ELECOM Relacon Handheld Trackball Pointer, Ergonomic Thumb Mouse for Right or Left Hand, Bluetooth, 10 Buttons for TV, Presentation, Game, PC & MAC

When I read the other reviews, I worried that the ball might fall out when you turn it upside down, but no, it is not like that. I set this thing on the table on its side without the cradle and I have no problems. What people are talking about is if you drop this, then maybe the ball will pop out like the Logitech (and every other brand's) trackballs do. I don't know, because I like this too much to let myself drop it.Before going any further, let me stop and just say that I love this mouse. I have only had it a couple of days, and it is about as quirky as I am, but this mouse is really and trully everything I had hoped it would be. First, keep looking back at the price, which is amazingly affordable. Second, take a look around and the nearest similar device is a bulky version with a finger loop hole and basically everything to signal that it is for videogaming and not for the office. By contrast, this is like the classiest possible way to control your laptop during a presentation. If you had this, connected to a Macbook, controlling Powerpoint, people would assume it is some hot new tech they never heard of, rather than an actual obscure company with an idea that is bold and forward-thinking. That is if they even notice it, being so compact and discreet.For anyone with limited mobility, this could be a really enabling device on a whole other level. The quiriest detail is also it's coolest feature once you master it, and that is the variable speed control beside the "on" switch. I never knew there would be such benefit to changing my mouse speed conveniently. This will be the key to enabling maximum mobility with this mouse.There is one small drawback. I have medium-sized hands, so there is one motion that requires two hands, which is to move from side to side. You have to push down the scroll wheel and then roll the ball. That is the only feature I found here that requires two hands, excluding the moves that require that I hit shift on the keyboard before a mouse move.However, if you are planning to work with this thing up to an hour strait, then you should anticipate switching hands or fingers to keep from getting a cramp. When I do switch hands and fingers, I am able to manage and not cause that type of cramping. Doing this also helps you to find the most relaxed sort of default ways to hold this. One way is if you slide your hand back, so that your first and second fingers are only at the very edge of each trigger button, then that promotes a hand position that is curled at an angle very close to the natural resting postion of your hand.One final considerataion is that your success with this mouse will be linked to the task you most hope it will benefit. I got this almost entirely for graphic design, because the mousepad on my Macbook is not working ideally for my workflow, and the stylus-type pads are for drawing more than for designing. With most devices, the challenge is threefold. First, it is very easy to summon the left click on the Macbook trackpad, to the extent that it is so annoying and constantly in my way that I forget it's also a quick access to certain features. With this mouse, I am suddly actually using that left click and noticing it's options and benefits. Secondly, when I pull my finger off the Macbook trackpad, my cursor position is subject to a slight jump. That is a problem in precision graphics, and even the Wacom tablet or IPad with the Apple Pencil are not safe from this hiccup without a fair amount of finesse. This mouse solves that problem the second you get your ideal mouse speed calibrated, and get oriented to the device. The weight of the ball means the cursor absolutely only wiggles when you touch the trackball. This is the precision I needed. I can get used to the muscle memory of pressing the trackball to make it zoom in/out, and the two handed side-to-side movement is not too bad once I got in the habit of switching hands.Why would you want to switch hands, you ask? Well, welcome to your new reality, because you don't have to be ambidextrous to use this mouse with either hand. That is another reason I feel this would be a really great and affordable solution for enabling people who may have limited mobility.If you don't end up liking this mouse, it could only be because of a very limited number of reasons. Maybe you want to use this for many hours a day without changing up your grip or which hand you use, then this may not be the most comfortable mouse, unless you learn how to master that looser grip that I explained earlier. Another of the limited reasons you might not like this may be because of the size. This is probably most ideal for small-ish hands and least ideal for really large hands. My average-sized hands are maybe a small bit larger than what is ideal for this. Really, the bottom line is that if you are a person who wants to hold your mouse in your hand, not working it on the desktop, then I am convinced that this is the model to get, especially if you want it to be discreet. But that is why this seems like such an ideal mouse for giving a presentation, because it is nice and small in your hand and not like the handle-bar look it would have if it was the most ideal comfort for a large hand.Some reviewers commented on this mouse, feeling that it was too light and not sturdy. Well, think of this as a mouse, because this is a...well, a mouse. It is equal in durability to the average mouse you have seen. This is not a piece of sporting equipment like a Wii controller that offers a rubber cover because it expects betting mistakenly tossed. Please do not toss this mouse. This is a tool that is sleek and designed for a professional who wants to whip their cursor around their monitor screen with an impressive sense of command and agility.This is my ultimate mouse. Oh yeah, and the button to calibrate the speed is what you hold down to get the mouse to sync with your other gear. This can confuse you when you return to your Bluetooth menu on your laptop and click the old icon, which takes you nowhere. Again, hold down that calibration button beside the power switch on this mouse, and it will pop up in your menu as a new Bluetooth option.There are so many amazingly well-thought-out features in this device. A feature that I really love and did not expect, is that I can control my music on iTunes or Spotify in the background, while I am designing on Affinity software, without having to summon the player window to appear in front of my graphic window. The circular play controls function independently of which app window is in front.I mean...wow...really and truly, this thing checks every box I could have hoped for. We should be grateful they did not make this thing heavy for no reason, or three times this cost for no reason. This is simply a great product for a great price. I am thrilled with this purchase! Put the batteries in it and the weight is perfect!

