Kensington SlimBlade Trackball hands-on

Kensington promised us that the SlimBlade Trackball would turn us into "smooth operators," and we certainly felt retro behind the ball -- we hadn't used a trackball since the original Kensington Turbo Mouse. Muscle memory issues and a loss of efficiency drove us back to our trusty MX Laser after just an hour or so, but overall the Slim Blade is a nice little peripheral with some slick drivers -- mode changes pop up in an HUD, and spinning the ball latitudinally works like a scroll wheel -- so if you're a trackball fan, the gallery below is probably worth a long look.

Slimblade Trackball hands-on

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 12:23PM]

i'll try almost anything once.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 2:38PM]

I've always had a thing for track balls ever since the arcade game "Missile Command".

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 12:36PM]

gimme

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 12:42PM]

track this

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 12:45PM]

Cool for media center use

[(Unverified) Posted Apr 3rd 2009 11:57AM]

used a track ball years ago, liked it. like to try again

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 1:14PM]

This gadget looks awesome! So tired of my old mouse...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 1:27PM]

Agreed, this would be nice.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 1:57PM]

win?

[daveyjoe80 Posted Mar 10th 2009 3:21PM]

I want to win!!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 4:02PM]

Just got one... I am unimpressed.

I've been using the Expert Mouse in its various forms for quite a few years and love them. My most recent gave up the ghost after about 4 years, and I thought this new SlimBlade looked good as it was quite thin. Which really is the only plus to it.

The Expert is a bit on the large side, however all four buttons are programmable. This travesty has these nifty special functions which pretty much ... Blow. The worst aspect however is that it skips. Not just once in a while, which is something that happens with many optical devices, but frequently and right out of the box. This is the second one I've brought home, after returning the first figuring it must be defective. It wasn't. If it skipped now and again, that's one thing. But if you're trying to click on a link on a web site (such as "reply" or "comment"), you often end up with the mouse suddenly at the bottom of the screen. Also, no matter how much tweaking I've tried, it's painfully imprecise, whereas the Expert Mouse worked perfectly for photo editing (GIMP and Photoshop) as well as even gaming.

I've tried it with and without the special drivers, tried cleaning out any potential dust which may have formed in only a few short hours of use, but no luck. Very, very sad.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 10th 2009 4:12PM]

I am missing my index and middle finger on my right hand. I need a mouse I can click with my thumbs. Please help!

[mondey Posted Mar 10th 2009 4:13PM]

Boring!!...but I still want it

[mkantor Posted Mar 10th 2009 6:43PM]

Got to have Real balls to use this!

[jrummer Posted Mar 10th 2009 11:44PM]

these are really useful for those with wrist issues.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 11th 2009 12:01PM]

Let's see now if I get something.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 17th 2009 3:25AM]

Where this baby (and the previous model) really succeeds is with the elderly. They don't need any of the fancy software settings to try (and fail) to make it a viable mouse replacement, but the control they have is superior when they start to get shaky and can't manage simple co-ordination like double clicking without wobbling in-between the double clicks.

I now have very many happy older family and friends that can't say enough good things about the big Kensington "Retro" Trackball range.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 27th 2009 11:57PM]

I'm using this right now. Got it to replace my older model kensington 4-button (which I LOVED - one of the 3 beads popped out and disappeared :(

This one is VERY smooth in operation, but in my haste to buy it I didn't read all the specs. I loved being able to configure the buttons on the old one. I'm finding it hard to adjust to not hitting button 3 to do a command-W and close a window. Buttons 3 & 4 do appear to be dedicated to iTunes and document navigation, respectively. There's no Sys Pref, just a driver install (for Leopard).

Also the scroll is a little wierd...A week into this and I'm still not adjusting well to rotating the ball in its socket to scroll. I really miss the circular ring. Scrolling in web pages is also slow...I really wish there was some way to adjust the scroll speed :(

[MrReeee Posted Mar 31st 2009 9:54PM]

I don't get the negative reactions to trackballs. They're fast, accurate and don't give you mouse claw RSI injuries. If you use a multiple monitor setup they're fantastic... rest your fingers on the ball, point and the cursor is there. Simple. And you NEVER run out of cable or desk space.

Over the years I've bought maybe 6 different brand trackballs, but always go back to the Kensingtons because of the large heavy ball (which makes them extremely easy to use) and quality. And yes, I click with my thumb.

I've been using the K. Expert Mouse Pro for a while and love the scroll ring. This one looks great and rotating the ball itself to scroll seems intriguing, but it's disappointing to hear the negative comments. No need to switch, I guess. Still, I'd like to try one for myself and see.