FYI: No, I was not paid, nor given these freely, nor do I have any connection to Logitech at all.

A short video of the EX Ergo, the hardshell case I picked up for it, and some commentary about using it in different locations.

A few months ago I picked up a new trackball. It’s one of the multitude of pointing devices I use while working. Just to note, here’s the MX Ergo in its normal spot hanging out with my Apple Trackpad and Logitech m331 Silent Mouse.

I picked this up to replace the older trackballs that I used from Logitech previously, the wireless and wired trackballs had lasted me a solid 5+ years at the youngest of the devices. This trackball however has a number of additional features that dramatically increase the usefulness of the device. I’ll enumerate and elaborate on a few’

1. The scroll wheel doesn’t just scroll, but has a forward and back feature. Just push the wheel to the left or right with your finger and so goes the navigation.
2. There’s a metal tray that it sits on, and the angle can be changed from zero to 20 degrees. This position can really change the stressors on the upper arm, which makes for easier use during the course of work.
3. There are the normal right and left buttons, but also two buttons to the left of the left button, and two additional toggle buttons on the lower end of the left right buttons and on the left side near the ball itself. The toggle by the ball actually changes the speed, and thus increasing the accuracy of position of the cursor, it’s a strange but useful effect when manipulating images or such at a pixel level.

This device is also wireless, and has internal batteries that can be charged via the included USB cable. Standard USB connection required for the sensor for the trackball too.

A few shots of the pointing device all pretty and professional. Keep reading below the trackball gallery.

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Why a Trackball

One of the issues when working remotely is that space is often constrained. When in a coffee shop, you don’t want to be the asshole who has all their laptop gear spilling over into areas beyond where you sit. Sometimes you may get lucky and the table space may be abundant, but often it is not. Using a trackpad eliminates the excessive space required for a mouse, as a trackpad just stays in the singular spot near the laptop that you set it.

You might ask, ok you have a trackball but why not just use the trackpad? Well sometimes you still can’t use the trackball, because the space is that limited, especially on a transport mode like passenger airlines. Even in first class you’ll be pretty pressed for space. On a Greyhound bus, if you feel like tempting madness, you have even less space than that and no first class to speak of! In these cases, the trackpad is all you can muster for use. But in cases where you have even a little space, the trackball can come out for use.

Why a secondary pointing device? What makes a trackball so great besides the minimal space it uses? A few things make a trackball more bad ass than most other options. For one, the movement can be more precise, with less training. One can train their thumb movement – or fingers if you want to use it that way – in a way that the arm movement used for a mouse just can’t replicate. Some may say, “oh but just use only your hand for the mouse”, well ok except that defeats the immediate ease of access for a mouse. The core notion here, is you can do this if you want to. Thus, you have reduced space use, reduced physical movement for yourself, you can increase precision, and with this particular trackball, you’ve even got macros and other programmable options for the button array that enhances the use of tools like Photoshop where that precision is a requirement for effective use!

For more reasons, more coverage of the hardshell case, check out my post on Transit Sleuth “Traveling Trackball, AKA “GSD Better!”” speaking solely to the traveling use of the trackball and the hardshell case.

All in all, a great device. Do I recommend it? Well, you’ll have to watch the video to see. 👍🏻