Good bye Marble FX?
Ever since I was working on my thesis in '98 I'm using Logitech's "Marble FX" trackball. Apparently I'm not the only one hooked to it, keeping me RSI free. In the past eleven(!) years I collected some spare marbles as Logitech decided to only produce it for a year or two, without making a proper equivalent replacement.
But now even the spares are dying on me… The buttons on one of the spares aren't clicking reliably anymore. And the ball in the other one isn't moving smoothly as one of the gliders inside broke off. Luckily the third, the one I use at the office, is still working. But for how long?
I'm afraid I need to look for an alternative as even ebay only lists a couple used Marbles at the moment and looking at the pictures, they're very much used - which isn't suprising for a 11 year old trackball - or you're paying through the nose for one, or it's only shipped within the US. Bah.
Logitech lists one possible replacement: the Cordless Optical Trackman. That's the only trackball apparently where the ball is moved by the fingers, not the thumb. Unfortunately it is, duh, cordless. I'd rather have a more reliable wire, but oh well.
Maybe the Mediamarkt has one on display so I can give it try there. But if someone still has a Marble FX lying arround…