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Hardware

Laptops with Trackballs? 21

Posted by Cliff from the because-rodents-nipples-and-pads-all-suck dept.
txsable asks: "Is any manufacturer making a new-model laptop computer with a trackball? I can't stand touchpads, and the "accupoint" device used by IBM and other isn't much better. My favorite is a Dell Latitude XPi CD that belongs to my office, but (1) it's a Pentium 133 and (2) It's not mine!" I used to remember laptops that had those trackballs that attached to the side. They were alright, but their main drawback was that those things always broke, or at best, would fall off because the attachment didn't fit right. Are there any laptops out there that actually have the trackball integrated into the unit in a position that feels fairly natural, and also doesn't get in the way of typing?
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Laptops with Trackballs? More

Laptops with Trackballs?

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  • Comment removed (Score:3)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday November 04, 2001 @01:45AM (#2517997)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • Hell, I even saw one the other day that ya wore on your index finger and manipulated with your thumb (believe the button was like a trigger as well...good for the gamers :). If ya could type with it, it would be even better than having it integrated anyways.

      I have one of those, it's ok, but moving the trackball while holding the right button is a major pain. It's nice for laid back web browsing, but for work, it's no better then the track pad.

  • Trackball and mice have moving parts and a touchpad or a pencil eraser-like thingies don't. This probably means that they're more likely prone to breaking or malfunctioning, and they're also likely to be more expensive to intergrate.

    I'm not an expert but I'm willing to bet that since only part of a trackball's surface is exposed at any given time, the rest of it would have to take up valuable real-estate inside of the laptop, probably more than a touchpad would. That's why you almost always see them attached to the side.
    • Trackball and mice have moving parts and a touchpad or a pencil eraser-like thingies don't.

      Except if you have a trackball that works off of light instead of moving wheels (a'la Logitech Trackman). That *should* be as reliable as a trackpad (since the only thing that moves is the ball itself). Of course no one in the world makes one that's intergrated into a laptop (which is a shame.. I agree with the poster. I'd take the small trackball of my old Mac Duo over a trackpad anyday)
  • The reason why manufacturers stopped putting trackballs on laptops are fairly simple.

    On one side, they are purely mechanical, and they're far more likely to fail than a touchpad or a track point. Couple with that the fact that dirt gets into them (much like the mice) and you've got a component that is more trouble than it's worth. A track ball needs frequent cleaning. A trackpad can be just wiped off with a cloth. And how would you get a track point dirty? (If you do, wash your hands more often)

    Second of all, have you seen how much more is packed into new laptops? There's hardly any room to spare, and that track ball right in the middle of the box certainly doesn't help. A touchpad is definitely smaller (at least in depth). And I can also see how a trackpoint would be smaller too.

  • On a similar note, I remember a really old notebook that I had (a 486) with J-Mouse. Anyone remember that? it was the coolest thing... the J key had a little indentation on it, and when you pushed it from side to side, it would function as the mouse, and the asdf keys were a=middle, s=right, d=double left, f=left which was super useful. iirc, they also made a keyboard with that functionality installed... anyone ever see those? I believe it was on a zenith system...

    Ah well. good luck with your trackball search... I use a usb marble on my home system, that might work too (tho it is kinda big)
    • "...when you pushed it from side to side, it would function as the mouse..."

      How did you get it to do up and down, how did you avoid acidentally activating it when typing a "j", and what does double left mean?

    • I had one of these laptop, it was a Zenith Data Systems Z-Star 433VL. The "j" mouse was really nice, although occasionally you would get an extra "j" in your documents. Basically I think the j key had two position a regular deep push step, which would produce a "j" and a less deep push that would be used to control the mouse. Searching on the net brough up a keyboard that has this j key too http://www.vtama.com/shopu/sejinjmkb/
      also of interest the new Compaq IPAQ internet device uses this j mouse
      http://athome.compaq.com/showroom/static/review_ pc p_040401.html
    • I once met a packard bell (!) 486 laptop with a similar "mouse".
  • I haven't seen a trackball on a laptop in years, although the side-car style that old TI and Toshiba laptops used was pretty nice.

    If you can find one of the old sidecar style ones, or even a serial or USB trackball that is suitably sized to bolt onto the side of a notebook you could probably rig something up:

    Most laptops have removable a floppy/cd drive bay, or PCMCIA slot or 2nd battery slot, usually one of these would be located on the "correct" side of the computer.

    Whichever slot is free, find a plastic blank or construct one out of plastic/wood/whatever, then mount the trackball to that.

    Not as elegant as having one purpose-built, but with a little craftsmanship and a bit of luck it would probably turn out looking just dandy.
  • I bought a Logitech Marble Mouse [epinions.com] to play trackball games in MAME. I liked it so much I bought another and use them all day long on my desktop and laptop. The laptop one has a few dings in the ball, but I'm not sure if that's from travel damage or my toddler chewing on it. If it gets a little dirty and starts sticking or flaking out (about once every 2 weeks), I pop the ball out and wipe the bearings and sensor with my finger. I get a lot less wrist strain than I used to with a regular mouse. The worst part is that the movement can be a little coarse and unpredictable when you're trying to do things like precise brushwork in Photoshop or sniping with a railgun in Quake. That's because the pattern on the ball isn't completely uniform. In 99% of what I do, I don't notice it though. When I need precision, I've got a USB Wacom pad & mouse I use.
  • I had an XPi CD for over four years. I never had to clean the trackball or keyboard even once. Dell did a great job of sealing things.

    I'd still be using it if I hadn't dropped it and broken the PCMCIA slots :-(.

    I was sad to see trackballs disappear too.
  • .. anyone remember the original Laptop that set the standard for all others in the early 90's ... Apple's 100/140/170 PowerBooks that all had very nice, usable trackballs ...

    (Just nostalgia now, I guess)
  • I have a old Apple Duo with a trackball. It is a royal pain to keep it clean. It is very sensitive to dirt and the rollers are so small it is hard to get it all off.
  • Rev up the babelfish and go check out panasonic's japanese pages.

    http://www.pc.panasonic.co.jp/pc/index.html

    I know they have also have some B5 sized notebooks as well as the A4s on the page.
    • I just looked at their options. They have a CF-X10R (Mobile PIII/850) and a CF-X10V (Mobile Celeron 750), both of which have an optical trackball. Sounds sweet...now will they run Win98SE, English edition?
  • I love laptops with trackballs - unfortunately you can't find them anymore, for some dumbass reason. My current laptop (and favorite, despite it being old and slow) is my Zenith Z-NoteFlex - uses standard SoDIMM's, and it has a trackball - unfortunately it is only a 486 DX2/50...

    Anyhow, I understand the reason they don't put in TBs anymore is because of dirt, which is a reasonable position for an all mechanical trackball. However, I don't see why they can't incorporate an optical trackball (kinda like that logitech device, that has the funky pattern on the trackball), and thus cleaning would be easy as popping the ball out, wiping it off, wiping off the sensor, and that's it! I bet I know why they don't do it, though...

    I have no way of proving this, so it is my own speculation - but what are the chances that logitech's patent covers any kind of optical sensing trackball? Hmm...

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