Logitech - M570 Wireless Trackball Mouse - Gray/Blue

For anyone who uses a computer of virtually any kind, my highest recommendation is Logitech Trackman m570, the newest thumb controlled trackball. Mice have been the prevalent input device for computers. Now with laptops out-pacing desktops, touchpads are becoming the dominant device. In my opinion we are going from bad (mouse) to worse (touchpad). I first started using a trackball a year or so after using a mouse (early 90s). Over the years both mice and trackballs kept improving, becoming more comfortable, more accurate, and less error prone. One of the biggest improvements to the mouse was an optical sensor which replaced the ball (yes, mice used to have a ball on the bottom of them). This greatly increased the life from a year or so to several years. However trackballs continued to improve as well, going from the some-what clumsy finger driven (arcade game style big ball in middle design) to fast and efficient thumb driven. Then getting more and more comfortable and ergonomic, optical, and now laser driven. Now more then ever before I believe a good quality thumb driven trackball is essential to anyone who uses a computer for more then 20 minutes at a time. With the majority of work being shifted to laptops / notebooks / netbooks this is even more important. The lack of efficiency, ergonomics, comfort and speed of touchpads are self evident. Look at your hand on a touchpad and see if that is a normal position for your hand and fingers to be in. Combine this awkward and dangerous artificial position with longterm use, and besides high probability of strain, productivity efficiency is at a minimum. Since laptops are moved around, and on different surfaces often, a mouse is not always even an improvement (or possible). Here are some of the strength a trackball provides: - Small footprint (set it down, that's it, no moving, dragging, or slding required) - Lap, couch, floor, edge of laptop case, etc. No problem (flat surface or even space is not required) - Substantially decreased exposure to RSS (Repetitive Strain Syndrome) + Only thumb and occasionally fingers move leaving hand, arm, wrist & elbow relaxed - Relaxed fit, smooth operation, efficient to use + from small screens to more then 6 large screens - Easy to carry, micro leave-in receiver battery lasts over a year - Can be used for hours without cramping - Looks and feels amazing Okay, that list could keep on going, and once you start using a trackball (for more then a week) I'm positive you will wonder how you lived without (and never want to be without it again)! So if you are willing to try and see if it is as great as I am saying it is, then here are two import things to know (What kind to get, and How to make the switch): 1. What kind to get (and what kind not to get) and why. There are almost as many kinds of trackballs as there are mice. The thumb driven trackballs are the most accurate, easiest to become effeiciant on, and have the best ergonics for prolonged use. There are only two thumb driven trackballs to consider, and Logitech makes them both. They are: A - The new Logitech Trackball m570 - Portable / mobile use - Has USB micro leave-in receiver - Included AA Battery lasts up to 18 months - Works up to 30 ft away - Here are the main advantages over the older optical corded one: + This one is much more precise + Reception is incredible, even on a desktop + Accuracy and acceleration is executed perfectly (meaning I can travel long distances faster & when moving slowly it is pixal accurate, both at the same time) + The design is more comfortable B - The older Logitech Trackman (corded version) - I would only consider this one if money is a HUGE factor! + m570 is far superior in every way (movement, accuracy, front & back buttons, etc.). - Corded for desktop use (no batteries) - No batteries, no troubleshooting, always works if plugged in - Costs less - 4.5 Stars out of 5 from Amazon.com with over 715 reviews! - After using the above m570 on my desktop for a few days: + I no longer recommend this trackball. + I leave it here because it is the 2nd best trackball available 2. How to make the switch from a mouse / touchpad successfully - Plug in new trackball. - Install the software if you want the advanced acceleration and customizable buttons (the software is not required otherwise) - Adjust sensitivity as needed. You may be returning to adjust it some more once you use it more. - VERY IMPORTANT. Unplug your old mouse, and put it in an different room (yes seriously), you will not learn how to use a trackball by using a mouse! Really that's all it takes. Just start using it. It will seem slow, awkward maybe even a bit frustrating at first. After an hour or so, it should start to feel more natural, and the cursor will start to go where you need it on the first try. After a day or two, you will reach the speed and efficiency you had with a mouse, and would have already passed that of a touch pad. After a week, well, congratulations! Welcome to the world of efficiency like you've never felt before. I have yet to recommend these two trackballs and have someone tell me after a week of use, that they went back to a mouse. I've never had it happen! Once you hit this landmark, you will never want to use a mouse again. Really it's that great of an experience. However, don't worry, no matter how long you go without using a mouse, if you ever need to use one again (on someone else's computer, for example) you will be just a good as ever. Similar to riding a bike, you will always have the skill and capability to be efficient on a mouse. On that note, I have yet to see anyone that is efficient on a touchpad, and what do the majority of laptop users go with? You guessed it, the touchpad. For my full review see: "double u" "double u" "double u" "dot" "G" "o" "o" "dot" "g" "l" "forward slash" "mIRIo" goo.gl/mIRIo

