Death of a Trackball
My 4th Logitech Trackman Marble Mouse (shown in the photo above) has finally bitten the dust.
It’s the fourth one I’ve owned in about 4 years. I’m torn, really. On the one hand, I think the Marble Mouse is one of the best trackballs I’ve ever used. On the other hand – I feel that the build quality (namely the mouse buttons) on the unit leaves something to be desired.
To clarify, the buttons on the Marble Mouse are the Achille’s heel. The problem I’m now experiencing with this trackball is that single clicks are being registered as double-clicks. It happens consistently, even after moving the trackball over to my laptop.
This manner of failure is nearly identical to the manner in which my other 3 Logitech Marble Mice ‘died’. It’s so incredibly frustrating.
Last week I began the Great Trackball Hunt. Based upon my research, I’ve decided to switch to a Kensington trackball model this time around. I have a Kensington Orbit with Scroll Ring on order from Amazon. It should be here in a few days. I’m hoping that it lasts better than the average 1 year lifespan I’ve been getting with the Logitech.
In the meantime, I’m back to using a (*shudder*) regular mouse.
-Krishna
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Cadet
January 12, 2010 at 12:33 amI could help you if I knew what my mouse was called. >.> It’s a very old white/grey logitech trackball with a red ball and scroll wheel. I have been using this thing for over 10 years and it’s still kicking.
Manuel
January 12, 2010 at 4:16 amWhat a bummer. If no plastic part is torn, broken or worn out, it would be a simple task to replace the switch buttons internally. Would probably take about an hour to disassemble, replace (with a fine soldering iron) and reassemble. If you have kept the old ones, it would be a pleasure for me to repair them.
Stormy
January 12, 2010 at 1:36 pmIf the Kensington winds up not working for you, (the button placement on that one drove me batty) and you are right handed, (from the pic above it looks like it) I would suggest checking out the Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman.
I had the same problem with the Marble Mouse, In fact I’m surprised you got a year each out of them. The Trackman on the other hand is still going strong 4 years later. I fought going wireless for two more Marble Mice because I didn’t want to deal with batteries, but I’ve only had to change them twice in the past four years.
Finding a Center Ball Trackball is an exercise in patience.
krishna
January 12, 2010 at 1:38 pmThanks, Stormy. I’ll definitely keep the Trackman in mind, if the Kensington doesn’t meet my needs.
Matt
January 19, 2010 at 6:40 amWow, that’s too bad! I have had my Trackman Marble Mouse for over 8 years now and it still works perfectly.
DK
February 15, 2012 at 12:18 amI would buy a better quality trackball like the cst trackballs, at a place like trackballworld.com or ergoguys.com. They are built with much better parts, and also are american made. Kensington and Logitech are really cheap, designed to die quickly.