Kensington SlimBlade Laser Trackball Review
The Kensington SlimBlade Trackball is accurate, smooth and saves you on desk space. The SlimBlade Trackball is comfortable to use and makes it that much easier on you physically with it’s ergonomic design. It’s tried and true.
The SlimBlade features 1000 dpi laser sensor for fast and accurate movement without the need of a high-speed mouse pad surface. The trackball is wired over USB 2.0 for reliable connectivity, features customizable buttons for media control and scrollball.
The SlimBlade Trackball allows you to twist the ball to scroll pages up or down. Took a little getting used to but can be quite convenient at times. The Free TrackballWorks software allows you to extend your functionality and customize buttons, cursor and scrolling speeds.
The ergonomic and low profile design is symmetrical and works equally well for left or right handed users while making it easier on your wrist. A large 55mm ball and two laser sensors in the cup give you smooth and accurate movement.
Design and Build Quality
While more subjective, aesthetically the SlimBlade looks great. It’s modern looking with a dark gray exterior, Ruby Red trackball with chrome ring and light grey sidewall accents. The design is minimal and works for me.
Each designated button is a 3-sided cut leaving one end of each button area attached to the overall frame/cover so it flexes. My mind tells me I shouldn’t like it, but it works just fine and doesn’t appear that it would have any issues with performance. The clicks are satisfying and deliberate.
The Slimblade is a cool trapezoidal shape giving that vanishing point perspective, like it’s getting smaller the further away it is from you. It also makes it more comfortable for me as I still tend to lightly grip the outer edges of the device.
The overall build quality is excellent, the unit feels solid like it will last. The footing however could have been thought out a bit better. Each corner of the bottom has a small rubber foot pad which sticks to the bottom corners covering the corner screw as well as a rubber ring to secure your trackball from sliding about while in use. The rubber pads are tiny and are stuck to a glossy surface so they will tend to fall off, ours did within a few days.
I would have preferred to see an embedded rubber strip across the top and bottom like the rubber ring, and leave the screws exposed or simply provide much larger rubber foot pads. It’s an easy fix but a small detail that will annoy you should your rubber feet come off.
Kensington SlimBlade Trackball Recommended
The Kensington SlimBlade Trackball is well-made, extremely convenient to use and ergonomically designed to make it easier on your body. The SlimBlade Trackball saves a ton of desk space and eliminates the need for a high-speed mouse pad area. I find it to be a pleasure to use, reliable and smooth.
Compatible with Chrome OS 44, Mac OS 10.8, Mac OS 10.9, Mac OS X 10.10, Mac OS X 10.11, Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1
Kensington SlimBlade Laser Trackball MSRP $149.99
but you can find it on Amazon for about 80 bucks
