live_tv
Livestream Starting Soon
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
Up next in 10
Tired of the trackpad integrated into your laptop and wish you could use a different pointer to control your device? Kensington's been making pointer devices for decades and has it totally figured out, as demonstrated by thee new Kensington Orbit Fusion Wireless Trackball for Mac or PC. Tech expert Dave Taylor of https://www.AskDaveTaylor.com/ plugged in the nano receiver to his MacBook Pro and gave it a whirl. The result? It's a winner, though with a few things you should know about before you pick one up...
Check it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2HFtWkq
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Sick of trackpads? Let's check this alternative out
0:03
[♪ Music ♪ Dave Taylor here, and I'm checking this out
0:14
This is super interesting. This is the Kensington Orbit Fusion Wireless Trackball
0:21
And as you can see, it is a trackball, which is sort of like an upside-down mouse
0:26
But I gotta say, if you're fed up with trackpads like I am
0:30
this is a really great alternative. The idea is that you move this to move the cursor
0:36
but this has so many additional features and tricks that it's really like a whole different ballgame
0:43
So if you're used to a trackpad, you're used to different sectors having different meanings
0:49
and two-finger and three-finger gestures and all that. This just simplifies all that into specific and discrete buttons
0:57
So on this side is the right mouse button, and then on this side there's a whole pile of buttons
1:03
but the big one is the left mouse button. So that means that in practice, if I do this
1:09
then I'm doing right mouse button, left mouse button, scrolling, moving around, and there's a scroll wheel
1:17
and there are three additional assignable buttons. And all that's done through software that they have called Kensington Works
1:25
But let me just tell you, this is a very ergonomic design, and obviously it doesn't move on the desk
1:31
So if you are working at the kitchen table, and there's already dinner set out
1:36
or if you're at your office and you just have a lot of stuff on your desk
1:40
there's no need to have space for a mouse to move around because this just stays put
1:45
In fact, you can put it on your lap if you want to. So that's really nice
1:49
The trackball is 40 millimeters, so I was thinking about this, and I guess it's about the size of a big jawbreaker
1:57
I don't know, maybe they don't sell jawbreakers anymore, but it's smaller than a cue ball, a little smaller than a ping pong ball
2:04
And you can actually disassemble it to clean it because trackballs have a tendency to get a little bit of dirt in
2:10
over long periods of time. So one of the interesting things is they also have a DPI switch
2:16
which is sort of recessed here, and you can push this. There's three different settings
2:21
and it just makes it more or less granular or detailed, which can be really great if you're doing something like Photoshop
2:28
and you need to get very, very precise mouse motions. One of the other challenges with the trackpad
2:34
is it's not actually super precise. You have to learn to be precise
2:39
whereas with this, you can just push that DPI button and actually have it work at a different level
2:44
Pretty handy. Now, it does take one battery on the bottom. There's a AA battery you put in
2:50
It's going to last you 14 months, so it's not like you have to change them very often
2:56
There is an on-off switch. If you're not using it, you should probably turn it off
3:00
It just works better that way. And super important, there is a little dongle
3:05
what they call a nano receiver. Let me actually even show you. It's this piece, right
3:09
So you have to have this piece, but as soon as you plug this into any hardware
3:14
it's ready to go. There's nothing else to do. There's no custom drivers or anything
3:19
You can install the Kensington Works to customize the buttons, but you don't have to
3:24
So by default, you can walk up to any computer, put this in, and start using this trackball
3:29
which is really pretty handy. Now, the downside is that this is just USB 3
3:36
so it's that rectangular connection. Now, Kensington has taken the interim step
3:41
of giving you a USB 3 to USB-C adapter, but honestly, kind of clumsy to have to use both
3:50
because it takes something very tiny and makes it a lot bigger. But, you know, if that's what it takes
3:55
then that's what you do for USB-C only, like this MacBook Pro
4:00
So I plug that into the side, and I am already working just fine
4:06
At least I would be if I turned it on. Now I am working just fine
4:12
and I'm able to use this instead of the trackpad. And I will be candid with you
4:17
that there are many a day where, as the day sort of gets to the end
4:21
my hand's starting to cramp up and hurt from using the trackpad
4:25
That's because, surprisingly, perhaps, our hands aren't designed to do detailed, repetitive motion
4:32
so we end up getting motion strain. And the more precise and the less space
4:37
you have to do that, the worse that gets. So even if this is just a fallback
4:42
it's really great to have the trackpad. It's all obviously portable, built into the computer
4:47
And then you can use this if you actually want to have something that gives your hand a break
4:51
You can either just hold your hand up like I am, or you can rest it
4:55
It's definitely designed so that you can rest your hand on here. And what I really love is I love the scroll wheel
5:01
That's really cool. And I've reassigned buttons. But let me actually show you
5:06
Let's jump into the Kensington Works Control Panel on the Mac. And I'll just give you a super quick tour
5:12
and demonstration. So, just a second, I'll switch things around. I'm on the BBC News home page
5:17
and I'm going to turn the scroll wheel so you can see that it scrolls that way
5:23
If I use the upper top button, then it goes down by page
5:30
which is how I've set it up. And then the middle button I have
5:34
that takes me to Mission Control on my Mac. And all of that's customizable
5:40
In fact, let's go ahead and click into Kensington Works. And you can see here
5:46
I can assign the right button, but let's actually go ahead here
5:50
And here's where I've assigned. So, you see the little light, the button lights up blue
5:57
So, I'll go to the middle button, and here are all the, literally
6:02
hundreds of options of what you want to do when that button is clicked
6:07
It's pretty amazing how many choices there are. But that's not all
6:11
