Why are Trackballs so freaken expensive?

[paulkortne]

read topic

[Birdtales]

Do you know how long they have to pump steroids into a mouse to get it to look like that?

[SirPoonga]

Well, they need to make a good turn around on the trackballs.

[creatine28]

I feel the same way, I just kept my eye on E-bay and was able to nab 3 Wico 2 1/4's balls for pretty cheap.  I think I  paid something like 30 dollars?  They needed to be cleaned and adjusted a little, but they work fairly well.
 
Ebay is the way to go!

[Sasquatch!]

Well, they need to make a good turn around on the trackballs.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[brandon]

I've got several trackballs but they are all the big boxey looking ones that I think were made by wico.. They are all rusted inside and need new bearings and rollers.  The only rebuild kits I can find are for the Happs/ Atari trackballs...  Anybody know were I should look?

[u_rebelscum]

Economies of scale, size of the ball, and high durablity ("arcade quality") demands, to name a few.

Economies of scale:
The more made, the cheaper per device it is to make.  Thus the ?200? a year arcade trackballs cost more per than if ?10,000? were made, on the generic mice scale.
Example why: Even before a single trackball or mouse device it made, molds must be consturcted.  Molds cost thounds of bucks.  $2000 divided by 200 trackballs =  $10 per TB just to cover the molds (assuming two molds @ $100 bucks each, which is pretty conservative).  $2000 / 10000 mice = $0.20 per mouse to cover the molds.  (molds do last over a few years, but this is just an example)

Size of ball:
High quality, near perfectly round balls are hard to make.  The bigger the ball, the more it costs.  Compare a 3" TB ball to a 1/2" ball used on a mouse.  The cost is not linear.

Arcade quality:
Arcades quality equipment need to be able to survive a lot of pounding.  PC devices don't.  You pay for the increase in quality.


And high quality PC trackballs can cost more than arcade TBs.  Kensington Expect Pro & Turbo Pro Trackballs (2 1/4") cost ~$100.  You can get ps/2 3" betson trackballs for ~$80, arcade wired wico 3" costs ~$50, and wico/suzo 2 1/4" trackballs cost ~$25.  Shop around.

[Rahzel]

My brain hurts

[rampy]

I've got several trackballs but they are all the big boxey looking ones that I think were made by wico.. They are all rusted inside and need new bearings and rollers.  The only rebuild kits I can find are for the Happs/ Atari trackballs...  Anybody know were I should look?

they *may* be interchangeable...  the real bob roberts is real good at helping via email and he probably has a set of rollers/bearings that'll work...  *shrug* ymmv but that's where I'd look anyways...

rampy

[Minwah]

Trackballs are dirt cheap, if you've ever taken a look at Happs analog joysticks.

And you'd better win the lottery for their yoke  

[Howard_Casto]

Happs and cheap dont' go in the same sentence together.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, look EVERYWHERE before you buy something off of happ's site.  Happs is overpriced on purpose as they know operators are forced to buy it from them.  

You aren't an operator though, so you can hunt and choose for a single, well-priced trackball in good condition.  I payed about 30 bucks for mine off of ebay.  

Sorry went o.t.,  back to the question....

Precision sphere's and bearings are expensive.  There is one precision engineered sphere and three  bearings in a trackball.  This does not include the cost of the housing and the optic boards.

In comparsion, the only percision parts in a 8-way joystick are the shaft and the washers, which are generic anyway.  

I think that should pretty much answer your question.  

Ugtar the caveman says:

mmm Joystick easy...... Trackball HARD!

[Stein]

I just spent about 250 bucks building my stand-alone trackball... that's not expensive is it?

at least the games we enjoy with our expensive controls are free

Stein

[Minwah]

Happs and cheap dont' go in the same sentence together.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, look EVERYWHERE before you buy something off of happ's site.  Happs is overpriced on purpose as they know operators are forced to buy it from them.  

You aren't an operator though, so you can hunt and choose for a single, well-priced trackball in good condition.  I payed about 30 bucks for mine off of ebay.  

Sorry went o.t.,  back to the question....

Precision sphere's and bearings are expensive.  There is one precision engineered sphere and three  bearings in a trackball.  This does not include the cost of the housing and the optic boards.

In comparsion, the only percision parts in a 8-way joystick are the shaft and the washers, which are generic anyway.  

I think that should pretty much answer your question.  

Ugtar the caveman says:

mmm Joystick easy...... Trackball HARD!

Well yes I would rather pay a lot once, than be cheap and break stuff lots!

Stein: Very nice woodwork!...I think I'll try and mount my trackball like that...