Customer Reviews

Microsoft D67-00001 Trackball Optical Mouse

5 star:		(61)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(28)

 

 

While I don't always think M$ is a computing Godsend when it comes to software, this trackball is the best input peripheral I've used yet.

I have what I think is a larger than normal hand, so I find most mice and trackballs are too small for me to use comfortably. This causes my hand to tire out rather quick. This trackball however is of a decent enough size for me to rest my hand on without much fatigue.

The USB PS/2 adapter is a nice touch. I love the narrow back/forward (By default) buttons on the outer edges of the primary and secondary buttons. Web and folder browsing is definately faster with those. The scroll wheel button as a double-click also is a nice option.

For those hardcore mousers out there, it will take a bit of time to get used to a thumb ball, but I think it pays off as I now feel that I have better control. It also requires less desk space because the unit doesn't have to move around a la mouse. Mouse pads need not apply as well. Some grit occasionally gets in the small bearing that the ball moves on, but they are easliy cleaned with a brush of the finger, and they never get as nasty as regular mice.

The software is nice and easy to set up with a graphic interface that shows the buttons you are setting. I know some people that can appreciate that.

I bought one a while back for home, and then asked work to '[give]it up' and help out my ergonomics. Now my other home PC is needing one.

My one gripe with this trackball is that it could have been improved upon by layering it with a thin coat of rubber to make it even more comfortable. This is a small gripe to be sure, as I can be at the computer much longer with this than a conventional mouse before my hand bothers me.

I have both this Microsoft Trackball Optical (at my office) and the alternative Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical (at home) and while the ergonomics are pretty much the same, the ball movement is much smoother on the Logitech. The Microsoft ball is manufactured using a translucid plastic that is not hard enough and causes it to "stick" to the rollers inside its casing.

Let me try to explain because I feel this is very important. Even though the trackball is optical (meaning there is a laser beam inside the casing that "reads" the ball movement), there are rollers in the form of tiny metal balls (the size of the head of a pin) over which the ball rolls. This "sticking" of the ball causes the movement of the cursor to be imprecise. When you try to roll the ball with your thumb just a pixel, it gets a bit hard (doesn't move) and then it releases it's stick and rolls too much.

On the Logitech however this does not happen. The construction is the same (plastic ball that rolls on tiny balls in the casing and a laser beam that reads the movement) but the ball is a little smaller and made of a much harder plastic. This harder plastic does not stick to the rollers inside the casing, so the ball is always free and the movement is smooth.

I definitely recommend you get the Logitech over the Microsoft model. Logitech has both a wired and wireless trackball models, both work the same way. Check them out.

MS has produced a strong trackball superior to many others I have tried. The ergo's are great and your hand relaxes naturally around the design. In fact others in my office have used it with nothing but positive feedback. The 4 button design and wheel fit my hand perfectly. I do have a medium size hand but others with larger fingers haven't had a problem. I have noticed in the 5 months of daily use that the ball does on rare ocassion tend to stick moving vertically. Maybe twice for 30 seconds in a 5 day workweek. I just move the mouse horizontally to loosen it a little and continue to work. The source of the problem is always gunk attached to the 3 metal numbs on the inside of the depression. A quick cleaning by my finger instantly corrects the situation. I clean perhaps once a month at most. The plastic post inside is not the problem. This trackball is packed with features. They really increase the value of the product and produce less handstrain. The ClickLock feature is the best followed by the Autowheel. I recommend this trackball to everyone, but think it is especially necessary for those of you who spend a great deal of time using a mouse/trackball. Your hand will just feel better and the end of the day.

I bought the new trackball Intellimouse in one of those strange fits of upgraditis that come over techies such as I at unexpected moments. Several years ago I bought a Logitech thumb trackball to help me with a wrist problem. It served its purpose admirably. By the time my wrist was back to normal, I was a complete convert to this configuration.

Now this old trackball was wearing out. The buttons, which rely on plastic 'springs,' were losing their bounce. They are also cut too close to the desktop, which meant that I was regularly taking the unit apart to remove something that had slipped in. It was a non-optical ball as well and the rollers, which are always getting mucked up, where getting harder to clean. It was time.

