ELECOM DEFT PRO Trackball Mouse, Index Finger, 3-Type Connection

This is my second favourite mouse now, it is so comfortable to use and fix in my palm perfectly. It's pricey but it is excellent!!

First the good: The trackball itself appears to be pretty well made and sturdy. Being able to switch between wired, wireless and bluetooth is nice. I have the wireless dongle in my desktop and connect via bluetooth to my laptop. A quick flick of a switch on the side allows me to swap between them and I do not notice any difference in operation between the two modes. I have not tried wired as I have no need. The ball itself is very nice, smooth and a decent weight. It has enough friction that your fingers do not slide over it. The buttons all use micro switches which appear to be decent quality and the thumb operated scroll wheel is nice and smooth. It also has a push click and rock side to side switches which is nice. The not so good: It would be nice if a case was available for it but not yet, hopefully it is on the way! I found that the "high quality synthetic bearings" were horrible. They made the trackball almost sticky and difficult to be accurate with. I was able to slide my finger across the ball without it turning and then it would suddenly "take" and stick again. Obviously if you apply more pressure then this is not a problem (I am talking about a light-ish stroke sliding). I spent £4.50 on 100 2.5mm steel bearings and fitted three of these (not for the faint hearted as you have to take the mouse apart) and operation is now incredibly smooth! When I compared the synthetic bearings to the steel ones they seems almost sticky, I am so glad that I changed them! A note to Elecom - at a net price of about 14 pence I think that you can afford to fit these in the factory! I was going to send the whole thing back but, after changing the bearings, I am now not going to. Note: In Bluetooth mode the batteries only last around 5 to 10 days before the annoying "less than 2% battery life remaining" message starts popping up. After that you get about another week before it dies. Battery life using the dongle is significantly better.

Build quality, battery life and connectivity are excellent. You can control multiple computers by using red/blue button to switch between Bluetooth and the WiFi Dongle. The only downside to this trackball is the software. It works and you can configure buttons, but it’s super awkward to switch between different ELECOM trackballs. The software feels dated and could use with a redesign with support for more hot keys.

First time trackball user here. Still getting used to the new experience, but really enjoy it so far. The ball movement was a little sticky on very small movements at first, but with regular cleaning and some time - it's getting better.

UPDATE: I've been using the mouse for several months now, and have found the 'sticky ball' issue it suffered from is no longer a problem. The ball has now freed up and moves perfectly smoothly. I have also made use of the USB connector (rather than bluetooth) and found this to be much more responsive and accurate. I hope the wheel eases up in use, but so far it is just as clicky. Anyway, I've changed my star from 1 to 3. Original review: I read lots of reviews prior to purchase, and was hoping that this would be an upgrade from my Logitech M570. What drew me to this mouse were: Bigger / weightier ball and Bluetooth connectivity. The connectivity is great (read elsewhere about getting the drivers) and helped free up a port on my Mac which only has two USB-C. The bigger ball is good, but does not flow smoothly and commences movement with a jerk, thus negating any benefit to me of being able to fling my pointer across from a laptop screen right across a 4k monitor without effort. I still have to make several movements to achieve this. Fine control is elusive, when wanting to grab the border of a cell in Excel or work in powerpoint - all basic tasks. I find myself using the laptop touchpad for that. A surprise disappointment was in the scroll wheel, which has very defined and quite noisy positions to move through - which are simply too big. This makes it impossible to smoothly scroll through a document, or make a small movement, everything is a jerk associated with the noise of doing so. I was hoping it would spin if you gave it a strong enough flick, but this is not the case. I now simply avoid using the scroll wheel. Otherwise the button to the left of the ball on the top surface is awkward to get to. I also found the custom button mappings sometimes don't work - but this is not critical. It is curious to me why this has been positively reviewed and recommended by others. As it was so expensive I will continue to use it till it breaks as I cannot afford to throw it away.

