Trackball or Mouse?

[Jorgeelalto]

Kensington Expert Mouse. You’ll thank me later.

What's so great about these?

For me the best part is you break from the typical mouse wrist and arm movements. I got it when I was using a regular mouse at work, so that I could use the trackball at home and avoid excess stress in my index finger and stuff. It definitely worked, and still does (although now I alternate between trackball at work and trackpad at home).

But it's a bit slower to use.

[JockMcRonan]

outta here

[_leras]

Trackballs are great, I used to use a microsoft one for ages until it stopped working. Great control, needed little space. (was unsupported on a new pc so had to change)

Nowadays I use a Corsair Gaming Mouse with a proper mouse mat and the accuracy is really great. I try to learn as many keyboard shortcuts as possible.

I cannot stand laptop track pads. Very inaccurate, prone to clicking when I don't want clicks. Terrible.

[Weasel-Boy]

How can anyone be OK with that utterly absurd undercarriage charging port...oh no, my mouse needs charged, better turn it upside down like it is dead until it can get some charge....stupid, stupid, stupid design, but one that Apple sticks with because they are too feckin' arrogant to ever admit they got it wrong.

Exactly. It’s that same arrogance that doggedly produced one button mice for 20+ years.

[teob111]

Trackball.

[8Len8]

The less hand movement the better for your wrist. Have you considered a track pad? Unique options if you use one.

[T-CM11]

I've only used regular mice for ~30 years and no problems so far.
If you have to move your entire arm, you have your sensitivity way too low. I rest my palm on the desk and just nudge the mouse around with my fingers (thumb and pinkie for left-right, middle and index fingers for up-down). This is very similar to using one of those big trackballs.
Main advantage of track balls/track pads is probably the space savings, which can be useful if you have a lot of gear on your desk like mixers, keyboards etc.

Mouse sensitivity is a preference and dependent on your screen's dpi. There's nothing wrong with moving your arm for big cursor movements - it's wrist/hand motion that's the issue.

Anyway, using a mouse with your fingers instead of your wrist is just good practice, like not lifting heavy objects with your back.

[DJ Warmonger]

One advantage of a trackball is the fact it doesn't need extra space for mousepad since you don't move it around.

This is important for those who want to keep a lot of gear on their desk (:

[jonbrt]

Personally, Apple Magic Trackpad. It just feels so smooth and accuracy is definitely good enough for music production. The gestures work so well in Logic Pro X too. Also doesn't take up too much space in a studio.

Otherwise I use a Logitech MX Master 3s mouse if I want a bit more accuracy for some reason. This mouse feels really great in the hand. A trackball never really worked for me, it feels so weird. Or maybe I'm just too stubborn to get used to it.

[zerocrossing]

Kensington Expert Mouse. You’ll thank me later.

What's so great about these?

Just something about the size and weight of the ball. Who knew big balls were best? I think the best thing is that your hand can just comfortably rest on it when you’re not doing anything.

[czyzczyz]

This isn't exactly related to trackballs, but to stave off RSI I switch between input devices and even which hand is using them. I think the method works.

I use mostly a Logitech G502 mouse and an Apple Magic Trackpad (the trackpad's are especially good if you enable the essential 3-finger drag setting hidden within System_Settings>Accessibility>Pointer_Control>Trackpad_Options), and occasionally a wacom tablet. I also often use the mouse or trackpad with my non-dominant hand.

I remember well the Kensington trackball I used back in the early aughts. I liked it but I think the magic trackpad has supplanted 'em for me.

[kyodeejay]

I had a lot of problem in the past with my wrist and shoulders, due to stay 8h in my work ans 4-5 making music daily. How I fixed them:

- strength exercises for my wrist and shoulders (that was initially, I ended going to a gym)
- multiple mouse. A vertical mouse, trackball and normal mouse. Also, a normal mouse for the left hand. I forced myself to switch each 4 hours. It's a bit uncomfortable the first week, but after that, it becomes a second nature

[jordanyeo]

Big fan of the Logitech MX Ergo trackball- totally resolved a lot of my wrist pain issues! If you're on a mac, highly recommend checking out the app "SteerMouse", which lets you set fine grained accelleration and speed settings.

[BONES]

You use a pen + tablet for general use?

Most of the people I work with do. They've put up with it for 30+ years and it simply wouldn't occur to them that their might be a better way.

I find with adjusting accelleration settings I can zip all over the screen much faster than with a mouse.

I can do that with my mouse, on the fly.

Magic mouse does the trick for me.

I used one for a morning when I started a new job and my wrist was so sore by lunchtime that I went out and bought myself a proper mouse, with my own money. Next day I brought a good one in from home but spending $30 on a decent mouse was worth it, even just for one afternoon.

One advantage of a trackball is the fact it doesn't need extra space for mousepad since you don't move it around.

I haven't used a mouse pad in something like 15 years. Modern mouse lasers work on pretty much any surface.

Personally, Apple Magic Trackpad. It just feels so smooth and accuracy is definitely good enough for music production. The gestures work so well in Logic Pro X too. Also doesn't take up too much space in a studio.

Gestures are only there to make up for the lack of proper controls. I'd much rather use mouse buttons and wheels than gestures.

[DJ Warmonger]

One advantage of a trackball is the fact it doesn't need extra space for mousepad since you don't move it around.

I haven't used a mouse pad in something like 15 years. Modern mouse lasers work on pretty much any surface.

Not surface. Extra area. A bound set of points on a 2D plane of your desk.

Which needs to be larger if you move your mouse alot. The trackball doesn't need to be moved around the desk, it just sits in place.