I was converted to thumb wheels by a friend about 8 years ago. I never liked the body style of the MS versions and have always used the Logitech ones (at home and work). Also, while I have tried several (finger) track balls over the years, I've never been able to get use to them. The thumb wheel design works extremely well. WHAT'S IMPROVED: - The rubber feet on the bottom are much better. They really stick the mouse to your desk surface much better. It also appears they will be more durable from their look (guessing so far). With the older design I had problems with the rubber feet peeling off after a year or two of use - The hole under the ball is a little larger with a nice beveled soft edge to it. Occasionally you need to pop the ball out and wipe it down with alcohol as well as the little holder pegs inside the hole and the transparent laser cover. Just take a pen or pencil and press through the hole to pop the ball out. - The fwd/back buttons are nice (don't really care). I need to see if those are customizable in the drivers. IF YOU'VE NEVER TRIED A THUMBWHEEL: - It took me a weekend to become use to thumb wheels. At first, it's probably going to feel very akward like you have no control over the mouse pointer (drunk driver). Hang in there through - the payoff is big. - The payoff is that your wrist and hand will never become tired and the comfort of using this if far greater than using a mouse. I can also work faster with a thumbwheel in most situations (no idea how to explain it - it feels like I have more control). - Unlink a mouse, you can sit this on a couch cushin next to you while on the couch to get away from laptop touchpads. GAMING - First Person shooters are a total wash (at least for me). On my gaming desktop I also keep a normal mouse plugged in for FPS's. - Third person games work AMAZINGLY well (like World of Warcraft). I *LOVE* 3rd person games with a thumb wheel. If you're a WoW addict your wrist will bow down and thank you for using a thumbwheel. In 3rd person games I actually feel as though I have more and faster control than with a mouse. You can play for hours with no wrist strain - Any other type of game feels so much better with a thumb wheel.

This is my first trackball, and I use it at work for document editing and web searches—no gaming. Two weeks into using the M570, I can say that I LOVE it. As a Mac user, I typically use Apple products and already had a Magic Mouse to use with my MacBook Pro at work. But I when I got an ergonomic keyboard* tray, there wasn't enough space for using the Magic Mouse (or any other mouse that requires being manually moved across a surface). I decided to kill two birds with one stone: 1) get an ergonomically improved mouse, and 2) get a mouse that stays in one place and will fit on my keyboard tray. That led me to reading reviews for various trackballs. I thought briefly about getting the fancier Logitech MX ERGO Plus trackball with the adjustable tilt, but at over $90, I decided to try this less expensive M570 given its excellent ratings and the fact that it was on a great sale at $23.99 online. I absolutely love it! Being new to using a trackball, it took me a day to get used to zipping across my dual displays with the cursor, but it quickly became natural. My job involves a lot of Word document editing, and I have no trouble positioning the cursor exactly between two letters in word at 125% zoom. And my hand and wrist fall very naturally around this mouse (I'm a 5'5" female with small hands). Although I wasn't experiencing much wrist discomfort with the Magic Mouse, I was always very careful to hold my wrist in the appropriate angle to reduce repetitive strain. Because the trackball relies on your thumb to rotate the ball while your hand just rests on top of the mouse, your wrist is generally static, and this works great for me. The only thing that I'm not crazy about is the M570 scroll wheel--it's like any other standard scroll wheel that you'd find these days on a PC mouse, which means it doesn't fly as effortlessly as the scroll function on the Magic Mouse (which is just a finger flick). Thus, I still use my Magic Mouse for scrolling through long docs--it just sits next to the trackball, whose scroll wheel I use more for scrolling within a single page of a document that I'm editing or a web site. I'm very pleased with my purchase and have been giving my coworkers a sales pitch for this trackball. :) *I also just purchased the Logitech 750 Solar Wireless Keyboard, the black PC version vs. the white Mac-esque version because the PC version advertises "a concave key cap design". Note that this keyboard will work with Mac computers, but you have to remap a couple of keys--thus check online that your Mac model can do this if you want the black keyboard. I then used a single Logitech Unifying Receiver to link them both to my computer.

