Customer Reviews

Kensington TurboBall Trackball (PC/USB Mac)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I generally prefer trackballs over a mouse, and for me this one has the best combination of features and ease of use. Most of the other trackballs I've tried have felt awkward or put stress on different digits. Some reviewers have complained about the position of the hand when using this device, but for me that is a strong point. You are supposed to rest the edge of your hand on the desktop, and let your hand curl naturally around the high centered design.

I do agree with the other reviewers about the need for frequent cleaning. Several suggestions - try using a Q-Tip swab dipped in rubbing alcohol for cleaning the rubber rollers and the various inside parts. Also, an old toothbrush works wonders to loosen and scrub away deposits on various parts, inlcuding the small red beads that help hold the ball in place (which I have never needed to remove to clean). The ball does need to be cleaned frequently, or the buildup of skin oils on it will begin to gum up the rollers. Ironically, the problem with the rollers is that they get too smooth when they are dirty, and are unable to obtain traction against the ball, which is why they the pointer doesn't move on the screen.

The rubber rollers do eventually deteriorate, as others have noted. That is my only real complaint about this product, as when the rollers have degraded enough they can no longer make good contact with the ball, and it becomes very difficult to move the pointer. It is possible to replace them, but it can be a tricky and frustrating job, and it is almost simpler just to buy a new one.

I have owned several of these trackballs, and even with heavy useage I expect to get 1-2 years of good use out of them. After that, the rollers are worn, and it is either replace the rollers or buy a new one. I like the trackball enough that I have done both of these, rather than switch back to a mouse or a different trackball.

I had a Kensington TurboRing and LOVED it. The TurboBall is their current warranty replacement as the TurboRing is no longer available.

Using a trackball with the fingers is, for me, much more comfortable than using one operated with the thumb. I get a pain similar to old Atari joystick thumb cramps when using thumb-movement trackballs. The finger movement on the TurboBall is quite smooth and very precise.

The scroll wheel on the TurboBall is in a USELESS location. There's no way to use the wheel without moving the entire hand off the unit or contorting one's thumb into an extremely uncomfortable angle. This makes the wheel all but UNUSABLE for any frequent use.

That and the roller mechanism used here is essentially the same thing as the TurboRing. Which means frequent cleaning and possible loss of the little red bearings. The bearing races do appear more sturdy than those used on the TurboRing (which is what broke on mine). But the rollers are still the same and probably just as likely to gum up. Mine tended to gum up once a week with daily (8+ hours) of use.

It's really a shame, the best feature of the TurboRing, and what sold me on it, was the ScrollRing. Kensington has seriously missed the mark with design of the TurboBall. It'd have been OK if the scroll wheel wasn't in such a horrible location.

Oh, but only if they'd put a ScrollRing around the ball of their Expert series trackball! I'd buy it in a heartbeat. It too suffers from a poorly placed scroll wheel.

Kensington warranty support is excellent but getting this as a replacement for my TurboRing just doesn't cut it.

Updated AUG 2006... Still My favorite trackball after 6 years. It has has been durable, although it does as others have noted require periodic cleaning (particularly of the rubber pieces inside) that would be lessened greatly if they'd move to an optical design. The Turboball is the BEST design I've ever seen with a trackball, so I live with the cleaning. It fits my hand perfectly and the number of buttons allows you to basically have the same functions on both sides so that this can be used right handed or left handed. For example, I use top left and right as single click, bottom left and right are double click, clicking both bottom buttons is a right mouse click, and pushing in middle scroll button closes an application. I dislike Kensington's other optical trackballs. Their Expert Trackball is harder on the hand and less comfortable to use, as you can't comfortably grip the trackball (I've had one at work for several years), and their other optical trackball only has two buttons, which makes it much less useful. KENSINGTON: PLEASE MAKE AN OPTICAL VERSION OF THE TURBOBALL!!! IT IS THE BEST DESIGN ON THE MARKET!

I have tried two of the model 64227 Trackballs and each of them became erratic tracking in the vertical axis within a week of putting them in service. I like the layout of the device and it's programming features but trying to work in a graphics application is very frustrating to say the least. I can't recommend this item to anyone.

This is my favorite trackball, which is why I've put up with around ten of them breaking.

