I switched to a Kensington trackball several years ago and still love it. Can't think of the model (I'm at work) but it has a handy scroll ring around the ball and four buttons. I don't see myself using anything else. Give one a try sometime.
I use a Logitech TrackMan Wheel. It has a thumb-ball.
Works great, a lot better than a regular mouse.
Using a mouse gives me pain in the arm and shoulder, the trackball doesn't.
I have a Logitech thumbwheel mouse for use with my laptop and an older Kensington trackball on my desktop system. I would never go back to a traditional mouse, ever. Once you get your settings right, they are a breeze to use, certainly relieve pressures from the hand and wrist you get from 'mousing', and your friends will be less likely to use your computer because the trackball is evil.
All I can say is thank god for USB ports and the ability to have two mouses (that's right, not mice) plugged in at once.
I worked in an IT department supporting ~200 PCs. For those users who wanted a trackball, we would plug in a second mouse and tuck it away so that when we had to work on the PC, we could work at our normal pace.
I've spent a lot of time with a trackball and I still think a mouse is faster, especially the higher resolution gaming mouses.
EDIT: The above said, if you really want a trackball, I'd personally suggest a fingerball rather than a thumb ball. If I had to choose, I'd go with this Kensington: http://us.kensington.com/html/2200.html
He...or is it she...is a......Headphoneus Supremus
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I've never been too big into trackballs, the logitech one where you wheel the small ball with your thumb was comfortable but weird to use with the thumb. Kensington's expert one is awesome but I hate using it. The best one was the Logitech FX trackball, it was like a combination of the two, finger control but with the comfort of the thumb-based one that logitech was famous for.
Unfortunately there are no kensingtons around here, and I like seeing and trying things. I purchased a logitech marble trackball last night, and I found it interesting. I guess I need more time to get used to it. I am willing to try, but this one lacks scroll wheel (amazing!). I'll have to return it and get the more expensive logitech trackball, which has many buttons and wheel. Well see!.
We have one of those kensington trackballs on one of the characterisation tools in our lab. I hate it with passion. Thankfully, that tool barely needs a mouse to start with.
I recently replaced a perfectly good IBM optical mouse with a Kensington Orbit (trackball on top) which I picked up at a garage sale for $3. I love it.
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