On the surface, the Intellimouse looks very nice. The unit cradles my right hand perfectly and has a slightly rough surface that keeps my hand from slipping. All four buttons have excellent feel, and the center wheel but has a slight rubber coating for grip and a very nice graduated movement. The ball itself turns freely with no effort under light pressure, but is capable of good precision when pressure is increased to slow it down. Overall impression is that this is a superbly engineered pointing device.

The IntelliPoint software is the usual high Microsoft standard. All the buttons are definable, pointers are customizable, and ball and wheel response is adjustable. Adjustments are also available for double-click speed, and to adjust orientation to your thumb. There is also a nifty option that lets you use a feature called ClickLock to make click and drag easier.

For many, this is the ideal thumb trackball mouse. Unfortunately, for me, there is a slight design flaw that creates a source of irritation. The primary left and right mouse buttons are a tiny bit too narrow for my fingers! This means that I am perpetually hitting the outer buttons if my fingers are not perfectly placed. Under game pressure, or while engaged in heavy websurfing, this can make you crazy, fast! Since the software does not permit inner and outer buttons to be defined identically, the only corrective option is to turn the outer buttons off. Occasionally I manage to press only the outer button and find myself repeatedly hitting the button while nothing is happening -- until I realize what's going on. Gradually, I'm learning to be more precise about where I put my fingers, but I could just as well have done without the outer buttons in the first place.

If you are a bit more adept than me, have the right kind of fingers or are already used to four button mice you will probably love this device. I find myself liking it more as I adapt to it. But there is no reason why Microsoft couldn't have simply made the primary buttons large enough to prevent the problem in the first place. Instead, an engineering oversight keeps this mouse from getting the full honors it otherwise deserves.

As an electrical engineer, I spend countless hours working on the computer. I started to develop pain in my right wrist that I figured was likely due to grasping the mouse. A friend suggested switching to a track-ball. I bought this item, and now have no pain in my wrists! I highly recommend this item because it essentially eliminates the squeezing motion linked to ordinary mice. I actually prefer using the trackball over a regular mouse, it has a much more fluid movement. If you are looking to this item because your wrist is hurting, I think you will be happy.

It takes a few hours to get used to the change, but once you conquer that you'll wish you switched earlier. It has two extra buttons which are a great idea for surfing the web, they let you jump forward and back through web sites with no effort, further eliminating wrist movement. If you like you can set them for other tasks, but I like the default. The scroll wheel is really nice. It moves very smoothly and quietly.

I gave it four out of five stars because I could not get the mouse to work through the USB port of my workstation, but I think that problem is linked to Windows 2000's lackluster USB support. Linux had no problem getting it to work through the USB, neither did Windows 98. Microsoft's Intellimouse software (that comes with the trackball, or can be downloaded from the web) is nicely refined.

As a Mac user, I've used mice since 1985 and trackballs since 1981 (with Missile Command). Gone through a lot of them looking for the perfect device. This isn't it, but I haven't found anything closer. The closest point of comparison was the Logitech Trackman Marble. But that didn't have as many buttons and the ball was smaller, which made it harder to manipulate. Finger-operated trackballs need more hand movement and make click-drag functions more difficult. With this, it's easy to click and hold while moving the ball with your thumb.

I really like having five buttons. It makes websurfing very easy when I can have buttons for click, back, open in new window, switch windows and autoscroll without having to reach for the keyboard. A scroll wheel is, of course, invaluable nowadays. One thing I can't do without is application sets, which allow button assignments to change with each application. Logitech's software only allows a single set of functions, which is quite limiting.

I find the shape very comfortable, despite the fact that my hands aren't especially big. My hand just drapes naturally in a relaxed position with fingers and thumb resting perfectly atop the two main buttons and the ball. I tried an Intellimouse Explorer, but found it gave me more handstrain since I had to grip the mouse fairly hard with my thumb.

As with all other trackballs that rely on embedded ball bearings to support the ball, this can get sluggish when skin oil and dead skin build up on the bearings. It's not a problem in winter but gets worse in warm weather. In the summer, it needs cleaning once every couple of hours. Luckily, it's easy to pop the ball out and back in. One solution is to clean the bearings thoroughly then dab them with a little spray silicone. It keeps the detritus from building up and, unlike other lubricants, won't attack the plastic ball. Unfortunately, the optical port is open, not sealed with a plastic window like Logitech's, so dust and cat hair like to get inside and Microsoft has basically sealed this unit so you can't take it apart for cleaning.

