I recently bought the Kensington Slimblade Trackball to replace the Logitech MX Master mouse that I have been using for the last year. This is the first time that I’ve used a trackball. A couple of thoughts worth noting that are either omitted from or in conflict with other reviews:
The device is too large for me. It takes up almost an entire mousepad, and it is wide enough to force frequent movement between the trackball and the keyboard (I use a Glove80). I blame this partially on the desk, as it requires a roll-out keyboard holder that was not made to accommodate the split keyboard and the trackball. But for a trackball with “Slim” in the name, I expected it to be smaller.
The “keys” are irritating to press. They require too much of an actuation force, if that is the right term. I would like if a touchpad-like-tap was possible. This is especially true because the design is wide enough that one key is comfortable for my thumb, but the other really only for my pinkie finger, as my index and middle fingers are being used to control the trackball itself. Plus, the top two keys above the trackball are uncomfortable to press, so much so that I never use them.
I would like if tilting was somehow available for the trackball, to decrease the wrist rotation that is require to use the trackball and click the surrounding keys. It is too flat to use and requires a similar wrist position to a trackpad.
The much-maligned scrolling noise does not bother me, although it is odd that it can not be disabled, especially as it is office equipment. It is hard to scroll without accidentally messing up and just moving the mouse as well; for example, scrolling sideways to highlight part of a line.
The trackball is a dust and cat hair magnet, and all of the dust and cat hair will find itself stuck to the trackball support bumps, or into the indent where the sensors are. This either slows down the trackball’s movement once enough dust has accumulated, or entirely interferes with the movement sensors. I need to clean this at least once a week.
Kensington Works isn’t particularly great. On my computer, it doesn’t save the altered mouse settings between shut down and start up. I need to manually start up the Kensington Works software for the changes to take effect. There are also no easy-switch settings profiles, e.g., if I want to switch using the trackball between my left- and right-hands, re-mapping the keys manually is required.
I have almost completely stopped using the writing pad and pen in favor of the trackball. Wrist pain has definitely subsided by using the trackball over the previous mouse (Logitech Master MX).