Windows 7 - Addiction?

My Logitech M570 Trackball started to have problems on the left button after some hot chocolate spilled on it.



Then I started to use my Logitech Trackman Marble.



I thought it would be allright since I had used that Trackman Marble a long time before I got the M570.

Things weren't as I expected. I couldn't get used to the USB Cable as I had to move the Trackman wherever I moved my notebook. There was no wheel. It was really hard. I was telling myself that I wouldn't have time to use the computer in a week or two so I thought I would be ok without buying another wireless trackball. It wasn't possible. After a couple of days, with spending a part of a very important money, I bought another M570. I couldn't find another choice. There were good mice maybe but I am so used to stable base. Actually, at the store, or even at the internet I haven't seen any other choice of a wireless trackball as M570 so I got myself a second M570. Logitech Customer Service can be pretty nice actually sometimes, you can get the same or newer item even after a couple of years or more without paying extra; but I knew that I needed that trackball today. I went to the store on a Sunday (I don't drive and public transportation is so much less on Sundays and I am out of the city) and I bought it. After I got it, I opened the box and told the 'trackball' that "I missed you so much!" several times. I realized that I told the same words to a girlfriend who came from Europe for Christmas and New Year.

I have 2 similar ones, but without the 2 extra buttons on the left. What do those do. I could not operate without it both on the desktop and on the laptops. They are both wired, but that does not bother me.

On the desktop I still have a mouse where I covered the optical eye for my left hand. I am used to operate the clickers with the left hand because I used keyboards with scrollballs for years. But now I needed a backlit keyboard and those do not come with a scrollball.

You can configure those two buttons with Logitech software. I am using as back and forward.
The wire bothers me because I am usually moving the notebook side to side.
It helps when there is no wire so when I put the notebook on the chair or coffee table, I don't have to move the trackball.

Backlit keyboard is another addiction of mine now. If a notebook does not have it, I wouldn't buy it. I remember not buying a Sony because of that.

Scrollball is a good option, but I am moving my computer (and its accessories) more than a couple times a year so desktop is not a good option for me at this point.

There are much more choices for mice than the trackballs.

I had a Sony laptop with a backlit keyboard. It was a very nice laptop with a HD screen, an i7, a good 1GB graphics card and all the bells and whistles. I really liked it - except their BIOS microprogram was really retarded. You could no run live Linux CDs because it would freeze the cursor, there was no way to set the boot sequence. It had an eSata port, but no way to boot from eSata because of the retarded BIOS. And there was also no way to set the Sata to AHCI - maybe it was set that way by default, but nobody at Sony knew.

So I returned it and got my money back (after I wrote a letter to the Sony CEO) and got a Toshiba that was $500 cheaper and is nearly as good. I am only missing the eSata port and the HD screen. It does, however, have a USB3 port. But the keyboard is backlit and you can make the various settings in the BIOS whilst in the Sony you had to hack the registry in order to get the keyboard to stay lit.

I know what you mean about Sony. I heard similar complaints.
The Sony I was talking about was on sale at a good price at that time, therefore I considered it.

All this may be true but no mouse is complete if the wheel can't freewheel. Once you choose either ratcheted style or freewheel and you scroll top to bottom and back of a huge document with one spin......you're hooked.

If you are addicted to trackballs which have a stable base, it is hard to use a mouse for a long periods again.
As I mentioned before, mice have much more options than trackballs.
Today, I was at the store, and if those mice at the store had a stable base such a trackball, I would have bought one to try, but as a trackball, the option was M570 only.

IMAyNeed,

I'm curious, because I'm using Logitech Cordless Wheel Trackman mice on both of my PCs. For the most part, I like them very much, at least more so than wired mice. It looks as though the M570 is an updated version of them. At least as far as the programmable buttons go, but I'm wondering if you have ever used the older version like mine? The part that I like least about them is that they only hold 1 AA battery, so the time between battery changes is not as long as I would like, and worse is the fact that the battery warning doesn't work, so you don't know the charge state, until it goes dead, which unless you have an extra battery standing by, you have to wait for the battery to recharge. Does the M570 share these problems?

I haven't used the older version. M570's hold 1 AA battery too. The time advertised for battery change is 18 months. At the worst, it will go at least 9 months. At least, my first one did. M570's doesn't charge the battery in anyway. You have to put another battery or recharge the battery in your own battery charger. The long time for M570's can come from its wireless technology. I believe the cordless trackman was using the optical technology or radio technology. Therefore, maybe it was using more energy than wireless. I am not sure. As you said, M570's are an updated model, with 2 extra buttons and using wireless instead of optical. And also instead of a big receiver, there is just a small USB plug, which you can also use for other Logitech products if you have. There is also a battery warning, which shows how many days it will last. On my first day, it is showing 548 days. Therefore, M570 does not have those problems.

Yes, I do have to recharge my batteries separately, which really isn't so bad with 15 minute rechargeables, but even that can be very annoying when they die in the middle of some functions. That day counter sounds very good, so I now know what my next upgrade will be. Thanks.