because you can adjust your pointer so you can change the speed
6:15
You can allow acceleration. There's lots of things that can really help
6:19
if you have any assistive needs. And then for scrolling, again, one of my favorites
6:25
is that this scroll wheel is fantastic. It's really nice to just sort of be able to turn it
6:30
a very logical and natural behavior. And then you can specify how quickly things should scroll
6:35
And then they have this thing called inertia scroll on the Mac, which is cool
6:39
which is if you're scrolling, you can actually accelerate how much scrolls by
6:45
on a particular behavior. And that actually sounds weird, but it's a very natural and logical action
6:53
So, all of that easily controlled, managed, and figured out with the Kensington Works app
7:00
Super easy to work with. So, five customizable buttons, and you can fine-tune your scroll wheel settings, too
7:06
Great. Now, let's switch back. That's how you do it. It's actually really easy to work with
7:11
though, Kensington is aware that in the very latest version of macOS Catalina
7:16
there are some issues with getting it set up properly. I just had to putz around a little bit
7:22
in the accessibility settings and control panels to give it permissions. They have some sort of instructions
7:28
but it could probably do with a little improvement. But Kensington will have a new version of that driver
7:34
hopefully within a month. So, that's going to be really nice. It's just Apple tends to cut down
7:40
and change permissions internally, and then all the software developers have to go and fix things
7:45
which is kind of a pain, but so it goes. Anyway, totally compatible with Mac
7:50
totally compatible with Windows. I see no reason you wouldn't be able to use it
7:54
on a Linux machine. Who knows, it might even work with something like an Xbox. I don't know, but they don't guarantee
8:00
or promise that, so you would be on your own. For sure, Mac and Windows
8:04
And again, the perhaps tiny downside is that you do have to use the dongle
8:11
or the nano receiver, and if you have USB-C only, like I do
8:17
then you have to use the adapter, too. Now, I really wish they would have had
8:21
two versions of the nano receiver, one that's USB-C and one that's USB-C
8:27
They could put them both in the package, probably cost them another 75 cents or something
8:31
and then it would be much more compatible because this fits in the bottom here
8:38
but the problem is that now you have this. You've got to figure out what to do with it
8:42
so not super convenient. It is pretty cool, though, that there is a hole here for that
8:47
and then it also, as an optional, additional purchase, you can buy
8:52
the hard case for this, and this is a pretty crazy hard case
8:56
I've never seen one quite so interestingly shaped. It is the perfect fit for this thing
9:02
and it's made out of 1680D polyester fabric. It is a hard case that is an absolute custom fit
9:11
so that means that our trackball should fit perfectly in it, and let's see how that works
9:22
Um, actually, I think they sent me the wrong case. How about that
9:30
Yeah, that's the wrong case because the shape is wrong, so suffice to say, this does have a custom hard shell case
9:38
just like this one, although it is actually shaped correctly for that particular trackball
9:45
so what is this? This is for a different one. I don't know what the heck the deal is
9:49
but this is the Orbit Fusion, and the Orbit Fusion does have a hard case you can get
9:57
That is not an example of it, so it goes. See, this is what happens live on camera
10:03
so the pros and the pluses of this is I really like the ergonomics
10:08
I love all the extra features and functions. The fact that you don't need to move it around
10:13
it doesn't need any additional desk space or anything makes this really great
10:18
The customizable and assignable buttons, obviously gamers already are well aware of this
10:23
but just for regular everyday use, it does make things easier and more convenient
10:28
The downside is that, one, having to use the receiver at all is a little bit clumsy
10:34
I guess that's just sort of the price you pay because they can't get this built into every computer in the world
10:40
but definitely having this and then having to get an adapter for USB-C
10:45
is not super impressive. I will also say that this case that it comes in
10:52
really kind of serves as a bit of a puzzle, so enjoy trying to open it if you get one of these
10:58
So, let me give you some quick dimensions, too. So, it is 6.8 inches long
11:04
by 4.3 inches at its widest by 3 inches at its highest
11:08
It's 10.4 ounces, so it's pretty darn light. This is not something you're going to be really bothered by
11:15
if you carry it around, but of course I expect most people will get it and just leave it on their desktop
11:20
or leave it in their work environment, and that'll be that, and then you can push the DPI button
11:25
to be able to get super precise details. In fact, let me give you a close-up of all of these buttons
11:31
so you can just see exactly how it's configured. So, pretty slick stuff
11:37
Now, let's just talk about the price, but before we get to the price, can I ask if you can subscribe to my channel
11:43
Companies send me all sorts of stuff, and I'm constantly posting honest and candid reviews
11:47
and I appreciate that when you subscribe, and then you get the straight scoop, right
11:52
I mean, I'm not just a shill, for sure. They're not going to be happy with what happened
11:56
especially with that case. What the heck, guys? Anyway, so, let's talk about the price
12:02
because this is quite affordable. This is the Kensington Orbit Fusion Wireless Trackball
12:09
and it's $69.99 at Amazon.com. If you want to additionally get the custom hard case
12:16
for the Orbit Fusion, make sure you get the right case for your new trackball
12:22
then that is $12.99 additional. I don't know that you need the hard case
12:26
but I guess if you're going to be toting it around a lot, that's probably a good idea
12:30
So, either way, this is a great addition to any worker's workspace
12:37
It will be great for your physical health, for your wrist, if you've been feeling any sort of tweakiness
12:44
on your elbow or your wrist or your arm, then this can be a huge step towards getting rid of that
12:49
Definitely worth checking out. And if you've got to live with the nano receiver
12:54
well, you know, I guess there are worse problems to have. So, with that, I'm going to get back to work
13:00
which means I'll catch you in my next video. ♪♪♪��
#Computer Peripherals
#Consumer Electronics
#Virtual Reality Devices