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Kensington SlimBlade Trackball

Based on 12 reviews

Excellent:

1
Good:

4
Average:

2
Bad:

5

Pros

A solid device that's easy to use once you get the hang of it.
Smooth ball skates the pointer across big desktops. Comfortable design with big buttons. Intuitive twist-to-scroll system. Controls iTunes in the background. View mode glides through long Web pages.
Quality design & aesthetics, Smooth scrolling, Some media / application support
Large, comfortable trackball; stationary design; large, easy-to-press buttons; unique rotating-ball feature; Cursor, Media, and View modes.
Comfortable for those physically unable to use a standard mouse; heads-up display conveniently shows the current mode.

Cons

The inability to customise any of the buttons is a major drawback.
Software lacks any customization. Can’t use twists to shuttle in timelinebased software.
Noncustomizable button programming, Larger footprint than other trackballs, Relatively expensive
Trackball feels sluggish; rotating-ball feature less convenient for scrolling than a traditional scroll wheel (or the scroll ring used on Kensington’s Expert Mouse); buttons not customizable; expensive.
Toggling between three modes complicates work flow; expensive; lacks Bluetooth; cant customize buttons or alter trackball sensitivity; large footprint.

By Ars Technica on September 08, 2010

The venerable Kensington Expert Mouse is arguably one of the best trackball input devices for desktop computing. Among trackball enthusiasts, it practically has a cult following. Its successor, the Kensington Slimblade, was launched in 2008, but...

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By GadgetSpeak on March 13, 2010

Recently I heard from a reliable source that this type of product had been recommended by a doctor as a solution to overcome a medical problem. However, to the best of my knowledge, the product in question is not available on the National Health....

56
By Computeractive on November 13, 2009

Promises lots but doesn’t...

40
By The Inquirer on October 02, 2009

At first glance the unit looks like quite a chunky device with a fairly large base and a big ball dropped into the centre, hardly living up to its name, but because it doesn't move around it still takes up less of your overall desk space than a...

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By Macworld UK on September 03, 2009

There’s always been those who’ll use a trackball in preference to a mouse or trackpad. Other than aesthetics there’s very good reasons for this, not least that employing different controllers is an effective way to reduce risk of...

60
By PC Advisor on July 30, 2009

Silky smooth cursor-racing operation, coupled with some good integration with a number of common programs, make the Kensington SlimBlade Trackball a winner. We only wish its extra View mode functionality would work with all apps, but this doesn’t...

80
By Pocket-lint on July 28, 2009

The Kensington SlimBlade TrackBall is a really nicely made piece of kit but comes at a hefty price...

80
By Mac|Life on June 23, 2009

The lack of button customization and kludgy software is a bummer, but the trackball itself is a marvel of usability and smart design.SlimBlade Trackball...

80
By RegHardware on June 03, 2009

The first thing that will strike you about the SlimBlade is the enormous size of its ball - with a 55mm diameter it’s about the same size as a snooker ball and not far off the same weight. Being so big and heavy it 'rests on' rather the...

80
By Laptop Logic on May 24, 2009

Trackballs have been around for awhile, and even though they have the history, they dont seem to have the demand that other peripherals gather. Everyone can use a normal 2 button, but to utilize the mighty trackball takes patience and some...

70