3DConnexion's SpacePilot Pro 3D mouse
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted April 16th 2009 5:06PM
posted April 16th 2009 5:06PM
3DConnexion has always had a place in our heart for their reasonably priced and smartly designed three dimensional controllers. Now the company is back on the scene with the SpacePilot Pro, which ups the ante -- and the price point -- considerably. This bad boy sports an LCD screen and lots (and lots) of buttons, including controls for various isometric views and navigation settings (pan and zoom, rotation, speed). If that weren't enough, there are function keys for various apps and an applet for checking your MS Outlook mail. Ships with drivers for Windows XP and Vista, Solaris 8 and 10, and Linux -- as always seems to be the case with this company, Mac users are stuck without for the time being. Retails for $499, available now.
[Via The Inquirer]
[Via The Inquirer]
$500 a mouse? what a joke this might sell if was release like 2 years ago.
Obviously, you're an iDiot...
A $500 mouse?
A $50,000 drawing app?
A $5 million dollar computer?
Just because something is expensive doesn't make it a joke. They could have special purposes and niche markets.
I think this is actually cheap. Considering other stuff a (product) designer has to buy to produce some work this is nothing compared to the software.
obviously it's that damn 3DConnexion tax again... an extra 300 bucks for a yin yang...
I notice that since the stimulus package was approved and several bailouts lots of $230 earphones and 500 bucks 3d mice and 700 bucks GPS units and $250 razr mice, etcetera etcetera have started to appear, coincidence? You tell me.
$500 for a 3D mouse is like $62 for a 2D mouse, or $8 for a 1D mouse (never know when you'll only need a mouse to go up or down)
guys... be gentle. he's still using a single button mouse.
Well, this dose look real nice, I've been using the Space Nav for years and it is the best 3D navigator around, for me anyway. That price point is a problem really when you think that this thing has the same foundation as the $59 navigator but a load of buttons added. Definatly do what I have done and get the Logiteck G13 gameboard and use it as a pro keybinder and just use the Space Nav, much much better option and you get a whole load more short cut buttons in the one place, and a LCD screen, etc, for a fraction of the price. It works real well for me.
Cut the price in half and MAYBE i think about saving up for this.
Truth be told this is ONLY meant for professional 3D designers, CAD and such, not the home user, the homeuser can get the spacenavigator PE if he wants one, $59.-
What, no support for us mac users!? But how comes that I see our beloved calender icon on the display?
I don't think most companies like fruit...... :D
@ David
They're poking fun at Apple.
"Yeah, the iPhone might have an app for everything, but this thing has *buttons* for everything!"
This mouse is mainly for CAD use.
Seen many mac CAD program users?
That's what I thought.
you do not need a mouse like this to browse web.
I know Mac users who use Vectorworks, which is more popular than AutoCAD in Europe.
Drivers for linux/mac(OS X)/windows are available.
At least they are for their cheap homeuser version, sorry about my mistake, although there is not yet a download section on their site so it's hard to tell what it'll have in the end, the non-plus version does indeed not have OS-X support though, weird.
what are you complaining about?
you can dual boot remember??
just restart and boot into windows. when done, reboot back to checking mail and surfing web in apple's greatest os ever.. OSX!
(sarcastic)
I got a
3Dconnexion SpaceNavigator PE mouse for $30. It's now $50 on buy.com. Works amazing in google earth and 3d CAD programs.
I lusted after the first one I saw, all those years ago; a spaceball 3000 lx (or something). I WANTED one, but the price always held me back. So when the PE came along, I jumped and bought one the second I first saw the add.
And it sucked.
I'm one for efficient input, no matter the learning curve. I use a trackball and had NO problem adjusting to it (as damn near anyone who uses it on my comp does). But the Spacenav PE sucked at it's job. In 3dsmax, it was just way more efficient and precise to hold ALT+MB4 on my Trackball Explorer than use the thing.
I tried, I really did. I screwed with sensitivies, settings, axis controll. I tried for two weeks before just plain having to admit that keyboard ALT + trackball just work better. Which suck, because I still love the idea of the spacenav PE...that puck looks great and feels great, like a solid piece of interface.
I'd still recomend people to give it a shot if they really think they like the idea, but be porepared to be disapointed. And for God's sake try the cheap PE puck first, before shelling $250 (!)for even a secondhand(!!) 3000 on ebay, let alone this beast.
wait, this thing's a mouse??? I seriously thought it was part of a dashboard for a car at first!!
well, it's used at places where (dashboards for) cars are designed. :D
Yea, I didn't think of the dashboard look (although now that you say it...) but I definitely wouldn't have thought this was a mouse if you just showed me the picture
It's a '3d mouse' not a replacement for a regular mouse but an input device for CAD.
