nschultz@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (Ned W. Schultz) (03/14/90)
Haven't seen any mention of MicroSpeed's AmTRAC trackball yet, so I thought I'd post a few words about it. I've had a chance to play with one over the last few days. It's bigger than a mouse (the ball inside is billiard-size) but less than half the size of a mouse pad. Comes with three buttons. The middle button is a very handy "drag lock" device. With it you can select objects or drawing functions and not worry about holding a button down as you concentrate on movement. There is a green LED indicating that drag lock is on. You tap any button to release the lock. Works very nicely. It takes a while to get use to using a trackball, but I did find it to be very precise. AmTRAC is an opto-mechanical trackball, and that's as technical as I can get in describing it to you. It has a very solid feel and it performed exactly as advertised. You simply plug it in your mouse port and get back to work. Your arm and hand have to sit higher when using it, given that it is higher than a mouse. I found this to be a slight to moderate disadvantage. You also have to find a comfortable style of manipulating the ball. I found that my thumb worked best, strangely enough. I suspect this is a highly individual apsect of using a trackball. Overall I would say it is a very solid, professional product. I especially liked the precision and the drag lock feature. Don't know that I will retire my mouse, however. Creative Computers has them for $65. MicroSpeed can be reached at (415) 490-1403. I have no connections with any of these folks. I simply reviewed this thing for the local user group. Ned Schultz nschultz@polyslo.calpoly.edu