I do not normally do reviews, but for this item it is different, so please excuse the essay.. I previously used, quite happily for a number of years a trackball moise that was "thumb driven". I was very happy with it until it decided to expire a few weeks ago. Having seen that there were now index finger driven trackball mice, i thought this is a good idea, may also be more accurate as well. I did my research, and purchased highly recommended and reviewed mouse from a competing manufacturer, and after a couple of days returned it as it was huge, and I mean "huge", and button placement for left and right mouse buttons was not great. So, did some more reseach and came across the Deft Pro from Elecom. All the reviews i saw said great mouse but bad instructions, so i thought how bad can they be? and ordered one. The box arrived next day, Iook the mouse out, looked at the manual and saw it was in Japanese. I also noticed a very small slip of paper tucked in the box, in English advising go to Elecom's website to download the manual in pdf format in English, as well as other languages. I did so, read the manual and the setup was nice and easy, with no additional drivers needed, unless you need to use the additional software, which I do not need at present. So, mouse connected to laptop, and on use found left and right button placement is near perfect. Scrolling the ball is precise and tight, also is very smooth. Would i buy one again? Hopefully the build quality, which feels lightweight but sturdy, will last a few years, so at the time I may need to replace it, I would definately purchase it again. A quick note to the Manufacturer..... Please add a non Japanese manual in the box or a larger note in other languages advising where the instructions can be found, which is the only reason this is a 4 star review and not a 5 star review. I look forward to (hopefully) using this for many years to come.

For a long time, I have been using Logitech Cordless Optical Trackman, which I still believe to be the best trackball ever created. However, it was discontinued years ago and currently goes for ridiculous amounts of money on ebay. After one of my units slowly started breaking, I decided to look for a new trackball. After testing countless trackballs, this is the only one I can honestly say is almost on par with Logitech's. Buttons work slightly crispier than on Logitech's devices, and so does the wheel. I felt a bit more strain on my hand while using it, as compared to Logitech's though - but that was barely noticeable. Currently, I'm using it almost daily and my whole family is quite happy with it. Would definitely recommend buying it, or consider getting the bigger ("huge") version. P.S. Older version (non-pro with small grey ball) is in my opinion too small and puts too much strain on your hand while using it.

Sure it seems a nice mouse, bet its really good, however without English instructions I have little hope of understanding what 4 of the 5 buttons underneath mean (DPI/Symbol, L, H) figured out paring. Want a driver to configure to multiple buttons (on windows) - NOPE not getting them anytime soon. Japanese site crashes. Giving it 5 more minutes before requesting return

I love trackballs, they make use of my fingers rather than my whole arm. I can just rest my wrist on the trackball case and do all the work with my fingertips. No carpal tunnel or other wrist/arm problems. This one is a great size for my hands (medium/large for a woman), and my fingers naturally rest on the curves in the case that they're designed for. The thumb handling the scroll wheel works out surprisingly well. The extra buttons on this device easily map to extra functions in games or to shortcuts in office apps or browsers. The manual that comes with it is in Japanese, but Elecom has beautifully translated manuals online. Another positive is that the one I bought can be used wirelessly or wired: I prefer wired, and the USB cord that comes with it is easily long enough for me. Unlike many wired devices, the cord attaches to a port. I like this because it will make it easy to replace the cord if it ever gets damaged. Downsides: it's not a good size for very large hands, but Elecom has a larger option with a similar layout. If it's your first trackball, be aware that learning to use a trackball will take time. Be patient with yourself.

Great comfort, very easy to use. Took me a week or two to completely adapt. I would love if the scroll wheel was infinite like the Logitech MX mouse

