most comfortable mouse for active moving and clicking

I have had a few pointing devices and am yet to find one that I am fully satisfied with.

Most recently I gave up (thanks ebay ) the Microsoft trackball optical, because my hand naturally rests on it at an angle, and then the trackball is out of place with my thumb.

ms trackball optical


I originally got it to replace an old logitech trackball... very similar shape to this one..

logitech something or other


I tried the logitech trackman (with the ball in the center). Using this I realized how important it is to have the hand sit at an angle, and not flat down. Also I realized how much I use the trackball with my thumb, with 2 fingers on the buttons ready to click. It felt different to use the thumb as a button-clicker, and I found than using fingers for the ball... the finger don't have as much sideways range of motion, compared to a thumb... so movement was move difficult with this finger-trackball.

logitech widely-loved trackball


I have the logitech M570 now.

Best trackball I've tried yet. The fit is the most natural. The hand cups the mouse, rather than the palm sitting on it. It supports the hand well.
Plus it has the 2 extra programmable buttons, and the wheel button. They can all be assigned a keystroke (including allowing 2 special keys and a letter (like: alt+ctrl+n). ... the microsoft trackball optical would only allow 1 special key and a letter.)
The wheel button requires a lot of pressure, whereas the ms. trackball optical wheel button was very sensitive. That helps since the index finger on a mouse isn't positioned to easily apply a lot of pressure.
The m570's 2 other extra buttons are very sensitive though, I can click them with the side of my pointer finger even.
Being wireless is also a plus. no cord is more convenient than I imagined, but certainly not a deal-breaker. Comfort is king, and function is queen.
Batteries don't seem to be a big issue, they supposedly last 500 day or so on the m570. I've had mine about 2-3 weeks and it says 420 days left. Anyway, replacing a AA every 4-8 months is not a problem.


Added to the arsenal is a thinkpad USB keyboard with the trackpoint stick and buttons (including middle scroll button).

It is very comfortable to simply push the stick and hold it... and the pointer keeps moving. This is compared to repeatedly: rolling a trackball, swiping a mouse, or swiping a touchpad. With the stick, it's just push once. Less repetitive movement of fingers and wrists and arms = nice This is the most comfortable method of pointing, but still not as fast/responsive as a thumb trackball.
The m570 buttons are much easier to use than the keyboards buttons.
I have wondered about if any joysticks might be ergonomic to use for a mouse??


Next is the Cirque SmartCat.

I chose that over the easycat in order to have more touchpad space... fewer swipes to move the same distance.
This is a nice item! The horizontal and vertical scrolling are easy. The zoom-in and out is easy, and the page back /forward is easy also.
It has 3 programmable buttons, and the pad is very sensitive... it tkaes the lightest tap or pressure to register. The scroll also works on some places where a normal mouse scroll won't... I forget what, but I did notice that.
... if I bought it again, I might go for the SmartCat Pro.. just to get more programmable hotkeys.
It is nice to have the hand more free, as opposed to being grasping a mouse, hand in the same exact position. With the touchpad, the hand keeps more dynamic. However again, like the point-stick, the touchpad doesn't give as responsive and precise pointing as a thumb trackball. But a big plus is these cirgue touchpads allow high movement and acceleration... so in 1 swipe the pointer can go across my extended 19" and onto my laptop's 15". Two swipes is more than enough to go fully across two monitors. And at that setting, there's still enough fine movement to click buttons (but noway enough fineness to pin-point anything).


..I do active work on the computer, a lot of moving around, clicking this, moving back, click, go back and click again, shifting windows, and the like. Much different than occasional clicking for browsing. I need precise pointing, along with good acceleration. And mouse buttons positioned for very frequent clicking (not rapid clicking, but frequent clicking (changing settings repeatedly and testing that requires a lot of selecting, and repeating the process).


I think I wouldn't want a desktop mouse as my main mouse, I think my arm and shoulder would tire quickly with the amount of pointer movement I do....


So that would leave trackballs, pointing sticks, and touchpads, and maybe joysticks. Anyone ever use a joystick as a mouse?


My question is what non-desktop mice do you use, for active pointing and clicking?
What is your top favorites, and why?

I gave a review of some of my favorites above, so hopefully we can start a nice thread (and hopefully I can find my forever mouse )

 

Just for fun I once configured my Logitech Wingman Light (the old white one) as a pointing device. It worked and it was a nice experiment, but it wasn't productive.

Joysticks have a lot in common with trackpoints when it comes to cursor movements. Joysticks are good when you need long ongoing movements like dogfights in a flight simulator, but you hardly need that for desktop applications.
Joysticks are more comfortable than trackpoints but compared to mice or trackballs your arm gets tired faster, because usually you can't rest it on your desk.
I found precise pointing with a joystick quite hard compared to other input methods, which might only be due to my joystick and my lacking training. But I guess there is a reason why first person shooters are played with mice instead of joysticks.

 

That looks pretty. I might have to get one of those if I ever have to replace either of my 2 working microsoft trackball opticals. I'm not worried as much about the hand fit, as the fact that the microsoft was (up until you pointed that one out) the only thumb trackball I could ever find with more than 3 buttons (including scroll wheel).

 

I really like a lot of the logitech designs in terms of mouse comfort. Love my G5