I work therefore I ache: Logitech aims to ease WFH pains with Ergo M575 mouse
- Reference: 1606210206
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/11/24/review_logitech_ergo_m575/
- Source link:
There's no shortage of ergonomic tech products designed to avoid that reckoning, from keyboards designed to reduce wrist movement, to standing desks intended to improve posture. You can also get ergonomic mice, like the subject of today's review, the [1]Logitech Ergo M575 .
This is a bit of a weird duck. In terms of design, the Ergo M575 is remarkably similar to the Logitech MX Master 3 mouse released mid-2019. Look a bit closer, however, and you'll start to notice some differences. Firstly, there's no laser pointer. In its place, you'll spot a bulbous silver trackball mounted on the side, where the thumb typically rests. This is how you move the cursor around the screen.
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I was surprised how quickly I took to this. It is, after all, a completely different form factor to an ordinary mouse, which you have to drag across a surface to work. At first, I struggled with the relatively slow tracking speed of the cursor. My home office setup has three monitors: two external displays sat side-by-side, as well as the screen built into my MacBook Air. Moving the cursor from one side to the other initially proved slow, requiring several repeated rolls of the trackball.
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Eventually, I figured out how much force I needed to use to get the desired motion, and over time the Ergo M575 started to feel natural. Comfortable, even. There's something quite nice about being able to move a mouse with just your thumb.
The rest of the design is geared towards reducing wrist movement. The forward and backward buttons, which are typically integrated onto the side of a mouse, instead sit flush next to the left mouse button. You can easily reach them with your index finger. Each requires a decent amount of actuation to record a press.
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The Ergo M575 allows you to connect via a USB receiver or Bluetooth. The latter is particularly welcome, given the propensity for laptop manufacturers to remove legacy USB-A ports. Power comes via a AA battery. Logitech reckons you can get up to 24 months' worth of usage from one battery – although we haven't been able to independently confirmed this.
Logitech's Ergo M575 has a starting price of $49.99, or £44.99 in Blighty. And while it won't be for everyone, it's a remarkably comfortable bit of kit to use. If you're worried about RSI or carpal tunnel syndrome, it's one to consider. By design, it all but eliminates any wrist movement. The choice of connectivity, solid mouse switches, and great build quality were all positive too. ®
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[1] https://secure.logitech.com/en-gb/products/mice/m575-ergo-wireless-trackball.910-005870.html?crid=7
[2] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/11/23/ergom5751.jpg
[3] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/11/23/ergom5752.jpg
[4] https://regmedia.co.uk/2020/11/23/ergom5753.jpg
[5] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
They're a cludge unfortunately. Back in the day (maybe 10 years discontinued) Logitech made the Optical TrackMan - ergonomic/off-centre trackball where the thumb handled left click and the middle 3 fingers the ball - fantastic things they were. You can still get them on Ebay though even second hand they go for over £100 .
There was some kind of patent issue (would love to know the details) which prevented Logitech continuing this design hence they switched to these awful thumb-ball or non-biased (symmetrical) centre ball designs (trackman marble etc) - all useless if you need precision, and physically uncomfortable in the case of the centre balls.
I guess it was Elecom (Japan) who owned the patent as they produce a couple of trackballs (small and huge) with the same ergonomic design as the original Trackman. The large one is corded only AFAIK, but certainly the best trackball I've used - also have a couple of the smaller versions which are cordless, though too small for my hands.
No! Thumb operated FTW!
The problem with your fingers is that ALL of the tendons that move them pass through the carpal tunnel, and if any of them start to swell for whatever reason then you're on the downward path to carpal tunnel syndrome.
The tendons for your thumb are all external to that tunnel, and so if they start to swell ...... you don't even notice.
The first trackman I had was a cable version from the earlier 2000's
I have the M570 which is wireless and pretty much the same
M570 - got a few - so I wonder what the difference besides colour ?
Mine hook into the universal receiver so I have the keyboard and if the other half wants to work here she uses a logitech standard mouse also hooked into the univeral reciever - no cables to faff with
M570 - got a few - so I wonder what the difference besides colour ? Well, funny you should mention colour. I think the big difference is Blue tooth in this M575. And those extra buttons are a bit of a change in design. But mostly Bluetooth.
ETA: And thank goodness. I've preferred Bluetooth for trackballs & mice since long before Apple jumped on the Bluetooth bandwagon, leading to manufacturers like Logitech finally starting to include it. I hated having another IR or RF dongle for every pointing device & keyboard that I couldn't get in a Bluetooth version.
So effectively an upgrade to my old trusted M570 trackballs. I absolutely love them.
Try it out, and don't look back! I don't see how anyone can be happy dragging a mouse around.
For work, I can agree. Personally, I have been using cordless mice for ages now and I'm quite used to it, so feel no need to change. But for gaming there is no substitute - especially in the FPS genre. You need to move that mouse to precisely where you can blow the zombie's head off and a regular mouse becomes instinctive, natural - no trackball can compete.
I disagree – I use my M570 for FPS, and I find it has better precision.
Totally agree with this. I've been using an M570 for years after suffering from RSI - and I no longer get the pain.
Having the Bluetooth option might make me upgrade as the USB dongle is a pain...
