Dedicated scroll wheel / ball?

So I've been commenting in a few gaming mouse threads and the one thing for me these days I MUST have is a tilt wheel or a 4-way scroll ball like that on the Apple Mighty Mice (and unlike many complainants I've never, ever had to clean my balls... apparently too many of you MM users fiddle with your balls with dirty fingers).

Apart from that, many of the newer gaming mice do satisfy my requirements - and since I've not been 100% happy with any mouse I've owned since the MX1000's, I figure I should try a few more than I've done to date.

Now if I could get a dedicated, left-hand scroll ball / tilt wheel then I figure I'd consider my Excel-jockeying well satisfied even with a non-4-way-scrolling mouse. I do use a sizeable number of 3D mice as my left-hand controller on many of my systems, but they don't work with Office.

Anyone have any suggestions for such a device? I don't want two mice - that would be confusing and annoying, I've tried it.

 

Here you go.

http://eclipsetouch.com/mobilemouse.htm

The Mad Catz Eclipse Mobilemuouse. Released at CES.

 

I was looking for a left-hand controller - not another mouse. i.e. I want to run stuff like the Razer Mamba, but I need a 4-way scrolling controller in addition.

 

if this guy can do this:

http://www.plastibots.com/?p=37
*credit to plastibots.com

then I think you can use the mighty mouse.. just need to figure out how to disable the optic sensor and clicks (just use the scroll)

edit: can disable the sensor by taping it (?)
and can disable clicks by unplug the touch sensor cable (if you don't mind opening the mighty a bit)

.. woww.. if I can get a cheap used mighty mouse I might try that and have a dedicated 4-scroll device LOL

 

Hmmm. You have a point.

Or one ball.

I'll have to consider it.

 

LOL

:laugh:

 

why are you laughing?? Vogelbung is giving me one ball ... LOL :laugh:

 

get a trackball...

 

hmm this might be close to what you want http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/powermate/


it scrolls and clicks and pretty much you could make it do anything from launching a app too controlling your sound and music.


i also own it and the main thing im using it for is my sound knob but works nice for scrolling and stuff.

kinda pricey tho at around 45$ but i got mine for free from griffin from one of there cases scratch up my ipod touch 2g so they let me pick for something for 50$ so i picked that

 

That's the thing with the Mighty Mouse. Always a good excuse to roll out the ball gags.

The Powermate isn't a 4-way controller so it's pretty useless unless you have a shuttle wheel-type use.

I'll have a crack at weighting / blocking off a wired Mighty Mouse. Can't rep you unfortunately crayonyes - if I remember I will do so in the future. This should hopefully give me free rein in Excel, leaving me to get a top gaming mouse. Orochi / Mamba / R.A.T., here I come...?

 

imagining the use of mighty mouse as dedicated device makes me wanna own one myself LOL ..

I get it from here that you can disable click only by unplugging the touch sensor cable:
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2005/08/dissect.ars
credit to writer

great thing is it's reversible ..and you can still have the squeeze buttons feature, I think.

 

You might consider the Belkin/Razer N52TE. It's a left-handed keypad with a 4-way D-pad thing that you can bind any functions to (set to the arrow keys by default), as well as its own single non-tilting scroll wheel, which I'm sure you can bind to scroll left-right instead of up-down. It's a gaming-oriented tool, but it sounds like it might be something useful for you; you could use your mouse's wheel for vertical scrolling and the N52TE wheel or D-pad for horizontal scrolling.

 

It isn't the same. I have n52te's and they wouldn't work. It needs to be a mouse or knob-like object, but stationary. Ideally of course all decent gaming mouse would have a tilt wheel...