Two Kinds of Flaky

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In March, I bought a pair of Logitech Cordless Trackman Optical trackballs. I love the ergonomics on them, even for FPS gaming. It only took a week or two to adjust from a mouse, and some minor forearm and elbow strain that came with extra long days at work went away.

Unfortunately, my work looked like it had crapped out yesterday when it prompted me to charge the batteries. I’m outside of the Amazon return period, but still under Logitech’s 5-year pointing devices warranty. As it turned out, I just needed to remove and insert the batteries like 10 times to get it to power on. Really, I think this could all be avoided by having a corded version of this product; I really don’t need the cordless features, but this is the only trackball that came close to having the features I wanted. If it were Bluetooth, I might not complain as much (since a separate transmitter wouldn’t be needed).

The secondary problem, as you can see in the video and picture below the cut, is that my mutant power is apparently acidic sweat. The outer coating of the plastic under where my palm, thumb, and index finger generally rest is bubbling and eventually peeling away.

Long story short, I love the design, but am very frustrated with the execution. I’ve asked Logitech in several places to develop a straight USB version of this device.

My mutant acidic sweat is melting the outer coating of my trackball.
My mutant acidic sweat is melting the outer coating of my trackball.

Comments

2 responses to “Two Kinds of Flaky”

  1. uncleamos Avatar
    uncleamos

    They’ve had that basic trackball design for years. I’m surprised that there isn’t a corded version anymore.

    1. Their corded ones are all thumb-balls, not two-finger balls.

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