steveastanga Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Which do you prefer and would recommend and why? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookatthisguy Posted September 7, 2011 Share Posted September 7, 2011 Trackpad. Multi-touch is non-existent (and potentially obscene) with a trackball. Of course, I was never really into this game before trackpads were around, so maybe I shouldn't be answering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveastanga Posted September 7, 2011 Author Share Posted September 7, 2011 Hey thanks. I appreciate your opinion irrespective of how long you've been around. I had been leaning towards the trackpad myself, but have never tried a trackball. Most 'big studio' vids seem to have a trackball by the desk, so it made me wonder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBPlayer Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 +1 for the trackpad 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pranaearth Posted September 8, 2011 Share Posted September 8, 2011 From personal experience, trackballs were never very comfortable for me to use. They always hurt my wrists. I like the concept of trackpads, and I even tried it for a bit. I seem to float back to the mouse over and over again. What I'd really love is a retinal to screen interface that could understand my vocal commands. Silly I know, but I HTH. P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveastanga Posted September 8, 2011 Author Share Posted September 8, 2011 What I'd really love is a retinal to screen interface that could understand my vocal commands. Excellent. And could that be equipped with a macro, so's I don't have to say "milk & no sugar please" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pranaearth Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Excellent. And could that be equipped with a macro, so's I don't have to say "milk & no sugar please" I prefer Earl Grey. Hot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruari Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 +1 for the trackpad 8) +1 For the trackpad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookatthisguy Posted September 9, 2011 Share Posted September 9, 2011 Hey thanks. I appreciate your opinion irrespective of how long you've been around. I had been leaning towards the trackpad myself, but have never tried a trackball. Most 'big studio' vids seem to have a trackball by the desk, so it made me wonder. Trackpads as capable as they are now are really a more modern development, I think. I mean, they've been around for a while, but adding multi-touch and surface spaces as large as the Magic Trackpad are new, at least as far as I know. So I doubt if many larger studios will have trackpads yet, as their desks are probably not as new (sidebar: ARE there any large desks that have them yet?). Though I think the reasoning for those desks having a trackball is the same as me opting for a trackpad: no need for space dedicated to moving a mouse around, and why use your whole arm to do something your fingers alone can manage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Robin Posted September 12, 2011 Share Posted September 12, 2011 Trackpad.... Apple's Magic Trackpad. I had a wireless mouse before but now much prefer the trackpad although I didn't expect to like it. I don't like voice commands. My car has such an option on its SatNav but I don't use it. I hate predictive spelling too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viv Savage Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I prefer the Trackpad as well. I started out with a Logitech Trackball, but once uponn a time ago I got a Trackpad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikygum Posted September 13, 2011 Share Posted September 13, 2011 I use a Kensington Trackball and really like it. The main reason I like it is that it navigates easily. By that I mean that I the circular wheel around the ball to scroll up/down and left/right (by setting one button to switch between up vs left), it's very quick to scrol around. And I use the ball whenever I want to move stuff around. I have the other 3 buttons setup to be a double click, click and hold, and something else. But it's very configurable. You need to look at what the trackball can do that the trackpad can't. Can the track pad scroll up/down AND left/right? If so, it might win here, but the trackball is way better than the mouse at least the Kensington is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookatthisguy Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I use a Kensington Trackball and really like it. The main reason I like it is that it navigates easily. By that I mean that I the circular wheel around the ball to scroll up/down and left/right (by setting one button to switch between up vs left), it's very quick to scrol around. And I use the ball whenever I want to move stuff around. I have the other 3 buttons setup to be a double click, click and hold, and something else. But it's very configurable. You need to look at what the trackball can do that the trackpad can't. Can the track pad scroll up/down AND left/right? If so, it might win here, but the trackball is way better than the mouse at least the Kensington is. As far as an Apple Magic Trackpad goes, yes it can. The key, again, is (smart) use of multi-touch gestures, which trackballs inherently can't offer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikygum Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Hmm, I'm guessing the Macbook Pro's pad is the same as the trackpad and can do what it can do. I'll have to look into that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 i had a wireless mouse with my macbook, but abandoned it some time ago, as the trackpad could do so much more. several years back, had a trackball, but just didn't feel right. the trackpad on the macbook: priceless. gestures RULE, and i expect to see more of them (there are already shareware apps that let you do more) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikygum Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I think I need to point out that trackpads suck at click and drag. Many drum machines, sequencers even softsynths utilize click + drag. Trying it on the trackpad doesn't work well and is time consuming if you are not smashing the track pad down. I was thinking about getting a portable trackpad, but the more I use my programs, the more I see it is a hinderance. I was using my Macbook Pro's trackpad and not even the right click on the bottom left corner was working well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 I think I need to point out that trackpads suck at click and drag. Many drum machines, sequencers even softsynths utilize click + drag. Trying it on the trackpad doesn't work well and is time consuming if you are not smashing the track pad down. I was thinking about getting a portable trackpad, but the more I use my programs, the more I see it is a hinderance. I was using my Macbook Pro's trackpad and not even the right click on the bottom left corner was working well. sounds like your trackpad may need fixing? i have no such problems here, click and drag is extremely simple... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
