I am a regular user of the Logitech MX Ergo, and regularly using an OSK with system wide mouse gestures (StrokesPlus). So, I do quite a bit of dragging and clicking. Even using the OSK when I can’t be bothered to reach for the keyboard.
I have noticed in some moments after extensive use of the mouse, I feel cramping in the general area of where the palm and knuckles meet. The tension is short lived, as soon as I take my hand off of the mouse and let it rest for a moment. Using the different angles of the mouse while experiencing the tightness doesn’t relieve it.
So I decided to try the Kensington Expert, to see if I can use it with my hands splayed out. Aand I’m not liking it. It’s difficult to position the mouse easily to use the OSK, and to hold the buttons down to perform a mouse gesture.
Not sure how people use this comfortably. I find that I am reaching out and pecking at the buttons while I am resting the rest of my fingers on the trackball. Is it perhaps my hands are too small for it?
What are other people’s experiences with the Kensington Expert?
I’ll have to sell it on FB marketplace as I bought it online and can’t be bothered to return for a fee. No physical stores near me stocked this. For now, it’ll be back to the MX Ergo, but maybe I need something vertical with a trackball on top. It looks like Kensington also has their Pro Fit Ergo Vertical mouse, but I’m unsure of it.
I found that the Kensington Expert has a ball that’s too big and the buttons are too far apart. And if you’re trying to do something weird like holding a button while tracking, that can be a problem.
The CST L-Trac solves this by having really big buttons, you can use different fingers to push and hold different buttons while you roll the ball, and that flexibility helps get different things done. It does come at the cost of only having three buttons though (left, right, middle). Also the middle button and scroll barrel are pretty far forward so there’s only one hand grip you can do on this thing, it REALLY should have a scroll ring like the Expert has.
The only real way to find your trackball is to try them, since they’re all so different. And you’re going to want to buy them from FB marketplace in the first place, first to keep it cheap, but also because you can re-sell them fro roughly the same price