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Comment by sdrothrock | Hacker News Reader

I just switched to a trackball last week and spent a lot of time looking into these; the Microsoft one came up a LOT, but so did a cheap one from Elecom called the Huge.

I ended up getting the Huge (since I live in Japan and it's easy to get here) and I'm liking it a lot. I'm wondering if it hits the same buttons that you like with the Microsoft one.

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I've had that in my wishlist for a couple years now but haven't bought it since my MTE hasn't broken again since my last rebuild. The key difference between all other trackballs on the market is that they are all thumb controlled on the ball. The Elecom is an index finger ball like the MTE, and if you read the reviews has a lot of MTE converts. I've probably bought every trackball style and keep going back. Kensington Expert Mouse was a good contender years ago but their quality dropped sharply once they got semi-popular in the late 2000's. Logitech trackballs are pretty much all garbage.

Also on my to-try list is a rollermouse. https://www.contourdesign.com/product/rollermouse-red/

I've only been using the Huge for a week or so and I'm really loving it. The padding and size are just right for my (admittedly small) hands, but the best part of all is that there are TONS of buttons, which can all be re-aliased.

The only down sides I've run into so far are:

1. It's a bit clicky

2. The wheel being thumb-driven is a bit awkward for me

The utility I'm using (SteerMouse) sadly doesn't seem to properly support chording for using the trackball for scrolling, but I've contacted the dev about that and if he can get it working, then I'll be 100% happy with this.

If you can find a Huge at a decent price (they're ~$37 USD here in Japan), I'd highly recommend giving it a shot. The Ploopy seems like a far worse deal in comparison to me (though I don't have the nostalgia connection) at $200 CAD.

Have a link to where you can get the Huge for ~$37 USD? I checked out a few places, but it was generally around 5000 JPY w/ tax.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B079FBN9VQ

Edit: And here it is for 800 yen cheaper, but no free shipping through prime so you pay 700 yen for shipping: https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B0735584RM

ah thanks! didn't think to check Amazon. I don't have JP prime anyway so that's perfect.

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