The trackball known as the "Gameball."

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Ice Cream Jonsey
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The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

Nobody is more of a fan of trackballs than I am. I think mice are dumb - of course the more logical design is to have one's hands move and not the roller ball. Everyone else thought moving the mouse with the rubber ball off the table and then bringing it back to the center of the table was the best idea. I know they are optical now and that probably doesn't happen, but I can't reward stupid design. Imagine if we had to pick gamepads and joysticks up and physically recenter them. Gyah.

So I want to love the Gameball.

I can't though. I bought one a few months ago and it's just too small, it's just too tiny. I have small hands but the size of the buttons on this thing are constantly causing me to misclick. More (and worse) if you click certain buttons at the same time, you start changing the definition of right click and left click. That happened today and I am trying to help debug something at work and all of a sudden right click doesn't work.

There is a theory of design I am working on called "cat on the keyboard" for programs. Daz3D suffers from this. Randomly smash keys on your keyboard - if the program you are using is now in terrible modes or things have been done to the UI and so forth and you can't easily get back, then you have failed the "cat on the keyboard" test. This trackball suffers from that. Hold it in your hands and mash the buttons together. You will have no clue how to get it back to do the things you want unless you consult the PDF.

I have to consult the PDF.

If this thing were 50 to 100 percent larger, I'd recommend it. But I can't.
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Jizaboz
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Jizaboz »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Mon May 22, 2023 9:23 pm Nobody is more of a fan of trackballs than I am. I think mice are dumb - of course the more logical design is to have one's hands move and not the roller ball.
Vertical mouse is superior to both! The only time I wanna touch a trackball is to roll a marble, shoot centipedes, etc.

You hold a vertical mouse-like device so much more naturally. Like, it feels stupid and alien for like 3 days but then you realize your arm from your fucking fingers to your neck no longer are in pain or just straight up go numb. Around that time you start to see how this style is superior as far as fast movements and accuracy. I use one for game development constantly but rarely use one to play a game like COD as I don't have a corded one yet.
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Flack
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Flack »

I have literally never heard of a vertical mouse. I just looked up pictures and that is one weird looking thing!

One time at work we received 500 cheap Dell mice. It is literally a lifetime supply of mice and I will be using them until the end of time. They last 2-3 years before the springs in the buttons wear out and they start clicking and double-clicking on their own. Then, just like Eazy-E did with his wrecked '64 Impala, I throw 'em in the gutta', and go get anotha'.

The main reason I don't buy a trackball or a vertical mouse or a split keyboard or any of those things is I don't want to get used to them, because I switch computers so frequently at work that I don't want a "normal" setup to feel weird.
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AArdvark
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by AArdvark »

I'm going to get me one of those vertical mice. If it keeps my wrist from aching after ten minutes it'll be a winner.

I always wanted a three sided pyramid keyboard so my wrists would face each other when I'm typing. Someone needs to invent one

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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I fear this "vertical mouse." It is technology that is foreign to me.
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Jizaboz »

I went to an ergonomic "gaming" mouse for my Windows machine and the vertical mouse for working on the Mac because I was getting really bad pain from my neck to my fingers. Before then, I developed numbness after the pain from my finger tips up to my elbow. Had to do some "tendon flossing" I think it's called excersizes and keep from sleeping with my arm curled under my head for a few weeks for it to finally clear up.

Once it cleared up and I had been using nothing but the vertical mouse primarily (unless I'm playing a Windows game), it hasn't come back!
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

It happened again, where the left and right buttons were swapped. NNNGH. I wish I could turn the swapping off. I am not suddenly going to be left handed.
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Tdarcos »

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Thu Jun 22, 2023 7:20 pm It happened again, where the left and right buttons were swapped. NNNGH. I wish I could turn the swapping off. I am not suddenly going to be left handed.
If this is a regular thing, just do "flipping" as needed:
- Press Windows key or click icon
- hover over Settings gear icon, click on word '"Settings"
- Choose "Devices"
- Choose "Mouse"
- Change the dropdown below the box "Select your primary button" either from "right" or "left" to the opposite, and see if this helps.
Note that this change is instantaneous and becomes effective the instant you finish the click; you now have to click on the dropdown with the opposite mouse button to change it back. You can leave the mouse settings window minimized if mouse flipping becomes a regular need.
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AArdvark
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by AArdvark »

I tried one of them vertical mice today. I'm buying one soon as I get home

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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Jizaboz »

AArdvark wrote: Tue Jul 04, 2023 3:20 pm I tried one of them vertical mice today. I'm buying one soon as I get home
See? See?!
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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by AArdvark »

My carpal tunnel has been hurting bad, especially at work.

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Re: The trackball known as the "Gameball."

Post by Ice Cream Jonsey »

I don't want you doing this.
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