Arcade trackball vs. workstation trackball

[hanelyp]

What kind of difference can I expect between an arcade trackball vs. a workstation trackball?  I know a local source of the latter at not too outragious a price.  Also, does anyone have a link to a good illustration of the internals of an arcade trackball?  I've had thoughts of a true build it yourself attempt.  An 8 inch or so ball might be interesting.

[johnperkins21]

From what I hear and my experience (which is limited): the arcade trackballs spin smoother and longer. A trackball designed for use as a mouse alternative rarely needs to keep spinning after you take your finger/thumb off of it. A good arcade trackball spins for long periods of time very smoothly. They're designed for slightly different applications. I would suggest a true arcade trackball, especially if you have any interest in the Golden Tee.

[u_rebelscum]

Arcade vs workstation (in general):

heavier vs lighter
lower resolution vs high res
designed for high speeds vs designed for presice movements
designed for hard use hit vs designed to be used by fingertips

The PC TB I have tends to come off the rollers when hit hard or fast, and doesn't work as well after heavy play (the rollers rest on the PCB, and I think the PCB warps a little).  I only it when I'm too lazy to pull out my arcabe TB CP.

I can post internal pictures of happs, betsons, and wicos TB if you want.

[destructor]

Arcade vs workstation (in general):

heavier vs lighter

What with Happ 4,5'' trackball?

[Ghoward]

I would go with an arcade one if I were you....Oh and  did you forget they also look much better.

Gary

[u_rebelscum]

Arcade vs workstation (in general):

heavier vs lighter

What with Happ 4,5'' trackball?

It's not very noticeable (if you compair same size balls).  The ball in my PC TB (2 1/4") is lighter than my arcade balls.  ~20-25% lighter, and the other PC balls I've tried were even lighter than the one I have.

I think this is related to the higher precision the PC TBs are designed for, and one of the reasons the arcade TBs spin longer.

[Chris]

The huge difference is in the rollers and bearings.  Most PC trackballs have tiny rubber or plastic rollers on thin wire axles and no bearings at all.  I wore out two within a few months before I finally got an arcade trackball.

The Kensington Expert Trackballs are a bit better in this regard; they have heavier rollers, I think they also have bearings, and would stand up to something like Centipede or Missle Command fairly well, but I wouldn't expect them to do well with Golden Tee or World Class Bowling.

--Chris

[MinerAl]

Check the Wiki

http://wiki.arcadecontrols.com/wiki/Trackballs