It's a good multimedia device for when you don't need your keyboard: scrolling through various social media, reading books and various online games. I had already added weight to the base a long time ago but then I saw someone else had installed magnets in theirs. It's a brilliant idea that improves it so much further. Fortunately the magnets from inside a Dexcom sensor installer are perfect. I will say that they need to add a feature in the software to either let you change the DPI button settings or disable it entirely. I lightly glued the button for mine in place because I have no use for it, ever. As an FYI though, all of the screws in it are one of the odd security type so not the simplest of endeavors.

I really like this mouse in a lot of ways, but there are other times when I've struggled with it, and I've ended up not using it as my daily mouse (I keep it on hand in case my daily mouse dies, like my Logitech finally did). I could see it being great for specific situations (like the listing that shows using it with a laptop at a non-desk location, using as a media controller, etc) but as my everyday mouse at my desk it just didn't work out. I've been using a trackball super happily for about 5 years, so all of the pros and cons below I'm approaching as already being a trackball user. (If you're not already a trackball user... hang in there. Once you get used to it it's GREAT.)PROS------- Can hold it in really any position, and it doesn't have to be up on your desktop. I just held it down in my lap a lot, or next to my side when I'm using a standing desk, but you can also rest your hand on the edge of the desk in different positions too. Even set your hand on a luxurious pillow if you want. :D- It's ambidextrous, so it works great for righties and lefties. I'm not ambidextrous myself at all, but if my right wrist is really bothering me I can switch to my left hand; it slows me down a little, but I'm still perfectly able to keep doing what I was doing.- Super flexible in that it allows you to hold it basically however you want. I wish I could adjust the curve of the underside (like have the finger groove hold my other fingers further back) but I don't know how you'd possibly make that adjustable), but just being able to not have your wrist on a desk is a pretty big deal by itself. I've had a lot of wrist pain over the years and this DEFINITELY helps.- Programmable buttons are nice! I don't need them mostly and even the ones I would use (like the back and forward web browsing buttons) I just forget they exist, but if I used it for a long time I'm sure I'd eventually make use of them. It also has a tilting scroll wheel... I had to look up what that even was for, but turns out it's for scrolling horizontally. The more you know! :D I never used it, but it's often just nice to have more options rather than less with anything.- The driver/controller program for it lets you set which button does what, and things like your scroll speed and how to make the wheel do a speed-scroll, plus there's a DPI controller on the mouse itself.CONS-------- Switching between mousing and typing is just prohibitively annoying. Because it's not on the desktop, every time you want to type two-handed you have to either put the mouse completely down or set it on its stand. And if you're holding down in your lap like I do it you're reaching up and down a ton (which to be fair you'd be doing to reach the keyboard anyway). I just wound up doing a lot of hunt-and-peck typing with my left hand only, which made me remarkably slow at what I was doing compared to what I was doing with my previous trackball.- The stand is basically there to hold the mouse when not in use, but it's a little bit precarious. If you set the mouse down carelessly, it might slide off. I've knocked it off by jostling my desk. My cat's knocked it off. (Why is my cat on my desk? I'd also like to know this!) I'm working in a room with carpeted floor so it hasn't been a serious problem, but if I was using this in my previous workplace with concrete floors, it'd be extremely broken by now. This issue AND the problem mentioned above could be solved by a more substantial base where you could set it (and it would stay) that could turn it temporarily but SECURELY into a desktop mouse. If the stand allowed you to more easily actually USE the mouse while it's set there, it'd become like 90% easier to work with it when you also have to type.- Precision work (like for instance trying to draw or erase an area in Photoshop) was surprisingly difficult. I'm not sure why; I've been doing that work with a trackball mouse for years, so maybe this one's just a bit more sensitive or the ball's a little looser? I really had a hard time producing any sort of non-wobbly line, and no amount of fine-tuning the speed or DPI or anything really helped.- It's a little small, so if you have huge mitts it might be too little for you. For reference, I typically wear a medium in latex/nitrile gloves, and a large in outdoor type gloves, and it fits my hand pretty great. I think smaller hands would probably be fine also, I just think it might be uncomfortable for folks with really big hands.- If you need to get the trackball out to try to clean out gunk, it's surprisingly hard to get it out. It is surprisingly EASY to get it out however if it's knocked on the floor.- I really needed this to have a storage space for the USB dongle, like my old Logitech did. That one you could store the dongle inside the battery compartment; this one's a little weirder shaped but it has an entire base that could have had, if not a screw-top compartment or something, a little slot built into it. I don't think it's terribly overpriced or anything for what it is, but an upgrade on the stand design would make it so much better.In summary, it's a good mouse and if you've got problems with your wrist and don't need to switch constantly between mousing and typing, it's worth a try. For me after about four days of trying I've switched away to another type of ergo desktop model (wish me luck lol) but I'll have it on hand if I need it. Possibly all bagged so I don't lose any components. :D