Trackballs on a budget!!

[JonSelby]

Does anyone know if any of these trackballs work with NX?

Kensington (the 'Orbit' looks great value) ...

http://eu.kensington.com/kensington/en/gb/s/498/trackballs.aspx

Griffin (although doesn't look like windows 7 compatible) ...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Griffin-104...6?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1276348749&sr=1-6

For information ... The reason I'm asking is that my Spaceball 4000 (serial version with USB converter lead) doesn't work with my new laptop on Windows 7!!

Jon S

Medical Design Engineer - Glos. UK
NX 6.0.4.3 / TCE V10.0.3.8.6

 

[JohnRBaker]

Although the Griffin (and the other items mentioned on that site) would appear to be suitable replacements for a Spaceball, the first item you mentioned, the 'Trackball', is ONLY a cursor control devise, that is it ONLY replaces the Mouse and except for the normal mouse controlled 3D gestures, a Trackball will NOT provide you any special control over the 3D dynamic control of the your NX graphics display.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[JonSelby]

Thanks John,

I've pinged emails to both companies to find out exactly what there capabilities are but I did suspect the Kensingtons are only replacements for the mouse-hand (would be interesting to try none-the-less).

I'll post if I get any good answers from these companies.

Anyone else heard of any good alternatives to the 3Dconnexion ones.

 

[JohnRBaker]

I use a trackball as home since I have very little deskspace and so I don't even have to find room for a mouse pad. It just sits there where I can reach it quickly. I use a cordless Logitech 'Trackman' which combines the Traclball and the 3-button (with center scroll wheel) mouse:

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/mice_pointers/trackballs/devices/159

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[JonSelby]

Ahhhhh ...

I've done some digging on the Griffin and its actually nothing more than a "volume knob" (albeit very nice looking).
You can only rotate or press to click so no 'spaceball' functionality!

Looks like 3DConnexion have a monopoly on this ... but then they are pretty good and not bad value.

 

[Lunar7]

Have a look at

http://www.spatialfreedom.com

 

[JohnRBaker]

A bit of trivia concerning the Astroid, which I've tried and it works fine. It was developed by an Australian named John Hilton who also happens to be the fellow who developed the original Spaceball back in the late 80's. It was a bit large and clumsy (what you see below was not a palm rest but rather an ARM REST)...

...and cost over $1500 when it was introduced but it did work and the idea proved to be compelling enough that it quickly evolved into something much more affordable.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.