Kensington stands behind the product and sends me new ones each time that they degrade to the point where I can't clean the rollers anymore, but the defect is still annoying. If only they had optical tracking instead of the mechanical rollers that collect dust and eventually become uncleanable.

When it is working I enjoy the ergonomic comfort, which is better than any other Kensington trackball (TurboMouse, Orbit, etc.). I map the four buttons to different application shortcuts and also use the scroll wheel (although that gets pressed accidentially because of its position).

In short it is a great product with one big flaw that means Kensignton will be replacing it every so often.

My husband hates this trackball and is hooking up a mouse in addition to it for his own use. I swear by it and won't use the mouse if I can put hand to a trackball. This has a very comfortable hand feel, the buttons are with one exception well placed, and overall I'd say it's excellent. I took away a star because the scroll button is in a wierd spot (but with a trackball, who needs a scroll button?) and because the optical sensor gets dirty rather quickly (fortunately, the sensor is very simple to reach and cleans much more easily than a mouse). This was a fantastic value - I highly recommend it.

I love the layout of this trackball. My first trackball was a Kensington Expert two-button trackball. I used that one for two or three years. I have been looking for one that I liked as well as that one ever since. I wanted one with more buttons and a wheel, though. I thought I had finally found what I was looking for when I saw this. I bought it on the spot. I liked it from the start. The ball and buttons were in the perfect spot and it had a wheel. I liked the software, too. They got everything exactly right with one minor exception - the trackball part of it doesn't work.

The Kensington trackballs use rollers to track the movement of the ball. The Logitech and Microsoft trackballs have a design on the ball and use lasers to track the movement of the ball. When I first got the Turboball, it kind of worked but, as it picked up a little bit of oil from my skin, it became almost impossible to use. I would move the ball and the pointer would only shudder a little or not move at all. I did some research online to see if it was just my device and I found that the problems I was having were very common, if not the norm. I tried cleaning the ball and rollers and it helped some but within an hour or so, it was back to how it was before cleaning. I now use a Logitech Wireless Marble FX. I don't like the layout as much but at least moving the ball moves the cursor.

That's the only way to keep this trackball working. It does work smoothly when it's clean ... but it's very hard to keep it this way. I am amazed at how fast the rollers inside gum up - and the only way I have found to clean them is to gently and carefully scrape the crud off them with a sharp blade. There are also three tiny beads that hold the ball in place - these get covered in crud too. The only way to clean these is pop them out of their holders - very tricky.

In general a nightmare cleaning effort. I have been on my hands and knees looking for these little beads many times when I have dropped them. I finally lost one and now the trackball is headed into the trash. My last duty is to give this review to warn you off it unless you have a good obsessive streak for cleaning (I don't).

I also agree with the bland ambi-dextrous shaping. Doesn't really rest your wrist because of this.

There are several problems with this trackball:

1. The shape of the trackball contours your wrist downwards. This can be a major problem for those of us who buy trackballs to save our wrists.

2. The design of the trackball is generic, meaning it is just as usable for lefties as righties. Downside? It doesn't work for either very well. The position of the ball itself puts a lot of strain on the index finger, while the side buttons are too far apart to be easily useful.

3. The wheel is placed in the dead center of the trackball, which puts it just below the palm when using the device. Therefore the only way to use the wheelie function is to move your hand down and place your fingers on the wheel. This almost completely negates the usefulness of the wheel. (The wheel is also stiffer than I was used to)

4. Last and worst, the trackball itself jammed up a great many times on me. I could still make large movements across the screen, but getting the pointer to anything small on the screen took a lot of effort -- and effort is not what you want in a trackball.

I've been using this trackball for 10yrs, and loving it. It fits my hand perfectly. The programmable-button functions I use most are (for browsers) previous-page, and (for all applications) close-window, scroll-to-top. It drives me batty to be on a computer where I have to go to the keyboard for these! I have to shift my palm to use the scroll wheel, but I don't mind that much: if I'm scrolling, I'm usually reading closely and not trying to use other mouse functions.

The trackball itself has stood up very well -- about once a year it starts skipping a bit; I just pop out the ball and clean out all the accumulated crud (and once, around year 8, had to fiddle with a small spring). Otherwise it's been problem-free. My computer will never use anything but a Kensington trackball for the rest of my life!