As an avid trackball user for years (I've had probably 7 variants over the last ten+ years) I'm so happy that Logitech has made one that finally fits my needs. I prefer a trackball when using my laptop in a mobile setting since you never know how much space (or what kind of surface!) you'll have to work on. Wireless Pros: After using their old wireless trackball for a year or so, I gave up on that since the wired receiver it used couldn't stand up to continuous setup and repacking the lack of strain relief on the wire led to damage. The wired one was a pain for all the same reasons that wired controllers are a pain in a mobile environment. The new one combines the nano-receiver and has a place to store it when it's not plugged into your laptop. So convenient. I also notice no delay when compared to the wired version of the Logitech trackball used on my home system. Trackball Pros: The ball action is extremely smooth with almost zero resistance and allows for precise control of your cursor: this is very important to me as I use it professionally for Photoshop editing and Illustrator drawing. I find this to be in direct contrast to Microsoft trackballs which have quite a bit of resistance to your thumb inputs in comparison, especially as the bearings get dirty. Oh - and this is very simple to clean by popping the ball out and swiping your fingers over the three bearing points. The addition of the two buttons for forward and backwards are a nice touch and bring it more into line with more modern mice that are on the market. Given my druthers, I'd ruther have a trackball with the button selection a new mouse offers, however, this is a decided step in the right direction which leaves me as giddily happy after several weeks' hard use as I was when I first saw the box on a Best Buy shelf!

Overall I'm happy with the new trackball. It could have been done better but it's nice to finally see a new one and have best buy actually carry wireless versions of it. The pointing accuracy of the mouse is good. The track ball movement is nice and smooth. The grips on the bottom of the mouse are sturdy to prevent the mouse from slipping around on you. The wheel feels smooth as well. The additions of the forward and backward buttons (can be programmed as well) are fairly convenient. And the mini USB receiver is a major improvement over the old clunky wireless receiver for the last model. The bad: The mouse is slightly smaller than the old trackball. It's barely noticeable and I'm sure for some people with smaller hands than mine, it will be great, but the new one doesn't fit my hand quite as nicely. I'm left with my fingers arched slightly more, but it still feels comfortable. The wheel does not have 4 way scrolling. They went with another RF receiver instead of bluetooth. Bluetooth woud've drained the battery more but it would've been so much nicer since a lot of notebooks these days have built in bluetooth receivers which would have prevented the need for an additional receiver pluged into a USB port. Overall though it's a great replacement to the old trackball, and as an avid lifelong trackball user I'm very happy for the upgrade.