User friendly

These reviews seem to cover several models of Elecom trackballs - this review is specifically for the DEFT Pro model M-DPT1MR (middle size, between small blue-ball and the "Huge"). I have tried several trackballs from several manufacturers, trying to find a decent replacement for my failing Microsoft Trackball Explorer (MTSE). The M-DPT1MR is the closest substitute I have found yet. Although the basic shape does not fit my hand quite as well as the MTSE, the shape still is close enough to provide much of the same comfortable ergonomic fit. The main difference is the lack of a "landing area" at the wrist end of the trackball. With the M-DPT1MR, your wrist will rest on the table instead of up on the trackball itself. HOWEVER, I have found that using the proper wrist pad makes an acceptable substitute, positioning my wrist/palm in a very similar position as on the MSTE (see my comparison photo). The M-DPT1MR looks smaller in the photo, but with the extension of the wrist pad, the hand position is very similar. From the photo, the M-DPT1MR ball looks much smaller than the ball of the MSTE, but the measured diameters are very similar (44mm vs 46mm, respectively). I do not notice any difference due to ball size during usage. Ball operation is very smooth. The center and right button placement is not quite as comfortable as the MSTE - the buttons are a bit too close to the ball, and a bit smaller than the MSTE's. But, I have been able to adapt after using the M-DPT1MR for a while. Not too hard a transition. As other reviews have noted, the scroll wheel has a noticeable "clicking" or notched feel. I personally do not have an issue with this - I only really notice it when scrolling long pages quickly, but even then it is not too bad. Seems to smooth out over time. The wheel's click operation is a bit stiffer than the MSTE, but again surmountable, at least for me. The main left-click button seems perfectly natural for me. The Elecom Mouse Assistant software seems to provide all the control I need, for speeds, inertial momentum, and button assignments. I could map the buttons just as I had done for the MSTE. I like the extra buttons for custom mapping, but frankly have not used them much so far. I do wish it was easier to find an English version of the user's manual - it does not come in the packaging, nor is there a clue about where to find it. Unfortunately, Amazon does not allow me to try to help by posting the links here. All in all, so far I have been quite satisfied with the M-DPT1MR. For many people, it may certainly be a reasonable alternative for the MS Trackball Explorer.

In sintesi, dopo l'huge ho deciso di passare alla tracball anche su portatile, optando per il compagno "deft pro" (l'huge wi-fi era troppo grande) primo impatto: Top! E cosa importante! non ho neanche dovuto modificarlo sostituendo le sfere originali perchè precise( a quando pare su questa versione pro ci stanno attenti a mettere le sfere precise)! Tempi di adattamento: gli stessi per l'huge! cioè per chi proviene da una trackball simile quasi zero per chi lo sua la prima volta ...ci vuole da prenderci la mano(anche con qualche videogioco) un po' scomodo è il pulsante selezione per i dpi che si trova sotto la base! avrei preferito il pulsante dpi al posto dell pulsante di selezione frequenza bluethooth(che sarebbe stato benissimo sotto) utilizzabile con bluethoot- wifi- cavo lungo 1,5 m.(nella foto vedrete una mia fissazione che di è proteggere le decalcomanie stampate... non fateci caso!) pro: -Platiche ok non danno la sensazione di essere cheap ,la parte superiore è tramata con un bell effetto dove poggia tutta la mano(circa 18 cm dall' medio fino all inizio del polso). -Posizione della mano risulta rilassata anche se più vincolata rispetto all' huge (e anche per questo modello su internet si possono trovare supporti da stampare in 3d per aumentare l'inclinazione è la comodità). -Buona la disposizione dei tasti principali; che sono ben disposti e facilmente raggiungibili. Anche se come tasto destro mi trovo meglio ad usare l'ultimo(fn3) con l'aulare mentre indice e medio controllano la sfera! -La sfera è 44 mm facilmente manovrabile (vola) è sopratutto le sfere che sono precisie (pare che siano apposta selezionate)! - utilizzabile con bluethoot- wifi- cavo lungo 1,5 m contro (ma lo considero proprio inerzia) -il pulante di selezione dei dpi è posizionato sotto la base e ogni volta per cambiarli si deve alzare il mouse, (con led visibile ma discreto che si illumina dagli spazi aperti dalla rotella, - rotella che risulta essere un po'rumorosa rispetto all' huge). - Avrei preferito il pulsante dpi al posto dell pulsante di selezione frequenza bluethooth ! software: software decente con possibilità di personalizzare il mouse con diversi profili. Essendo il mouse senza memoria interna, si deve avere in funzione il software in background per averlo personalizzato. e qui mi sembra che sia da migliorare! nel fatto che essendo "vincolato a tenerlo attivo) sarebbe bello che il software riconoscesse i programmi in uso, è in automatico caricasse il profilo in automatico (altri software lo fanno) invece ogni volta prima di utilizzare un profilo per un determinato programma lo si deve selezionare. pps per la elecom.... sarebbe bello se potete mettere sul mercato almeno la sfera trakball di ricambio, visto che è la parte che con l'uso può rovinarsi di piu !