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Demise of the trackball? What's the alternative?

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cranioscopical:
Has anybody else noticed the recent absence of trackballs from just about every computer-peripheral store?

I have used a Logitech TrackMan Marble Wheel for years, the ball on mine is thumb driven.
Being right handed I keep the thing between the right edge of my keyboard and my graphics tablet. I'm used to it, and can cover a lot of real estate without requiring constant hand movements. That way I can work comfortably with both it and the tablet without having to keep moving stuff around.

Lately one of my units has been sticking, so I decided to pick up another. None are to be found in the stores (in Toronto, Canada). Precious few are to be found on the web, most of them refurbished (of which I've ordered several). New product seems to have vanished.

Anyone who uses a mouse would probably experience horror and dismay if asked to use a trackball (my wife does!) but that's just how I feel about using a mouse.

Since the writing appears to be on the wall, I'd be glad to hear recommendations for a mouse--that people have actually used--to scoot the cursor fast around a 3200x1600 desktop and yet still allow excellent precision (not at CAD level but certainly good enough for working with tiny increments in stuff like Illustrator and InDesign). I'm looking for something that keeps hand movement to an absolute minimum.

I thank you in advance for any help you might offer.

f0dder:
They're becoming scarce in Denmark as well :(

Never really got used to them myself, but since I don't play games very often anymore, I've been considering trying out trackballs, to avoid wrist injury... only to find out they're all but gone.

Carol Haynes:
Seem to be alive and well on the UK Logitech shop ...

http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/productlist/GB/EN,crid=2141,categoryid=6

cranioscopical:
Seem to be alive and well on the UK Logitech shop ...
--- End quote ---
Oh my! Actually, I post here only to prove to the community that my brain has turned to mush.
Thank you very much, Carol, that led me to Logitech Canada who claim to have some.

It's still true that they're not in stores and several big-box stores (when asked) call them obsolete and expect to stock no more.
I guess the thing to do is to estimate my lifetime consumption of these things and buy that many now.

I'm still interested to learn about what mice others are using with multi-monitor displays.

Deozaan:
I got a trackball years ago for precision in graphics editing. Back when optical mice were still fairly new. I was tired of the ball sticking, ruining my line drawings. So I got the trackball (optical!) and loved everything about it except that because it still uses a ball, it will still get gunky and stick or slow the movement down.

Sadly it was eventually stolen and when I tried to replace it I bought one from Logitech's website (three years ago) but the ball doesn't seem to move across the screen very fast. In windows I can change the speed, but in games it seems to revert back to the same old slow speed which means I have to move my thumb a lot to get the cursor across the screen (1280x1024). Eventually I bought Logitech's MX1000 Wireless Laser mouse, which is great, except that I have to move my hand again, and since my desk space is very limited right now, I'm actually using my trackball anyway.

I love trackballs--the only thing I don't like is that the ball's track can get dirty.

Logitech's Canada site lists some trackballs: http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/productlist/CA/EN,crid=2141,categoryid=6

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