Trackballs

I am a "dyed in the wool" user of Trackballs.  I am sure it started with my first experiences with the Atari Football arcade game and then set in stone by Missile Command.

Back when I got my brand new Amiga 2000, I purchased an Amiga compatible "Mouse-Trak" from ITAC Systems.  It was a great trackball although not extremely ergonomic and definitely not attractive.

ITAC Systems is still around and still selling Mouse-Traks in several flavors.  The Evolution models look much more ergonomic than the older style.  None of these are cheap, but they are built really tough.  I only gave up my Amiga version when my A2000 died and there was no good way to convert the Mouse-Trak to PC use.

Fast forward a few years and my wife found a Microsoft Trackball Explorer on clearance for about $40.00. 

Now these were probably the best ergonomic pointing devices ever invented.  I used mine for many years at work until it started to get extremely erratic.  At first I thought it was a driver issue, but it was sending random button clicks on any PC I plugged it into, so it must have been a hardware issue.  I was very unhappy to learn that Microsoft had discontinued them and they were already going for more than $100 on eBay.  The PC tech at work told me I could order any replacement that was available from CDW. There was a wireless trackball from Logitech which appeared to have a very similar form factor. As many other former TBE users found the Wireless Optical Trackman didn't quite measure up to the TBE.

It was physically smaller with much smaller buttons that weren't placed anywhere near as well as the ones on the TBE. I had to curl my hand and fingers into positions that gave me all kinds of RSI issues within the two months I used it.

I eventually settled on a Wacom Bamboo fun tablet as a replacement.  I love the Bamboo, but I would trade it immediately for another TBE.

I don't remember now what actually happened with my dead TBE.  It occured to me at one point that I could try transplanting the circuits from the Optical Trackman into my dead TBE, but when I went looking  for it all I could find was the ball for it.  Eventually I sold the TBE Ball on eBay.

It have often toyed with the idea of building my own custom replacement TBE.  Today I found John Kicklighter's blog where he documents his build of a custom trackball.  He didn't go with a TBE form factor, but he does provide a lot of details on how he built his prototype.  I may have to reconsider making my own custom trackball.