Customer Reviews

Kensington Expert Mouse Pro Wireless Comfort Trackball for Windows or Mac- 64245

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have been using kensington trackballs for nearly as long as they have made them. Their ball bearing movement is superior in physical movements, especially easy tiny movements, to any other trackball or mouse I have ever used. The problems with the irractic motion on the screen often occurs when users try to install the trackballs, They don't remove the existing mouse software and this fights with the kensington software to produce irractic movements.

The "turbo mouse" or "expert mouse" kensington trackballs will work well with microsoft intellipoint 4.0 and greater software, and I use this when I need to leave a seperate additional mouse installed simultaneously, along with the trackball. (Even though MS says this will not work, I have had no troble getting the higher priced kensington models to work with the intellipoint software from MS, along with a usb mouse from anywhere.)

Kensington products have more features with their own software, but the kensington software and the ms software often can not be both installed at the same time. To install kensington software, remove all other mouse drivers and software and then install the kensington software, and pointer motion is flawless, along with all of the rich collection of special features in the turbo mouse (trackball).

If you must have both a mouse and the kensington trackball installed at the same time on a machine, use the microsoft intellipoint software (free from support on MS), and remove all other mouse software, the xp drivers usually work well if they have not been modified by some other software installation. If you want maximum features use the kensington software, but you must remove all other mouse software first, the kensington software is irrattic in pointer motion and click features when other mouse software is installed with kensington software. (On XP often usb pointers (mouse or trackballs) will work with kensington software installed, but no additional software installed.)

I markedly prefer trackballs of kensington expert mouse quality to any mouse because of the ease of use, the lack of movement on the desk, and I feel, superior pointer control. The trackball with a 1.25" heal of the hand support (I use a cut piece of the hand support for a portable machine)in front of the trackball, allows hours of effortless, and comfortable finger control of the motion. I can work for hours without tiring of my mouse hand and arem, something I have never achieved with any mouse or other trackball. I rest the weight of my arm on the hand rest and with the right cushion under the heal of the hand supporting the arm weight, this is effortlessly comfortable for many hours. This works longer than any othe mouse or trackball physical setup I have tried, and I have tried many different physical setups.

I also use max acceleration with medium pointer speed. If deacceleration is available, as with kensington software, but not Microsoft, I use it also for fine movements. This combination gives effortless control with small finger motions, for fine motion or great jumps on the screen. Any screen motion is easily achieved with small delicate, and effortless finger motion on the trackball with the medium speed, and higher accel and high deaccel setting.

Summary, The higer priced Kensington trackballs, (not the cheap ones, they have poor motion), work extremely well, and with the appropriate software for the users preferences, and the software installed properly because of the kensingtons software's intolerance for other software, usually results in long term comfort and high ease of use. (The cheap kensington trackballs are junk, don't bother.) Microsoft intellipoint works well with the higer priced Kensington trackballs, but Kensington software does not work well with other products.

That is my experience over about 15 to 20 years, and about 30 trackballs, almost all labeled expert mouse or turbo mouse. (Why kensington labels a trackball "expert mouse" and "turbo mouse" baffels me, but they do.) These are the models and configurations that work well for me. The wireless ones worked well also, and I prefer them to keep the desk congestion down. I prefer usb connections, only because it is more tolerate of plugging in with the power on, compared to the original mouse connection, where it is sometimes possible to damge the mouse circuits on the motherboard if the connection is made with the power on. Why take that risk, just use the USB ports, and one less problem.

Good luck.

I had a Kensington trackball a while ago and since I am always on the computer, I thought it would be a good idea to get another one. I like the quick launch buttons which save a lot of time when you use the same programs a lot. The scroll button is not in the best place since you have to reach up over the top to get to it. My biggest complaint about this is that the tracking is horrible. My mouse pointer skips around all over the screen which makes it difficult to work with. I tried everything described for this problem at Kensinton support, but it didn't work. I probably would have been much better off with the non-wireless model. I would send it back, but I don't have the box anymore.

Within a month of getting this. It stopped working. After dealing with Tech Support, they sent me a second one. It also stopped working after about a month. I tried to convince the woman in India (Kensington customer service) to replace it with a less expensive, wired trackball that worked, and they refused.
It was nice while it worked, but but died far too quickly.

