Trackball Recommandation and Keyboard for CTS

[John Weiss]

but would you say the pad they provide with it is comfortable.
Does it have this good gel feel to(does it provide good cushioning) it or is
it some cheapo pad that is supplied with the unit?

I stopped by the local CompUSA store yesterday. The pad supplied with the fancy
optical ExpertMouse has a hump at the 12 o'clock area that blends in with the
mouse contour. Dunno how it will work long-term. The one I've been using for
5+ years is a simple 4x4x3/4" square foam pad that came as a freebie with the
last one I bought. The bottom 1/2" is high-density foam, and the top 1/4" is a
cheap "memory foam." It works just fine for me!

I think you can make your own if you can't find one ready-made. Use whatever
you want (gel or memory foam or whatever) for the top, and then build it up to
the height you need. The 4" square is plenty.

 

[Vanguard]

pheew can't believe it can be this difficult to pick out a mouse

That's why I usually travel the retail stores looking for a display unit (or
take one out of the box) so I can actually test the feel. Last time I
needed to replace my keyboard, I went through the store displays but still
ended up having to return 2 of them to settle on the 3rd one.

The one at
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=50187040&pfp=BROWSE
was the one that I had and liked (but did need the gel wrist pad).
Unfortunately this list it as "delivery only" which means there won't be an
in-store demo or box to dig into to test it before purchase. Their
satisfaction policy would help in returning an undesirable device and
getting a better one, but you need to call them first to verify that they
will take a return on a device that you find too stressful. I/O devices are
subjective regarding what fits best a particular user, so often I choose to
pay the premium to look at and get a keyboard, mouse/trackball, and monitor
from a store. The shipping costs for returning unwanted items, and maybe
doing it twice, or more, can quickly eat up the cost savings of buying the
item online. However, as for trackballs, I doubt you will find a better
quality unit than from Kensington for their ExpertMouse. My recollection
was that their Orbit has too much resistance as did their TurboMouse (but
I'm not so sure about the TurboMouse anymore since I see now they list steel
bearings for the TurboMouse so I suspect it also has steel rollers now).

With a $5 shipping cost, figure it'll cost your about $20 for a mistake ($5
to ship, $5-$10 to return, and $5 to get the next one). You could call
around to find out if anyone, like CompUSA or OfficeDepot, have an in-store
unit.