If you started out using Unix on early workstations (Sun-1/Sun-2, VAXstation, Silicon Graphics, etc), you have a deeply embedded need for a three-button mouse, and this trackball satisfies that need beautifully.īy the way, while trying to figure out the PS/2 to USB connectivity situation I came across Converting a PS/2 TrackMan Marble to USB by Eric S. I call this an unfortunate idea because a lot of people (including me) find it difficult to click the scroll wheel without actually scrolling at least a little bit, and that can cause you to click in a place other than where you had intended to. This was before Logitech came up with the rather unfortunate idea of replacing the middle button with a "clickable" scroll wheel, which was introduced on the TrackMan Marble Wheel, and continue with many more after that. Because it is sending the same events as the left button (mouse button 1), it is not possible to remap that drag-lock button to make it a middle button. There is one significant disadvantage of this button behavior, though. This gives you click-and-drag functionality without needing any special software or driver support. The drag-lock button on the Thumbelina only produces one event each time you click it, alternating between button 1 press and button 1 release.
A normal mouse button click actually produces two events, a button press followed by a button release. The button to the left of the ball is drag-lock,and it is quite clever. The button immediately to the right of the ball is the "left" button, and the one above that in the upper right corner is the "right" button. The cursor movement was jumpy and imprecise, and cursor speed was much too low. It would have been so much more convenient if the cord had been on the top. As soon as I started using it I remembered one of the more irritating things about it - when it is correctly oriented in your hand (so that rolling the ball up moves the cursor up), the cord comes out of the bottom. It worked when I connected it to the T400, and was identified by Linux as a "Generic PS/2 mouse". The Thumbelina has a PS/2 connector and came with a PS/2-Serial adapter. That third button made all the difference in the world to the usability of the Thumbelina, because trying to click-and-drag in any other way, with just the two basic buttons, was nearly impossible.
There are three buttons, two are the normal mouse left and right buttons and the third is a drag-lock button, with a little LED next to it which lights up when drag-lock is engaged.
It has a ball about the size of a pea, which was very easy to roll with your thumb.
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