On 8/5/19 12:18 AM, Frédéric wrote:
I have been using a Kensington trackball for years
Interesting, first time I hear about that. How do you replace the middle button and the wheel? I am used to zoom in/out with control wheel for example.
I was in an auto accident end of last Oct. 8 weeks in a sling with my right arm. No mousing around (right-handed) for me and forget about the effort to roll the wheel.
The people here pointed me to the Kensington Expert Mouse. Insurance paid top dollar for it, compared to what I could have gotten it on line (get me the mouse or pay workmen's comp, an easy calculation for the insurance company). I STILL use it left-handed. It is just that easy to slide the left hand over and keep my stronger right hand on the keyboard and number pad. I told the OT at the rehab out-patient place I used and she has gotten a few of her patients to get one. It made a life-changing situation for one of her patients.
The wheel on the Kensington is fantastic. So easy to roll. I spend a lot of time in Geany with Internet Drafts XML (though I am being pushed to switch to Markdown, but Geany does not have and adequate plugin for Markdown). A mouse wheel to roll up and down the body of the document is critical. I could not have worked while in the sling and for the first 2 months of PT without that wheel.
I have not tried programming the top two buttons. Some here said it can be done in Fedora.
So far, 8 months into ownership, I have not needed to clean the trackball, but it is easy to take out. In fact it falls out if you tip it over, so have it on a stable surface! I do not use its wrist rest. My mouse extender on my keyboard tray does not have the room and the position of the tray is such that I don't need the rest.
I really am thankful to the members here that pointed me to the Kensington Expert Mouse.