mini-trackball

I know some netbook users shun USB peripherals like a mouse or trackball because their goal is to pack as light as possible. But I personally find I’m far more productive with a USB travel mouse than when left alone with a keyboard and touchpad. But some people prefer a trackball to a mouse. It’s supposed to be better for you ergonomically, and I have several friends with carpal tunnel that swear by trackballs. But who wants to lug around a huge USB trackball with your tiny netbook?

That’s where the Evergreen USB Mini Trackball comes in. This little guy measures just 30mm x 30mm x 20mmm and weighs just 22 grams. That’s less than one ounce, and about 1.2″ square.

So yeah, it’s tiny. I just can’t imagine it’s easy to use at all.

The Evergreen USB Mini Trackball sells for 1,999 yen in Japan, which is about $20 US.

via SlashGear

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8 replies on “This USB Mini trackball can’t possibly be ergonomic, can it?”

  1. I have used trackballs religiously for as long as they have been around. I am using an ergonomic microsoft trackpoint ball mouse right now. I wouldn’t use any other type of mouse. EXCEPT when I am using a laptop or netbook. In that case a regular mouse is fine. When I am home with my computers its ok to whip out the geeky trackball but at the coffeeshop – portable mini-mouse y’all. It just makes more sense.

  2. OK what gives !
    The characteristics of a netbook mousepad is clearly not good enough for some people due to it’s limited size. So why oh why is the old IBM joystick that used to sit in the middle of the keyboard not used here.

    I always liked this over a mousepad on standard laptops but that is beside the point.

    The fact is on a netbook it makes perfect sense. It gives even more space to the keyboard and ergonomically you fingers stay in the keyboard area rather than having to travel down to the mousepad.

    Why not offer netbooks with either a joystick or a mousepad so users can make a choice. Joystick model with more keyboard space or mousepad model with less keyboard space.

  4. At that size/weight, how do you keep it from moving while you use it? Does it have velcro or a suction cup on the bottom?

  5. I think that little ball will cheeze up just as fast as Apples MightyMouse scrollball. Plus the movements your hands make with this are nearly identical to a small trackpad, which brings us right back where we started.

  6. (sorry, duplicate comment…so I might as well add something else)

    PS. After all, this is about true portability, right? The less we have to carry, the better. If we can use a netbook comfortably on some park bench, train seat or even while sitting on grass somewhere, without acces to flat area good enough for travel mouse (hey, I’ve seen people trying to use them on flat area next to touchpad…), the better…

  7. If only there was one netbook with Trackpoint, carrying of some usb peripheral due to inadequacy of touchpads wouldn’t be necassary for many.

    C’mon, there are sooo many netbooks appearing on the market, all mostly the same. Just one that’s a bit different is enough…

Comments are closed.