March 25, 2003
TurboRing RIP
I'm having quite a hardware week. Yesterday the laptop audio starts acting up and today my beloved Kensington TurboRing breaks.
I *love* this thing and I come to find it's been discontinued. The Kensington support people are great. The unit's in warranty and they're sending me out a free replacement. Unfortunately it's not a TurboRing but their TurboBall model instead.
Still, I'm going to have a tough time getting used to a new trackball. You wouldn't think it'd matter so much but it takes me weeks to get used to a new one. It just amazes me that nobody else has made a scrolling ring like the one on the TurboRing. This is sooooo much better than using a mousewheel. If they put a ScrollRing on one of their TurboMouse Pro I'd buy it in a second. I have a regular TurboMouse (with a billiards 8-ball in it) and I like it well enough. But without a scrollring I find it annoying to use.
I've also tried the units from Microsoft and they're nice but don't really fit my hand. I don't like rolling the ball with my thumb either. I prefer to use fingers and leave the buttons to the thumb/pinky.
I've gotten three different trackballs fixed by them over the years. I have to say their retail price being higher than others has been completely offset by their warranty policies. I called, gave them my serial number and they're sending a new one to me, free of charge.
Ah well, at least a new one's on the way, thanks Kensington!