I thought it was designed to go on the Captains chair of the Starship Enterprise.
Another 'Lottery Win' product. :)
I would only buy it because of the yin-yang logo.
Recession antidote!!!!!
I'd never pay $500 for that, no matter how cool it looks. On the other hand, Linux drivers out of the box gets a big thumbs up from me.
I'm sorry, but are you (as in you and everyone else here who has the same replies) really so stupid?
This mouse isn't aimed at gamers, this mouse isn't aimed at those who do nothing but browse the web, this mouse isn't aimed at the dumbasses who get something just because "it looks cool".
This is aimed at professionals who can really use the features of this mouse, and chances are, they have enough money to pay for it if it'll increase their productivity.
What the hell happen to all the smart commenters that were here before? Lately this place has been overrun by trolls and dumbasses.
Though I think some people here are being a little harsh with the idiot namecalling of people, it seems a lot here aren't thinking through the point of this device. If it was for playing a game yeah, it would be high - but this is for CAD and the like and is probably well worth its cost.
It isn't just a cool looking mouse folks.
All of the smart commenters have learned to simply be quiet and let the fools self-perpetuate. Then, when enough of them agree with each other, swoop in for the masterstroke and take all the fools down at once.
It never ceases to amaze me how supposedly intelligent people on these boards so quickly resort to adolescent name calling. I will not stoop to that level and return the insult. Let me fill in the gaps in my post, and point out some of your false assumptions. I never said this device was not worth $500 for someone who can use its functionality. I never said that I was a gamer (I'm not). I never said I though this was an ordinary mouse, or a gaming mouse. I am a professional software developer. I don't use CAD programs. Therefore, I personally, would not buy this device for $500. I do think it is a really cool device. I just wouldn't waste my money on it for the 'cool factor' since I don't have any practical use for it. I also use Linux (as well as Windows), and I am always glad to see peripherals with Linux support directly from the manufacturer out of the box. There. Hope that clears things up. I'll not be wasting any more time on this.
3DConnexion's SpacePilot Pro 3D mouse, when even overkill isn't enough.
its sexy, but theres no way to justify $500 for a mouse.
there is actually a way to justify it. but if you can't figure it out, then please just stop trying.
when you make $250 an hour, $500 for extra efficiency seems sensible
Duh.
$500 3D mouse = $62 2D mouse = $8 1D mouse. Didn't you ever take geometry in school?
I never thought a mouse could cause me to think such inappropriate thoughts.
It's obvious none of you know what this is for.
I'm personally getting one. I'm an architect that getting deep in Rhino, DigitalProject, and Revit so this is going to be amazing. Especially in DigitalProject.
Please, everyone stop posting comments about how you will never pay $500 for this. If you don't think you would want to pay that much money for it, IT'S NOT MEANT FOR YOU. It's clearly meant for designers who can get their companies to expense it for them anyway. If anyone buys this to be their personal mouse they are a fucking moron.
I wonder if these come with a free Darth Vader helmet and complete plans to build the Death Star...
"Give yourself to the darkside..." http://bit.ly/dathvadersoundboard
BOOM HEADSHOT! (thanks to my $500 mouse)
Good luck gaming with a three dimensional controller....
@lxuke HAHAHAHAHA
i just almost fell outta my chair...
"Mouse" is a misnomer. Its a 3d motion controller. This actually is a big improvement over their last batch of products which shed a bunch of buttons. The motion controller allows 3d modelers to rotate models in 3d space as if they were holding the virtual objects in the their hand. This boosts productivity but its the programmable buttons on the device that provide the biggest boost. Its good to see them add them back. In the end the goal is to have one hand on the controller and your other hand on the mouse and avoid touching the keyboard. The more the hand goes back and forth between the controller and the keyboard the lower the productivity boost...hence the value of the buttons.
I have the old spaceball 5000 usb and I love that thing. Surprisingly useful in photoshop!
actually, you could use this in gaming. The trick is that you move everything except the player.
It takes software support not just drivers. Paraview support please please please and I'll think about it.
Just request it in their forum and there's a fair chance they add it, although it's reliant on cooperation of the maker of the program basically, but I don't see an open-source software maker stand in the way really.