Well, my first choice was the Kensington Orbit trackball, based on reviews on this site. All-in-all, it is a great product, but it has 1 tragic flaw which killed it for me - it gunks up incredibly quickly; I am talking on the order of every hour or two. I returned it to the store from whence it was purchased (hint: the one with a big yellow tag). Strike one.

My next choice was what is essentially a corded version of the Logitech Cordless Trackman FX Optical Trackball, which was probably simply called the same thing, minus the "Cordless". The up side - it has several buttons; this device did nothing about my wrist cramp problem, however. Strike two. (Side note: I don't really see the point of getting a cordless trackball or keyboard, unless you are just dying to have more battery-powered things.)

Choice number three: the Logitech Marble Mouse (which is a trackball, despite its name). I just plain could not get used to the feel of it and it did very little to ease strain anyhow. A lot of people on this site have good things to say about it. I, however, do not. Guess the third time is not always a charm.

Well, I finally ended up with (you guessed it) the Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical. While it takes some getting used to, once you get a feel for this, you will never even want to go near another mouse. It has two buttons and the scroll wheel which also doubles as a third button when pressed in, although I never find myself in need of this third "button" myself. This is probably the most ergonomic pointing device you can hope to get...that is, assuming you are right-handed. Sorry, lefties, looks like your choices are considerably more limited when it comes to trackballs.

While being an optical device, the ball bearings upon which the trackball itself rests do tend to need cleaned off once or twice a day, but this only takes a few seconds and is not nearly as time-consuming as cleaning off the roll bars on the non-optical Kensington Orbit, and these cleanings aren't nearly as frequent, either. I don't think you are going to be able to buy a trackball that doesn't need cleaned fairly often, and this one does a nice job of making it a relatively painless affair.

The software allows you to set the directional orientation (which way is "up"), among other things, though I have not even bothered installing the software since I started using Windows XP.

Bottom line: If you are right-handed and have your own computer, buy this. Just make sure you give yourself a day or so to adjust to using it. You shan't be dissapointed.

65 of 71 found the following review helpful:

Logitech Makes the Best  Feb 12, 2002
By Warren Holzem
This is my third Logitech trackball. The trackball it replaces is a Logitech Trackman that I bought in 1995. Nothing attached to my computer was anywhere close to that old.

I finally got tired of cleaning the ball on the old Trackman. My wife has both an Logitech marble trackball and a Logitech optical cordless mouse, and I wanted the best, too.

While each new Microsoft OS has had problems with the older version of Mouseware software, in my experience, Logitech is always the first to have updated drivers available shortly after release of new OS's.

After using the trackball for about 5 months, I'm still thrilled. Sure, the gunk from my oily, sticky, food-covered hands still builds up on the ball, but unlike mechanical mice and trackballs, it doesn't cause sticking and jumping of the cursor. The action was still smooth. I had not even noticed that it was getting harder to move the ball until I popped the ball out, and gave the contact points a quick cleaning.

So even with five months of built-up grime, it was still working just fine.

Now not everyone likes trackballs. I use a mouse at work, and it's probably better for me to be moving my whole arm. But at home my desk is too messy. There's no room to move a mouse, and even if I were able to, I'd hit my elbow on something else.

Not for one minute have I regretted buying this trackball.

33 of 34 found the following review helpful:

You'll Have a Ball With This Mouse!  Apr 12, 2010
By D Musgrave
Yeah it looks funny, but its what you call "ergonomic"- which has to do with making the workplace fit the worker. Perhaps the oddest looking thing is the little ball on the side. So what's that about? Well, its the whole reason you'd want to buy this device.

If you're satisfied with your regular mouse, it works well, and you have no hand, wrist, or elbow pain, don't be in a hurry to run out and get this mouse. However if you do have pain in any of those areas, I'd highly consider getting one of these little babies. Why? Well, because this is a "trackball" mouse, which means that you'll be moving that little arrow on your computer screen around- NOT by moving your hand and arm- but by simply rolling the ball with your thumb! So, as you can probably guess, little or no wrist and arm motion equals less stress on these areas--> and less pain!

Simply put, this device cuts down on how much you need to move your hand and arm around which can help you prevent or eliminate such nasty problems as tennis elbow or carpal tunnel. Yeah!

A few other good reasons to consider getting this mouse...

-you'll probably be able to work at a computer much longer and in more comfort because you won't be using your muscles as much

-you might find that its a bit quicker scrolling around web pages

Now it does have a cord, but that's about its only drawback (but it does work on glass).

So when all is said and done, if you're looking for more efficiency and less pain- get it.

98 of 118 found the following review helpful:

Affordable product. Functional scroll wheel. Inferior trackball design.  Oct 11, 2005
By nsrpgmiv "nsrpgmiv"
Let me give you some background before you read my review.
I'm in my 30's. I use computer 8+ hours a day and start developing RSI symptoms.

I have tried / owned the following trackballs

Logitech TrackMan Marble FX Trackball
Logitech Optical Marble Mouse
Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical
Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman
Original 3 buttons Kensington Expert Mouse
Kensington Expert Mouse Pro

The Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical does not score well in my needs - eliminating / reducing my RSI related pains.

Pros: Reasonably priced, good build quality, scroll wheel included, programmable buttons.

Cons: Cannot be used left handed, small trackball.

This is one of the few trackballs that has a useable scroll wheel. The Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman and the Kensington Expert Mouse Pro for example, has a tiny scroll wheel that you won't even bother to use after a period of time. This one however, is positioned like all the other mice and you can use your middle finger to scroll effortlessly.

However, the biggest problem for me is that the trackball is controlled by the thumb, instead of index/middle fingers like the other models. Precise movement is harder to control using the thumb. Also, you can move from point A to point B much faster by using the index finger.

Consider this experiment, point your mouse pointer to the bottom right of the screen (which you can conduct in any local electronic store before you decide to buy this product), and then try to move the pointer to the upper left corner. Take note of how much effort it requires and how much stress it is putting on your thumb, rather than how long it takes for you to complete this task (for those who own a 30" lcd, you should record your time and post it here!). Now you should understand why using the thumb to control the trackball is a bad idea.

If your local electronic store has the kensington expert mouse on display, you can compare how superior it is to use a huge trackball with your index/middle finger.

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