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Review on Kensington Orbit Trackball Scroll K72337US by Jamie Behm

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Overall great except for a few minor issues

Purchased to replace Logitech Trackman Marble. Logitech doesn't have any scrolling hardware (there is a "universal scrolling" software feature, but it doesn't work in many applications and is cumbersome to use when it actually does), but I'm very happy to report that it does Kensington scroll ring works and works well. The rolling ring rotates very easily with little effort. In fact, the ring might need some resistance in the form of clamps (like most scroll wheels on mice), but it's okay. The ball is light (could be heavier to be honest, but I believe light weight is preferable when it comes to hand fatigue) and moves smoothly, even without breaking. It feels good and works well, which are important qualities in a trackball. However, this trackball has two disadvantages, one in the hardware and the other in the software. The hardware downside is the presence of a palm rest: it doesn't fit the trackball very well. It falls if you look at it wrong. When it comes down to it, the palm rest is really ridiculous and Kensington would be less embarrassed to just drop it as they didn't bother to design it with a realistic attachment method. The software bug is no less embarrassing. When you install Trackworks software on Windows 10, the trackball will click virtually anything you hover over with the mouse. It's like the left button is running fast, frantically clicking every few pixels of movement. Needless to say, this will render your computer completely inoperable. This is an amazing bug that should never have happened in production. I uninstalled the Trackworks software and the trackball works fine with the built-in Windows mouse driver, although of course Microsoft offers fewer customization options than Trackworks. Kensington goes 90% of the way to a great product, I just can't understand why they let silly issues like a ridiculous wrist rest and broken trackworks get into the hands of customers. However, it works great and is much better than the Logitech Trackman Marble thanks to the scroll ring.

Pros
  • Unique scroll ring makes it easy to navigate web pages or documents; ambidextrous symmetrical design
Cons
  • No Instructions