Refurbed Betson Trackball

[MannyTC]

Woo Hoo!! Got my refurbished Betson trackball that I ordered Sunday. Was only $37 with shipping and tax. Looks like most all the internal parts are new. Only real evidence that it was used is the few scratches on the outer plastic case.

Can't go wrong for that price!

[2slk]

I got my betson recently as well and it seems sweet. I haven't mounted it yet though. 37$ is pretty good. They were selling new on EBay for the low 20's a while back. There was a real glut of them but the supply seems to have dried up. There's actually 3 for sale on Ebay now that are ending tomorrow. Bids have already reached the low 30's though.

[brandon]

are these the ones that have the PS2 interface or do you need an optiPac / mouse hack?  if its ps2 for $37 then thats really awesome!

[MannyTC]

Its not the ps/2 version. I planned to get an opti-pac anyway for use with a spinner and rotary joysticks. Made more sense to interface all three through the opti-pac. Anyways, they don't currently offer the ps/2 version refurbished.

[eightbit]

Its not the ps/2 version. I planned to get an opti-pac anyway for use with a spinner and rotary joysticks. Made more sense to interface all three through the opti-pac.

FYI- Mechanical rotarys can't connect to the opti-pac, optical rotarys can.

[MannyTC]

FYI- Mechanical rotarys can't connect to the opti-pac, optical rotarys can.

Yeah, I know. I had a Druin interface on my last cab for the mechanical rotarys but felt that the opticals would be more versatile on my new cab.

[shmokes]

I'm confused.  In what way would the optical rotaries be more versatile than the mechanicals?  It seems to me that if you already have a spinner the optical rotaries become redundant.  Too late if I'm wrong.  I ordered my druin interface three days ago.

[rampy]

I'm confused.  In what way would the optical rotaries be more versatile than the mechanicals?  It seems to me that if you already have a spinner the optical rotaries become redundant.  Too late if I'm wrong.  I ordered my druin interface three days ago.

Well if you DIDN:T have a spinner... (or even if you did, really)  you can play "ikari warriors" type games with an optical rotary, play regular games, and in a pinch play regular spinner games and driving games (?!? ??)

If you were to do just the mechanicals you'd be hard pressed to play arkanoid on it without making your teeth chatter (ok.. I made that part up, but you get the idea)  although the mechs would feel 10X better for ikari warriors and the like.

*shrug* maybe I shoulda let the person who made the comment reply instead of stomping all over the thread

rampy

[MannyTC]

I'm confused.  In what way would the optical rotaries be more versatile than the mechanicals?  It seems to me that if you already have a spinner the optical rotaries become redundant.  Too late if I'm wrong.  I ordered my druin interface three days ago.

I think Rampy summed it up ok. One reason I can think of is I want a more standard joystick than compared to the Ikari type when playing 2 joystick games like Robotron and Smash TV. It is weird with 1 Happs Super in the left hand and an Ikari in the right hand. I guess a Happs mechanical rotary would solve this too.

Like Rampy said, in a pinch, I could use the 2 optical rotarys for other types of games and not have the mechanical clicking of the Ikari joys. Yes the Ikari joys are more authentic than the opticals. I also rather have a real Frontline rotary control when playing that (I actually have 2) but I can't have all of them on there   .

The optical rotarys can also substitute for a second spinner when playing a two player spinner game. Of course this is just my opinion. I think others here have agreed that the opticals are probably a little more versatile. Also only 1 interface to worry about. Just my .02.