I’ve been using a trackball for nearly 6 years now. I used to use a regular mouse before but due to the amount of hours I sit in front of a computer my wrists started to hurt a lot and so I decided to do something about it. I ended up purchasing the Kensington Orbit Optical Mouse back in 2004 which I’ve posted about on this blog before and given it high marks. From day one my wrist issues got fixed and I became a big fan of trackballs. I’ve purchased 3 Orbit trackballs over the years, they never broke down just started looking old and so I would swap them out. But, I’ve always had my eye on the Orbit’s bigger, beefier and more expensive older brother, the Kensington Expert trackball which is pictured above.
While in New York a few months back I got to try the Expert trackball and decided I definitely wanted it. The Expert trackball has 4 buttons, a huge ass ball, a scroll ring and a comfy detachable wrist support. It looks good, I love using it and it makes my old smaller Orbit trackball look like a child’s toy.
I really don’t have anything negative to say about it. You can program the 4 buttons to do a variety of things and the way I’ve set them up, the left two buttons are a left click while the right two buttons are a right click. I’ve then set it up so that while in Firefox if I click the two top buttons or the two bottom buttons together at the same time then it flip between my open tabs. Pretty useful. The problem though is the way I use the trackball I actually only use the bottom left and the top right buttons since these are the two buttons that are under my fingers while using the trackball. I find it uncomfortable to use the other two buttons without changing my hand position so I don’t use them that much. The scroll ring is great and I love flicking it quickly when I want to scroll down a page in a hurry.
Price wise the Kensington Expert Trackball cost’s $79 which isn’t cheap considering it’s younger brother the Orbit costs around $22. But I have to say it’s worth the extra cash since you get what you pay for. For anyone with wrist problems I highly recommend trackballs… any trackballs not just the two I’ve used. They really make a difference.
Kensington Orbit Trackball on Amazon
Kensington Expert Trackball on Amazon
7 replies on “Kensington Expert Optical Trackball”
Is the Orbit available here (for roughly the same price on Amazon)?
I’ve found Kensington products only at Geant but they didn’t have any trackballs.
I’m also a big fan of trackballs. The only one I’ve found in Kuwait are the logitech ones, which will pass in a pinch but really aren’t as functional (or comfortable) as the expert.
You can find them on the logitech.com.kw website.
I am a big fan of Logitech, except when it comes to their mice and trackballs. Always preferred microsoft mice over logitechs. I guess its like canon vs Nikon, Snes vs Genesis.
I still have and cherish my microsoft natural ergonomic keyboard 4000 v.1.0 (yes, that’s the actual name), sadly not manufactured anymore – or I couldn’t find a second one when I wanted to keep mine at the office.
The microsoft ergonomic mouse the it the most comfortable mouse you can use – that is, if you don’t have a trackball.
dude this was my favorite keyboard pre-mac
https://www.pcguide.com/ref/kb/layout/z_011134ergo.jpg
Yeah, the 4000 v.1 is the update to it. My next purchase, when this microsoft keyboard breaks, is this:
https://www.fentek-ind.com/kinesis_c.jpg