While the sad fact of the matter is that mice grab both the lions share of the spot light and sales they are just not as effective a tool as the lowly trackball. A good trackball can be more precise, requires less desktop space, and even less muscle movement than any mouse ever devised. They are even less likely to cause repetitive stress injuries. This combination of speed, precision with a proven track record of lower RSI’s is why many professional gaming athletes would use a modern trackball in a New York minute if they were not being paid to do use a mouse. It is a dirty little secret but it is true that sponsors of these athletes get final say on what they wear, what they use and even what they drink.
This however does not mean you have to follow the herd and use what the advertisers tells you to use. You can use whatever you want. At the end of this review maybe you will agree with us, maybe you will not, but you will have a lot more data to base your decision on. As users of trackballs, in one form or another, for over 30 years we do however have a sneaking suspicion you may just be interested enough to think outside the box and pick one up to see for yourself if they really are superior.
To this end, we are going to show you a great example of what is available when you think outside the box. To be wee bit less vague we are going to put both the Logitech MX Ergo and MX Ergo Plus (both of which have the same MSRP of $99.99 USD) under the microscope and compare and contrast them not only against themselves but against two of the best ‘balls available today: Logitech’s very own wireless M570 ($40 USD), and the inexpensive but oh so potent ELECOM M-XT3 series ($30 for the wired version about $40 for wireless version). These two were chosen as they both are ‘thumb trackballs’ (don’t worry we will go over exactly what this means in this review) and both are models we use almost exclusively on our own rigs. In other words, we will not only be seeing if the new MX Ergo series is indeed an upgrade to the M570 but if we feel they are a big enough improvement to justify their additional expense.
So without further ado let the battle of the balls begin!
