Translucent blue USB trackballs

[Chris]

I just bought one of these from eBay for $9.50:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11193&item=3400323846

The guy selling them says he has about 30 of them left.  From the looks of the picture, using the 3.5" disk in the picture as a reference, it looks like a 2-1/4" or 2-1/2" ball.

I'll hopefully have mine before the week is out, so I'll let you know how well it works... this is just screaming for an LED to light it up...

--Chris

[Generic Eric]

One less now!
Thanks

[Chris]

And he immediately put another up at http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11193&item=3400415825 .

I should have mine on Wednesday, so I'll hopefully be able to get a review up... it looks like I'll be able to mount it the same way my old one was mounted, on a 3.5" square piece of fiberboard, making for a very small footprint...

--Chris

[Brax]

ARGH!!!!!!
He doesn't take Canadian orders!

Damn him! *kicks dirt!*
 

[eightbit]

ARGH!!!!!!
He doesn't take Canadian orders!

Damn him! *kicks dirt!*
 

Have you ever though about moving to the US?  
Just kidding... I'm sure its nice where you live.

[Chris]

He put up two more:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11193&item=3400425282
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=11193&item=3400425412

[Brax]

Let us know how they roll.
Do they have bearings?
Do they roll better than the crystal trackball?
Are they actually 2 1/4"?

[noodles]

Chris, you should buy a bunch from that guy and sell them to the Canadians.  

[Brax]

Ask him, he may ship to you.
I asked and he'll ship to me for the same price as in the continental US.
I picked one up tonight.

[Generic Eric]

Did you ask the exact size of his ball?

[Chris]

Okay, I just received mine, and it's not completely ideal.  The ball is actually about 2". There is no "whizz" to it; in fac, it doesn't turn particularly smoothly at all.  Thre are no bearings, just a plastic idler wheel.  It does have fairly large encoder wheels, though.

I'm going to try a bit of lube and see if I can wizzz it up.

--Chris

[Silverwind]

Okay, I just received mine, and it's not completely ideal.  The ball is actually about 2". There is no "whizz" to it; in fac, it doesn't turn particularly smoothly at all.  Thre are no bearings, just a plastic idler wheel.  It does have fairly large encoder wheels, though.

I'm going to try a bit of lube and see if I can wizzz it up.

--Chris

beavis & butthead voice
you said lube

[Generic Eric]

Well I got my track ball today also.  The ball is smaller then I hoped.  There isn't any wizz as Chris mentioned, but I am optimistic.  I would think to "hack" this you would take it out of its shell, so you could mount the ball accordingly.  So I just opened it up.  I don't like the third support wheel.  The wheel itself is too narrow, and its not supported as well as the two encoder wheels.  I already closed it up, but I think the encoder wheels were about the size of a nickel.  

Having said all of that, I am quite happy with just over $9 trackball.  

<queer joke>

Thanks for the tip Chris even if the guys balls weren't as big as we hoped.

</queer joke>

[Chris]

Wel, with the cover on, you get lots of friction; with the cover off, too little support.  A little lube and a bigger ball helped, but I do get lots of backspin. I'm going to try breaking off two out of every three spokes to see if that helps...

[Brax]

Darn, it doesn't sound very good at all.
Mine is still on the way..
I currently have a crystal trackball mounted. If it isn't any better than that, (in fact it sounds worse) at least I can use the blue ball in place of the clear one.

[Generic Eric]

I just played centipede with it.  It makes a world of difference over the keyboard.  I am happy.