el-bo Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 still on an older mbp which only has basic 2-finger swipe functionality would love to hear some more of the gesture functionality within logic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Robin Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 As is usually the case, how easy or not you find something to use is often down to personal technique. For example, if drag n dropping something is tricky with my TrackPad I'll use my thumb to keep it anchored down while I use another finger to drag. Using two hands helps too. Perhaps because I have always done things with my fingers all my life I may be quite skilled at touch and gestures. It ceratinly feels much more fluid and realxing than any mouse. I'm told I have good hands but perhaps I should say no more! The trick is to go into it with a positive attitude and liking it. Apple's Magic TrackPad is far superior to the pads on laptops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikygum Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 sounds like your trackpad may need fixing? i have no such problems here, click and drag is extremely simple... So I found out the issue. When I use it inside Logic it works. But I was refering to FXpansion Geist. Apparently it doesn't work to tap/click and drag a event. Geist already utilizes the click and drag up/down as moving the velocity up or down, which I like. But this doesn't allow to select and drag the event. I'm going to have to check with some Geist users since this seems to only be in Geist. Of course I can click on the 'Select' tool in Geist to do this easily, but I want to find a more streamlined way. [EDIT] *** I figured it out. Have to hold shift or CMD + shift (for multi selection) and THEN double click. I was missing that. It pays to learn/read up on something more beforehand ;-P It was helpful to see if was working for you guys though so I knew to investigate further. But...... one thing I don't like on the Trackpad is that you actually have to click (press down) to right click on the bottom right of the trackpad. Not sure why a tap in the bottom right doesn't function as a right click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookatthisguy Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 sounds like your trackpad may need fixing? i have no such problems here, click and drag is extremely simple... So I found out the issue. When I use it inside Logic it works. But I was refering to FXpansion Geist. Apparently it doesn't work to tap/click and drag a event. Geist already utilizes the click and drag up/down as moving the velocity up or down, which I like. But this doesn't allow to select and drag the event. I'm going to have to check with some Geist users since this seems to only be in Geist. Of course I can click on the 'Select' tool in Geist to do this easily, but I want to find a more streamlined way. [EDIT] *** I figured it out. Have to hold shift or CMD + shift (for multi selection) and THEN double click. I was missing that. It pays to learn/read up on something more beforehand ;-P It was helpful to see if was working for you guys though so I knew to investigate further. But...... one thing I don't like on the Trackpad is that you actually have to click (press down) to right click on the bottom right of the trackpad. Not sure why a tap in the bottom right doesn't function as a right click. Interesting—in Snow Leopard, it seems you can activate "Tap to Click", and you can activate "Secondary Click (Bottom Right Corner)", but tapping in the bottom right corner ≠ secondary click. I assume it's the same in Leopard. Wonder why Apple would leave that out…? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6smith Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 But...... one thing I don't like on the Trackpad is that you actually have to click (press down) to right click on the bottom right of the trackpad. Not sure why a tap in the bottom right doesn't function as a right click. ...or use ctrl + left tap or two finger tap (select in preferences) to achieve the same thing.... (I don't think this is a Lion only function?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stikygum Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Ok, wow, this has been a good learning session. So I didn't realize that tap and click are different. Because I thought when you allow the trackpad to have the tap function as a click, they would be the same duplicate function. But on the trackpad apparently you can do more and seperate this. So now I got it. I can indeed use tap with 2 fingers or ctrl tap to 'secondary tap ( which I was calling click)'. Didn't know Secondary Tap and Secondary Click were two different things. I guess I'm not a fan of the Secondary click (in the bottom right or left corner, however you customize it). I would like that to be accessed with a left bottom corner tap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Robin Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Ok, wow, this has been a good learning session. So I didn't realize that tap and click are different. Because I thought when you allow the trackpad to have the tap function as a click, they would be the same duplicate function. But on the trackpad apparently you can do more and seperate this. So now I got it. I can indeed use tap with 2 fingers or ctrl tap to 'secondary tap ( which I was calling click)'. Didn't know Secondary Tap and Secondary Click were two different things. I guess I'm not a fan of the Secondary click (in the bottom right or left corner, however you customize it). I would like that to be accessed with a left bottom corner tap. .... x 2 I didn't realise this either. I also don't understand when I would use a 2-finger tap - To typically action what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarlosUnderground Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 I use two finger tap as Right Click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookatthisguy Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Ok, wow, this has been a good learning session. So I didn't realize that tap and click are different. Because I thought when you allow the trackpad to have the tap function as a click, they would be the same duplicate function. But on the trackpad apparently you can do more and seperate this. So now I got it. I can indeed use tap with 2 fingers or ctrl tap to 'secondary tap ( which I was calling click)'. Didn't know Secondary Tap and Secondary Click were two different things. I guess I'm not a fan of the Secondary click (in the bottom right or left corner, however you customize it). I would like that to be accessed with a left bottom corner tap. I'd suggest just trying to get used to the secondary tap with two fingers. Really, it's one of those things that, once you get the hang of it, you don't even think about anymore. Just like some people have said about Lion's "natural scrolling," it just takes some patience to get used to the concept. (Personally, I have tapping disabled on my MacBook Pro, as my fingers have a tendency to brush across the trackpad, and all kinds of mayhem have ensued from accidental taps. Plus a bonus, people tend to freak out when they try using my laptop (not expecting to have to click a button in the same place where you move your cursor, because to them, that'd be like des Prez writing something using nothing but tritones), and it's hilarious. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hsc882 Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 I use trackpad a lot, so when I try trackball I just feel uncomfortable, maybe because I never use the trackball before . But personally I still prefer trackpad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.