Spaceball or Pilot??

I'm looking for recommendations - which is best, a Spaceball 5000 or a SpacePilot?

The price is similar but the products are quite different.

Thanks

Reply to
Flynt
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I much prefer the shape of the SpacePilot. If the price is the same, I would certainly go with it as it has the display that tells you the function of all your set buttons. But, the flip side is that the round shape of the Spaceball may be more suitable to some people in that it may fit their hand better. I would suggest trying both before you make a purchase. Call your VAR and see if they have a demo of each.

WT

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Reply to
Wayne Tiffany

I went through the same decision making process several weeks ago. I fully agree with Wayne's comments. I concluded that some of the features on the SpacePilot like being able to see the function key assignments were also worthwhile--I was never able to tryout either; I live 300 miles from anyplace that would sell either product. In the end I purchase a SpaceBall 5000 USB because I was able to get it for less than one third of the list price on Ebay. Even considering I am not up to speed with it, I find it great tool.

Marty

Reply to
Marty

We have one SpaceBall where I work (with at least a dozen people on SolidWorks). It's funny, because this device keeps getting passed around to different people. It's neat at first, but you soon realize that you just can't beat the "one hand on the keyboard and one on the mouse" method, assuming you know how to use your hotkeys efficiently. I dare say there is no faster method.

Reply to
Fye

As the keeper of the hotkeys list, I firmly believe in the usage of hotkeys for speed and efficiency. However, there are times that I use my SpacePilot a bunch. One such time is when I am mulling over a model to figure out how to do something. While doing that I am constantly turning, rolling, etc. to look at it from all directions in order to find a solution. The SpacePilot is certainly the best tool for that time since no hotkeys can do that.

WT

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Reply to
Wayne Tiffany

I have a Spacemouse Plus, when I first got the thing about 3 years ago I thought it was a complete waste of money! It was awkward to use, a real pain the ---.

However I persevered with it, I had spent NZ $1,400 so I was motivated. After about 2 weeks of use, I could not live without it. A Spacemouse does take some time to get used to, watch someone who has used one for sometime I'll guarantee they are faster and more productive than someone who uses mouse and keyboard alone.

John Layne

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Reply to
John Layne

I always tell people that a spaceball is one of those things that untill you use it, you will never know why you went so long without it. As far as choice, I think the biggest issue is what you want to grab, a disc like thing on the pilot, or a ball on the spaceball. A good resource for cheap spaceballs is Ebay, especially if you can use serial connection. I have bought 2 from there, and have had no problems. Both were under $100 and in good shapr.

Reply to
SoCalMike

Really? Everyone in our office has a spaceball, and no one would give it up. I'm probably the only one who even uses the programmable buttons - and sure, I use hotkeys on the keyboard as well - but _everyone_ here swears the things pay for themselves in under 2 weeks (at eBay prices).

Reply to
TheGearDaddy

Sorry, my previous post was in response to FYE, who said:

Reply to
TheGearDaddy

The display with the current functions is a plus if you use multiple applications. We used UG and Pro/E and the one designer I loaned the SpacePilot to was in a middle of a project that required him to switch between the two programs several times a day. He loved having the display to remind him of which button activate which function. Of course, he only had it for 3 weeks, so if you had one for a year the use of the menus would become less important as they become programmed into your operating procedure.

Reply to
Ben Loosli

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