SmartNav first impressions
Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2009 3:30 pm
Okay, after nagging you guys for weeks about FPS and a few other things, I finally got a SmartNav 4 in my hot little hands.
First impressions?
Background: I've suffered with tendonitis/RSI/tennis elbow/etc for five years. It's cost me priceless things I'll never get back (like lifting my little children). I haven't been able to stop and let my arms heal or we'd lose our house, so I've had to work with the pain. I've tried all kinds of things that have helped to some degree (the best are ergo keyboards and Workrave resting software), but I am still experiencing pain in whichever arm I use my trackball in.
Review:
The SmartNav IS all it's cracked up to be. I'm a software developer, and if any developers out there are wondering how well they can use it in a dev environment, just drop all your fears. I can easily get the little plus-minus boxes to expand and shrink regions in Visual Studio, and I've only been using the thing a little while. I also use dual monitors and I'm finding the smartnav faster than a trackball (on top of the time saved by not reaching for it).
In spite of neck exercises over the last couple of weeks to prepare, I did experience some stiffness in the neck, but as you'll see elsewhere in these forums, it's a newbie thing. you start out using your head like a joystick, but over time you stop thinking about it and the cursor just seems to go where you want it to. Plus your neck muscles learn to compnsate, I guess.
I'm hitting F12 every few minutes because my centering keeps shifting with use, but I suspect that's a matter of finding the right speed. I'll play with settings until I get it right.
I've tried it with Half-Life 2 and was absolutely useless. Couldn't hit someone at point blank range on easy mode. That was when I first started using it though, and I'm improving rapidly at it (no, I'm not a hopeless player. I'm actually pretty good with a mouse. Well, was). I'll compile tips as I learn (eg when your centering drifts in-game you can't recenter, but you can if you hit escape and do it at the menu), and release them here when I can play it well.
Minor gripes:
-The three-point grips don't fit all that well on either my monitor at home (its top is a little smooth) or where my dual monitors meet. The four point crab style grips of the trackir would probably give me more options.
-Sure, I ordered a TrackHat with the SmartNav, but I still thought that at least one reflective dot would have been in the box.
-Nitpick: the smartnav logo in the setup and deployment wizard is scaled up so much that it's blocky. While this is an extremely professional product, it just takes the edge of the professionalism at the time when the user is forming their first impression.
So my mouse arm is now free of pain, because there isn't a mouse arm. I was also a bit apprehensive what the guys at work would think, but I just won the "cool factor" prize around here
Five stars!
First impressions?
Background: I've suffered with tendonitis/RSI/tennis elbow/etc for five years. It's cost me priceless things I'll never get back (like lifting my little children). I haven't been able to stop and let my arms heal or we'd lose our house, so I've had to work with the pain. I've tried all kinds of things that have helped to some degree (the best are ergo keyboards and Workrave resting software), but I am still experiencing pain in whichever arm I use my trackball in.
Review:
The SmartNav IS all it's cracked up to be. I'm a software developer, and if any developers out there are wondering how well they can use it in a dev environment, just drop all your fears. I can easily get the little plus-minus boxes to expand and shrink regions in Visual Studio, and I've only been using the thing a little while. I also use dual monitors and I'm finding the smartnav faster than a trackball (on top of the time saved by not reaching for it).
In spite of neck exercises over the last couple of weeks to prepare, I did experience some stiffness in the neck, but as you'll see elsewhere in these forums, it's a newbie thing. you start out using your head like a joystick, but over time you stop thinking about it and the cursor just seems to go where you want it to. Plus your neck muscles learn to compnsate, I guess.
I'm hitting F12 every few minutes because my centering keeps shifting with use, but I suspect that's a matter of finding the right speed. I'll play with settings until I get it right.
I've tried it with Half-Life 2 and was absolutely useless. Couldn't hit someone at point blank range on easy mode. That was when I first started using it though, and I'm improving rapidly at it (no, I'm not a hopeless player. I'm actually pretty good with a mouse. Well, was). I'll compile tips as I learn (eg when your centering drifts in-game you can't recenter, but you can if you hit escape and do it at the menu), and release them here when I can play it well.
Minor gripes:
-The three-point grips don't fit all that well on either my monitor at home (its top is a little smooth) or where my dual monitors meet. The four point crab style grips of the trackir would probably give me more options.
-Sure, I ordered a TrackHat with the SmartNav, but I still thought that at least one reflective dot would have been in the box.
-Nitpick: the smartnav logo in the setup and deployment wizard is scaled up so much that it's blocky. While this is an extremely professional product, it just takes the edge of the professionalism at the time when the user is forming their first impression.
So my mouse arm is now free of pain, because there isn't a mouse arm. I was also a bit apprehensive what the guys at work would think, but I just won the "cool factor" prize around here
Five stars!