Vintage Kensington trackballs
- vivalarevolución
- formerly prdlm2009
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Beam spring
- Main mouse: Kangaroo
- Favorite switch: beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0097
Hey all,
I am looking to buy a vintage Kensington trackball or two. The particular kind I am looking for is like the current Kensington Expert with a flatter profile and four buttons in an off-white color. I am wondering about models and part numbers. The ones that I have found are these. Are there any other models that are similar that I could be looking for?
64210 with ADB connector
64215 with serial or PS/2 connector
I am looking to buy a vintage Kensington trackball or two. The particular kind I am looking for is like the current Kensington Expert with a flatter profile and four buttons in an off-white color. I am wondering about models and part numbers. The ones that I have found are these. Are there any other models that are similar that I could be looking for?
64210 with ADB connector
64215 with serial or PS/2 connector
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- Location: UK
- Main keyboard: Filco ZERO green alps, Model F 122 Terminal
- Main mouse: Ducky Secret / Roller Mouse Pro 1
- Favorite switch: MX Mount Topre / Model F Buckling
- DT Pro Member: 0167
If you want the older ones thats the only 2 i know of.
I am not 100% as i have never had one but that old one should be the right size for a standard US pool ball. They help massively on the original Ltrack
I am not 100% as i have never had one but that old one should be the right size for a standard US pool ball. They help massively on the original Ltrack
- seebart
- Offtopicthority Instigator
- Location: Germany
- Main keyboard: Rotation
- Main mouse: Steelseries Sensei
- Favorite switch: IBM capacitive buckling spring
- DT Pro Member: 0061
- Contact:
I'd love one of these and I'm sure I won't have any luck finding one.
- vivalarevolución
- formerly prdlm2009
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Beam spring
- Main mouse: Kangaroo
- Favorite switch: beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0097
I could proxy for you, if necessary. There are tons on Ebay here.seebart wrote: ↑I'd love one of these and I'm sure I won't have any luck finding one.
I did purchase the 64215 with both serial and PS/2. Excited to plug directly into on the PS/2 port on my rig and free up a USB port.
Also, I did find there is a part# 64217, which has a USB connection.
- vivalarevolución
- formerly prdlm2009
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Beam spring
- Main mouse: Kangaroo
- Favorite switch: beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0097
The Kensington Expert Mouse 5.0 (part# 64215) with serial/mouse port connecters arrived yesterday (Oddly a few hours after the tracking said it arrived).
It didn't work on Linux Manjaro at first, but the next time I tried with it plugged it before I woke up my computer, it did work. Not sure what it is going on there.
It has the basic three button functionality, which is all I am looking for, but the cursor movement is a little slow. It actually has a more robust feel than any current Kensington trackball on the market. I think the CST trackballs are the only ones on the market with a better build quality.
It didn't work on Linux Manjaro at first, but the next time I tried with it plugged it before I woke up my computer, it did work. Not sure what it is going on there.
It has the basic three button functionality, which is all I am looking for, but the cursor movement is a little slow. It actually has a more robust feel than any current Kensington trackball on the market. I think the CST trackballs are the only ones on the market with a better build quality.
Last edited by vivalarevolución on 18 Sep 2016, 14:12, edited 1 time in total.
- elecplus
- Location: Kerrville, TX, USA
- DT Pro Member: 0082
- Contact:
I have one of these, new in the box. https://www.kensington.com/us/us/7024/l ... 934XPkrLZ4 PS/2 and USB.
- vivalarevolución
- formerly prdlm2009
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Beam spring
- Main mouse: Kangaroo
- Favorite switch: beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0097
Any idea what the buttons on top do? I did not bother with that model because I figured the top buttons would be useless on Linux.
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- Location: CZ
- Main keyboard: Kinesis Advantage2, JIS ThinkPad,…
- Main mouse: I like (some) trackballs, e.g., L-Trac
- Favorite switch: #vintage ghost Cherry MX Black (+ thick POM caps)
- DT Pro Member: -
They should be configurable. According to Amazon reviews, it should be usable with generic software like X-Mouse Button Control (whatever that is).
- drevyek
- Location: US-CA
- Main keyboard: Leopold FC980C
- Main mouse: Kensington Slimblade
- Favorite switch: Alps Orange
- DT Pro Member: -
Just got a 64217 in the post. Very cheap on eBay, USB converted. The trackball is very smooth, and it works perfectly. The buttons are well stabilized, and feel fantastic regardless of where they're pressed. The Blue label is also a big plus. Looking forward to replacing the ball with a pool ball, for a bit of colour.
- vivalarevolución
- formerly prdlm2009
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Beam spring
- Main mouse: Kangaroo
- Favorite switch: beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0097
I agree with your experience. The mouse is very solid, the trackball is smooth, and the buttons feel great to touch compared to modern trackballs.drevyek wrote: ↑Just got a 64217 in the post. Very cheap on eBay, USB converted. The trackball is very smooth, and it works perfectly. The buttons are well stabilized, and feel fantastic regardless of where they're pressed. The Blue label is also a big plus. Looking forward to replacing the ball with a pool ball, for a bit of colour.
Forgot about the pool ball compatibility. I will be getting one of those. Probably something loud and obnoxious:
Spoiler:
- vivalarevolución
- formerly prdlm2009
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Beam spring
- Main mouse: Kangaroo
- Favorite switch: beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0097
When I was googling around about my Kensington Expert Mouse I found mention of some third-party software that will work to allow button customization with the vintage Kensington mice. I can't think of it off the top of my head. Maybe this is the one that I found mentioned:drevyek wrote: ↑Any luck in getting a driver to configure the buttons for windows? I tried using the Kensington driver package, but it doesn't accept it.
http://www.highrez.co.uk/downloads/XMou ... ontrol.htm
In other news, I unplugged my Kensington Expert Mouse from my Linux machine and now it will not read the mouse after I plugged it back in. Fickle monster.
- vivalarevolución
- formerly prdlm2009
- Location: USA
- Main keyboard: IBM Beam spring
- Main mouse: Kangaroo
- Favorite switch: beam spring
- DT Pro Member: 0097
Okay, I got the Kensington working again when I unplugged and replugged the serial-to-PS/2 adapter, but it all turned off my computer when I did this. Odd, but it now works.