This wireless trackball is a great addition to any system with limited space to move a mouse around in. It does take some getting used to (using your thumb to control cursor movement). But once you get used to this you'll find this mouse comfortable and easy to use. I've used trackballs for years instead of mice. They come in two flavors...Those that you move with your fingers and those you move with your thumb. I advise you try these types out before you buy a track ball for the 1st time. Some people love or hate each type so you'll need to determine which works best for you. This one uses the thumb. Logitech has stopped putting the software called setpoint in with the product and expects you to download it. This assures you've got the latest version. Setpoint allows you to get the settings and movement speeds just right for your hand. And to change the button functions to be what you like. This mouse seems to have better resolution than the ones with the red ball and black dots. This one is sort of a crystal blue. There are 5 buttons and a scroll wheel so you can get lots of functionality from the combinations. I noticed the range of this mouse is about 15 feet and it never seems to lose the connection in that range. It has an off switch on the bottom to make sure it doesn't use up your batteries rolling around in your case. The paperwork suggests a battery could last 18 months. I wouldn't count on this if you use it. Generally I get about 2 months out of a battery but this one is too new to judge. In summation, a very nice track ball at a reasonable price. I recommend it to anyone who likes using thumb trackballs instead of mice.

The switch in this device is poorly manufactured. It is not a problem with logitech for the most part though. In fact the overall design of this product exceeded my expectations. The problem is with the metal contact inside the actual switch that is soldered onto the pcb that closes a circuit sending the signal that registers as a left click or right click etc. I found in the one I purchased, the metal contact was oxidized with a bluish grey (silver I assume) oxide which interferes with the switches ability to open and close as it is intended. Instead what happens is even though you currently have the button pressed down it will randomly release the click and sometimes re click causing ghost clicks or unintended double clicks as well as interfere with , selecting text, etc. If you are within the return policy of the store you bought it at, simply return it for a new one though you may experience the same problem after a while, given time for the contact to oxadize again if it hasn't already from sitting on the shelf. Option 2 would be to use the warranty if it still applies. Once again you may have the same problem again, especially if your replacement contains the same make and model of switch as the one that failed. The third option is to fix it yourself. Keep in mind this will void any remaining warranty you have on the device. Do a search for ghost click oxidize contact or something similar and there are a few different ways you will come up with to fix this yourself. I wouldn't say don't buy this product because of this problem because I don't know if logitech has addressed the issue and rereleased the product with a better switch or not or even if they are addressing it at all. Unfortunately the choice in components is often made by a manufacturer based on upfront cost rather than reliability and performance.

I used a track ball pointing device 15 years ago and remember them being useful for most applications. I also remember them collecting dust on the rollers fairly quick which caused them to become a pain to clean and maintain. Additionally the oil from my fingers would get all over the ball and that would cause problems with accuracy of the pointer as well. Fast forward to today... I felt a bit of nostalgia buying this device. The main difference here is the roller-ball is operated by the thumb versus your index & middle finger for instance so that takes some getting used to, especially if you're transitioning from a traditional mouse. The plus though, is that your wrist gets a break (or a nice rest rather) and that could help those who tend to suffer from carpal tunnel. This device is wireless which is pretty great for those of us who despise wires snaking everywhere. The smal low profilel usb dongle is a Logitech Unifying one so you can pair multiple logitech unifying compatible devices to it. The one con I have with this device so far is (and it may just be a personal thing) that it's somewhat difficult to get this device to be in the most natural angle without having to keep shifting it around. Sometimes I feel like my thumb is going to cramp up and that might just be because I'm not used to this device yet, or maybe I have an unusually long thumb? I don't know, but I hope that feeling will go away eventually! I am a motion graphics designer and video editor and this device works fairly well... again, it may take some getting used to so if you're in the middle of a big project with a tight deadline, you might want to stick with your old mouse... or if you're daring, go for it and give it a try. You can always switch back to your preferred method of pointing at things on the screen. I took away 1 star because I think there is definitely some room for improvement in the ergonomics dept. (maybe moving the ball more to the center). The learning curve might be really awkward for some people especially if they've never used a track-ball before. Otherwise, this device works well as an alternate pointing device to your mouse or a trackpad. I would recommend this device to anyone who might be suffering from carpal tunnel or those who just like playing will cool gadgets. This will definitely look cool on your desk.