Like many reviewers, I had tried many different mice and found a tendency to hand and finger fatigue with prolonged use, as well the nuisance of falling off the mousepad periodically.

After having a Kensington trackball for use at workstations in our hospital, I became gradually used to the feel of this trackball which initially was irritating regarding pointing accurately. Once having become used to it, I have found it just as fast and accurate as a mouse, and relatively effortless especially when using it for hours at a time. The stationary aspect is a welcome relief, and you develop the eye-finger coordination very quickly. The software is excellent and allows virtually any type of programming of all the buttons plus two additional "double button" selections(pressing two buttons at a time). While you can program a button to scroll or autoscroll, this is generally unnecessary since there is an additional scroll ring which can be programmed in either direction, at several rates. The unit is equally easily used right or left handed. Another plus for me is that I can place it directly on my Wacom tablet, while optical cordless mice I have found to suffer from interference, I presume RF, from the tablet, so that an intervening mouse pad is required. Not so for the Kensington trackball. I have found no conflict with the Wacom and Kensington drivers.

I initially experienced periodic spontaneous reversion of the button programming to default positions, but this bug seems to have been corrected with the latest iteration of the driver.

This trackball does eat batteries(2 C cells) which must be replaced about every month with standard usage. In talking with tech support, they say that it is because of the high resolution, and that it indeed does power down when not used, but I wonder if the batteries wouldn't last longer if there were an off switch, or that electronically it would switch to a real hibernate mode when not used for a programmable period of time. It's not a big deal, but plan to add about $25/year for operating costs!

Not inexpensive, for sure, but, IMHO, well worth the investment in terms of ease of use and its features. For those who have not used a trackball, please be prepared to spend a little time getting used to its format, feeling clumsy a bit at first, and not rushing to judgment. Buying from a place with a 30 day exchange period would seem reasonable.

I've never used a trackball before but I do design and my hand was starting to hurt. A lot. I read a lot of reviews about the original Kensington track balls full of high praise and although the other people who rated this wireless version weren't raving, I figured I'd give it a try. It was awkward to control/use the trackball at first, but after a few days, it was just as easy as a traditional mouse, except it didn't hurt b/c I wasn't holding it in a death grip.

I love the programable buttons (I set some to launch high-use programs, and one of the four around the mouse I use as my delete button - how rad is that? you can program them to do anything, like operate at a cut or paste command). Yes, it does get "stuck" once in a while, but if you roll the ball around real quick that usually fixes it. Otherwise pop the ball out then in again and it's fine. And I was wary about the placement of the scroller based on the other reviewer's complaint, but turns out it's not inconvienient at all. Maybe I just have long fingers.

To sum up, I love this mouse and I wish I had one at home. If you use your mouse for long periods of time, like for design, I recommend this trying this one.

I have used almost every trackball produced. This is my favorite when it works. For some reason, the pointer becomes difficult to control and only cure is nonuse. The Logitech Marble Trackball is equal to the Kensington except in one area.

Both of the above trackballs are the best without any close competition. Kensington 64245 wins over the Marble Trackball because it is wireless, which means the cord is not being pulled out or tied up with other wires.

Logitech has developed a wireless version of the Marble Trackball but elected to make it optical, which defeats the purpose of a trackball.

I use trackballs because I hold the mouse rather than move it around on a desk. Logitech's wireless version ties it to the desk because it is optical and doesn't reacte well, if at all, to finger touch.

I have one question about the Kensington Expert Mouse Pro. What is the difference between the 64245 and 64329 models?

There is not much you can say about it other than it is great. It is great for browsing and, after a bit of getting used to, my wrist feels so much better. If you have wrist problems, I highly recommend this product.

My only complaint was that I had to search around online for drivers. It would have been nice if you had included the CD. Other than that, I am MORE than satisfied!

I have experienced the "skipping" with the cursor on both units I have owned. Customer support was very helpful and they sent me a new unit. Unfortunately it also had the same problem.

I would save some money and purchase the wired version.

I've used Logitech trackballs for years, but this is the first Kensington I've owned. I absolutely love idea of this trackball, but there are a few things that are rather irksome. Primarily, the jog wheel is inconvient and hard to use. Similarly, the programmable buttons are a bit stiff, and the motion of the trackball is a a bit rough. Over all, I'm satisfied with this purchase, but only time will tell if it was worth upgrading to from my almost perfect Logitech TrackMan Marble FX.