When this product is discontinued, I plan to buy a few on clearance as spares unless somebody can make something better. More accuracy wouldn't be bad, but for precision work, I use a graphics tablet, so this isn't a problem.

I purchased the Microsoft D67-00001 a year ago, I needed a new trackball, assumed (wrongly) that one was as good as the next, and I liked the five button thing. I get my new toy home, tear open the box, plug it in and start playing SWG. The trackball was making a sandpaper noise... it wasn't moving smoothly. Now, this could be a defect, but my friend bought his trackball at the same time, had the same issue. We pulled the balls out to clean behind them and noticed there was a piece of plastic that was causing the issue. Eh, maybe it will wear down or something (yes we were still in denial). We use our mice for a couple days hoping to "break it in". After two days we pulled the mouse balls back out and looked, a little bit of "gunk" collected on the plastic trouble causing defect. We broke out our Dremel and modified our trackballs. After some modification they functioned tolerably, both of us endured the annoyance and went on with life, a regular maintenance plan of cleaning the trackball went on daily or you would have difficulties (more than usual) using it. No the home wasn't messy, we don't coat our hands in dirt and peanut butter before using, although it functioned like we did. I finally got fed up recently and decided I deserve better. We broke up, I decided although he came with the extra buttons I had grown to love it wasn't enough... I needed more, I needed the smooth action of a trackball that performed better, I needed to perform better in my games, and I wanted something that would caress my hand and support it, not be a huge hunk oh plastic that my hand rested on. We parted, he moved to a drawer in my desk, ok, under my desk.... Regardless... my new beau is wonderful, the Logitech trackman optical is a dream, he is smooth, suave, responsive like no other trackball... and he is a comfortable fit for my hand. My vote??? It was worth dumping my old trackball for the new one. Good points it had? Buttons, five of them.. I gave this trackball one point for each extra button, and that was nice of me Bad stuff??? The trackball... the most important part in a relationship with a trackball mouse... my games thank me for the change, my web design thank me and my wrist actually prefers the new sleek design. MS trackball bad, Logitech good.

This mouse has all the features you could want and is very comfortable to use if your right handed. The biggest problem I found with it though was that the ball falls out and the bearings that the ball rolls on alwasy seem to get gummed up.

I love this trackball! I spend a lot of time on the computer, both for work and entertainment - probably 4-10 hours on a typical day. I was having carpal tunnel problems, and one of the recommendations was to switch to a thumb-controlled trackball. I was VERY skeptical that it would work for me - I remembered trying a couple of different trackballs 6-7 years ago, and I was very frustrated with the poor level of control and accuracy of the old models.

Microsoft's Optical trackball is a different trackball altogether! It is fantastic! It took about 3 days for me to get used to its layout, and now I prefer it to a mouse. In fact, I bought a second trackball two weeks later so I could have one on both my home and office computers. I added a $5 wrist pad from Belkin and have seen my carpal tunnel symptoms disappear almost completely!

I've used this trackball with my laptop and my desktop systems, and with both the USB and PS/2 connections, and have had no problems. Software installation was a snap! The programmable buttons are quickly addictive. I use the "extra" buttons for moving backward and forward between web pages - web surfing has never been so easy!

I have noticed that the ball sometimes gets a little "sticky." The stickiness is caused by gunk accumulating on the 3 metal nubs in the depression where the ball rests. It's quick and easy to fix though - just pop the ball out, wipe off the nubs and it's as good as new! And it's much easier than cleaning off the rollers in a conventional mouse.

I had problems many years ago with my shoulder and wrist from using the mouse. I started on a Kensington trackball and couldn't stand it. The large ball was clumbsy and didn't eliminate the wrist movement.

I then went with Logitech's Thumbball design and fell in love with it. Through the years, that design progressed and eventually MS took it up and suprisingly came out with this excellent product!

The quality of every one of mine is fantasic (I have 6 in use and 2 in boxes as backup). It's easy to use, prevents stress on the hands and shoulder. And with the Intellipoint software, all the buttons are fully programmable (I recommend the outer-right button a double-click for the ring finger. Speeds up work a LOT!)

The best part is that it requires little desk space unlike a mouse since the unit never needs to be moved.

Highly recommended.