Microsoft Trackball Optical Mouse, Trackball (D67-00005)

I've had the Microsoft Trackball Optical for 5 years now and I still love it. Not only is it plug-and-play but it's very simple to use. It only takes a couple of minutes to install the necessary software and program the extra buttons. I do a lot of data analysis so I set mine for copy and paste and it is great. I really think it makes it a lot easier and faster for making simple repetitive operations. The scroll wheel hasn't given me any problems like my previous mouse did do I'm very happy with it.

I've heard you don't need to clean it but that's just not true. Your hands are never perfectly clean and the oil from your thumb will eventually coat the trackball and collect lint on the ball bearings. Cleaning the trackball is far easier than cleaning a mouse though. You just wipe your finger across the ball bearings to remove the lint and maybe wipe a tissue over the track ball and you're done. It takes less than a minute to clean. The frequency of cleaning will of course depend on your personal habits. Oils will also accumulate on the buttons and those take a little more time to clean but that's not necessary on a regular basis.