smooth plastic. A giant red ball about 1 ½ inches in diameter sits at the top just below where the connecting wire is. There’s a big clicker button and a smaller scroll button on either side of the device. This allows it to be used by people who are either left-handed or right-handed.

The cord is fairly long, about 6 feet. This is good since it gives more room to plug it into a computer if your tower isn’t close to where you normally sit. It didn’t matter in my case since it was accompanying my notebook.

I have found the grip of the Logitech Marble Trackball Mouse to be near perfect. My hand is quite comfortable when I hold it and work it. I don’t feel like my fingers are in an unnatural position or cramping in any way. The ball rolls quite easily under my fingers and the movement on the screen follows smoothly as well.

Installing the Logitech Marble Trackball Mouse on my system was very easy. It comes with software from Logitech. I put the CD in the computer and when I was prompted to I plugged the connecting cord into one of the serial ports. The software, known as MouseWare allows me to customize the pointers as well as the buttons on the mouse. I honestly could have gotten along without it.

Using it has been a pleasure. I use a laptop desk that I was given from the hotel I work at (came in “damaged”). The mouse sits on the wood top nicely. There are rubber stoppers on the bottom which prevent movement. I just have to roll the ball around. It moves very easily and smoothly. I find I have less frustration using this mouse than I do with the traditional mouse devices I use at work. The pointer seems to go exactly where I want it to with ease.

The buttons click nicely. I love the ability to scroll and click with ease. I’ve learned to manipulate my finger so I can scroll through webpages easily and manipulate the pointer and click on a link without hardly a thought. No more moving my whole arms wildly around the desk – this is so much better!

The Logitech Marble Trackball Mouse cleans easily as well. The ball can be removed and I wipe the inside with a dry or slightly damp cloth to get any dust out. Sometimes I can just take it our and blow into it to blow the dust out. I can’t do that with a traditional mouse where the ball is sealed inside unless I am going to start unscrewing the bottom and take it apart.

It’s also very durable. Because mine is used with the notebook, it’s frequently packed up and taken out. The wire hasn’t shown any signs of cracking despite being wound around the device to pack away. I’ve banged the mouse as well and it still works fine. The worst thing is the ball can fall out when it’s banged and then I just have to make sure I grab it before one of the dogs or cats in my house decides it’s a new playtoy. It pops back in with ease and doesn’t affect the performance one bit.

It may take some getting used to, but I think more people would see the benefits of a trackball if they had the opportunity to use one. The Logitech Marble Trackball Mouse is a great place to start as I have no complains with more than a year of use.


© 2007 Patti Aliventi