Description

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SlimBlade Wired Media Trackball
Comfort and productivity are at your fingertips with the Kensington SlimBlade Trackball. The slim, low-profile, ambidextrous design provides all-day comfort while the advanced dual laser sensors and large ball deliver exceptional precision. For even greater productivity, the four programmable buttons can be set to the functions or keyboard shortcuts you use most with our TrackballWorks software.
Sleek, comfortable ambidextrous design
The slim, low-profile shape works equally well for either right-handed or left-handed users while taking up less desk space than needed to operate a mouse. Provides more comfort during extended use through reduced arm and wrist movement.
Large ball and patented 3D Scrolling Technology
Dual lasers provide highly accurate and responsive X and Y axis scrolling, plus the large ball makes it easy to precisely navigate anywhere on the screen. Spin the ball to smoothly scroll pages up and down. There’s no need to move your fingers away from the ball, which reduces hand and wrist movement.
Plug & play operation
Get clicking and scrolling quickly with fast, reliable and intuitive installation through the wired USB connection.
TrackballWorks 2.0 Software
Provides an even more personalized experience, giving you the ability to assign a wide variety of program functions to each of your buttons as well as control the pointer speed and scrolling.
Universal acceptance
Compatible with both PC and Mac computers.
Amazon Customer –
I honestly didn’t think this would relieve so much of my wrist/strain, but it has!The top right button on mine seems to get a bit stuck, almost like an extra piece of plastic was left on by accident. I’m not returning mine because it’s a tiny issue and I can still use it, plus I figure it’ll wear itself down eventually. I wouldn’t recommend action games on this but many slower paced games work well. I still actually have a regular mouse plugged in because some games don’t load mouse drivers if only the trackball is plugged in, and so the mouse literally doesn’t function in the game. If you are a gamer I’d leave a regular mouse plugged in even if you don’t use it. For regular Windows use I experienced no issues. Windows recognizes it right away, although to assign the other 2 buttons you need to download their software.IMPORTANT: Make sure Windows is set to Right handed mode (default left click as main button), because if you have it set up for a lefty like I did, the Kingston software will lose it’s mind and open everything on your computer when you move the ball! I had to Google this as I’m not sure Kingston themselves is aware of the issue. If you are a lefty, you can reassign the buttons in the trackball software after, just make sure to leave Windows set to for right hand use.Overall I’d recommend it even with the slight setup struggle. The ergonomics are so good on this that it makes it worth it. As a first time trackball user, I can say it’s the best peripheral I may ever have upgraded on a computer setup.
Amazon Customer –
Much better than the Kensington Expert Mouse (with caveats)I was looking for a new trackball to replace my trusty Kensington Expert Mouse wireless and did a lot of research to find the right one. I have very big hands so I needed a big trackball; I considered the Elecom Huge and L-Trac but finally settled on the Kensington Slimblade and couldn’t be happier. At first it felt weird to no longer have a scroll ring but after a few days you get used to it and it becomes very natural.I was disappointed to see that the Slimblade doesn’t have mouse chording available in TrackballWorks like the Expert Mouse has, but after communicating with Kensington they sent me a firmware update (rev 1.16) that enables chording for the Slimblade, allowing you to set up two additional actions when top left + top right or bottom left + bottom right buttons are pressed at the same time. Very nice customer support.Pros- Same ball size as the Expert Mouse (55mm diameter).- Even easier to clean than the Expert Mouse.- The ball movement is MUCH smoother than the Expert Mouse; feels like butter and it’s not sticky at all.- Lower profile, which is more ergonomic and fits perfectly on the keyboard drawer of my desk (the EM was too tall and I couldn’t close the drawer).- The cable is nylon-braided for better tensile strength.- Scrolling by twisting the ball can be faster than with a scroll ring when you rest one finger on top of the ball and use another to rotate it.- Scrolling and pointing are both more precise than with the Expert Mouse.Cons- Chording is only available after a firmware update (which for some reason isn’t available in the download section on their website). They sent the update to me after I contacted their tech support department.- The usb cord is long but not quite long enough for my setup so a usb extension cord is required.- The trackball is smaller at the top than at the bottom so the two top buttons are smaller and harder to reach than the bottom two buttons.- While the ball orifice is very easy to clean, it is not possible to clean under the buttons without disassembly, which may void your warranty.- The buttons feel much cheaper than those of the Expert Mouse and they respond differently depending on where you press on it.- No wireless option available.- Color in the picture doesn’t reflect reality: the trackball is light grey and has a chrome metal ring around the ball.
Jenny –
Better than the wireless Expert but still not a great trackball optionI first purchased the wireless Expert and had connectivity issues between the mouse and the USB receiver, which caused the trackball/pointer moving around to be very laggy and unprecise. The KensingtonWorks software is also bad. I customized the buttons and they didn’t always work as assigned. Sometimes the left click would get “stuck” and drag instead, and the “left drag” button didn’t drag unless I clicked it 2 or more times. I was using more clicks to get the function I needed, which caused more hand fatigue and slower productivity. Also the tilt is very steep with the Expert even with the palm rest, and I was feeling strain in my upper hand/wrist area because I had to angle my hand upwards according to the tilt angle.So I purchased the Slimblade instead, which solves the USB receiver connectivity issue (since it’s wired) and the high tilt issue (the tilt on the Slimblade is much lower and more ergonomic for me). The pointer precision was much smoother and more precise. However, I was still having the same issue with KensingtonWorks and the customized buttons didn’t work properly, causing me to click more times, leading to hand fatigue and slowing down productivity.I will be returning both trackballs and going back to a traditional mouse. I use Windows 10.