I know someone who, upon starting his first computer based job, trained himself to use his left hand to control the mouse in addition to his right. He would then periodically switch the hand he controlled the mouse with.
This is anecdotal, but there's no reason it would not help reduce the risk of RSI in his dominant wrist. Some people might find the training in process easier than others.
Any other tips out there? Does anyone switch between mouse and graphics tablet, or between touchpad and rollerball?
I was told to do this by a - I was going to say "grey-beard-sysadmin" but she was a woman, so maybe we'll skip the beard, but a senior unix admin anyhow - I met many, many years ago when I was still at school. It was one of the better bits of life advice I was ever given and I wish I'd started doing it earlier.
I'm a "lefty" but many years of computer support means that I'm equally happy with a mouse in the right hand.
I haven't had a mouse for about 20 years - I use IBM or Lenovo trackpoint keyboards. Very convenient and my desk can be as untidy as I like.
I regularly swap, but then I started out as a lefty, before attending the local infants school that would tape left hands to the desk if you didn't comply with right handedness (early 1970's rural England!)
I had one job where everything in the SCADA like system was performed with the mouse only, and very repetitive if you had a bank of a particular module. I had to swap mouse hand every 30 minutes!
The only downside was that my left second finger used to lock straight towards the end of the day (which could have been cured by swapping the mouse buttons over when swapping hands - but I never got round to it!)
A useful trick to the armoury.
It always confused me that trackballs aren't more widely known about, they should be the mainstream option and the mouse secondary (IIRC they pre-date mice anyway).
The one advantage a mouse has over trackball is that you can make a mouse slightly smaller, but it still needs far more operating space than any trackball, nullifying that advantage completely.
Ironically the best mouse I've ever had was the Microsoft Trackball Optical (20 years ago), the Logitech M570 has just about caught up with it ergonomically.
I started using them when I realised that my shoulder muscles were aching each evening because I was moving my right arm almost all day, from waking to sleeping. Commuting on a motorcycle meant I was constantly using my right wrist (for those who don't ride, the throttle and main braking controls are on the right handlebar), working with a mouse was constant movement of the arm etc etc. Switched to a trackball in the mid-90s (iirc) and never looked back, it's the first thing I insist any new employer buy me for my operating kit, no-one has refused yet, and if they did, I'd just buy myself a new one and charge it to expenses anyway. ;)
I recommend trackballs to anyone who'll listen. :)
Never found a replacement for the Trackman Marble FX T-CJ12
Used to love my Marble FX. Had 2, then Logitech stopped making them and never produced as good a trackball since. I used to love the way you could flick the mouse across multiple screens and stop it at exactly the spot you wanted. Also awesome for FPS gaming as you could spin round much quicker than most other players and aim precisely with it. All the subsequent thumb operated trackballs produced a far less satisfactory experience IMO.
I'm a trackball evangelist too, just the best trackball ever made stopped being made a long time ago.
Re: Never found a replacement for the Trackman Marble FX T-CJ12
Looks like there's a few on t'bay at the moment - go on - treat yourself. ;)
Been using a Logitech MX Ergo for a few years - always wanted a trackball - friend had great things to say - bought it - a month later bought another one to have at work. Just amazing. I couldn't live without it now - and have been considering getting a third one as a spare.
Built in battery that charges via USB. One mouse can work on 2 devices(either 2 USB, 2 BT or combination of the two). Really great if you have 2 systems running at the same time and need to swap between them.
The M570/M575 are pretty much the home version. Switch to the MX Ergo (https://www.logitech.com/en-gb/products/mice/mx-ergo-wireless-trackball-mouse.html) if you're using for several hours a day, and your right wrist will thank you even more.
I switched to the old wired version of the M570 (Trackman Wheel) a couple of decades ago to combat RSI. Since then I've upgraded to the M570 and now the MX Ergo. And it keeps my wrist healthy for what a wrist should be used for!!!
The other thing that I swear by is a decent mechanical tenkeyless keyboard. This allows me to get the mouse and typing area of the keyboard close enough together that I don't get tendonitis in my shoulder twice a year.
Half Mouse, half trackball
Reminds me of an old trackball in the mid 80's that worked on some CAD software (bitstick). It was a huge great thing with massive buttons. It seemed to work OK, but it was noisy with all the whirring of the rollers within it.
Those had one big difference to the thing in the picture, it could be used by lefties. Seems that the manufacturers of things where they add the word "ergonomic" seem to forget that a good chunk of their potential customer base can't just swap hands due to the way they are wired.
Its similar for the flight yolks on flight simulators, but at least with that, you are using both hands and haven't had decades of training with rodent-hand-eye coordination to overcome.
Where's the Lefty Version
I've been using the Logitech Marble trackball for at least twenty years, maybe longer, and also switched from right-handed to left-handed use due to RSI-related shoulder injury. I'm happy that this particular model has been continuously available, as I've worn out two and had to replace them. I would be interested in a product like that reviewed here, but must have a lefty model and I have not seen one. The Marble is not side-specific so it works, but as has been mentioned it does require use of the fingers, and so is a bit of an additional strain on those of us who have issues with the Carpal Tunnel - yes I've had both hands "done." Don't know that it has helped much but didn't make anything worse.
Wireless
Why are these wireless? Surely a device that ISN'T going to move around a desk could be wired into a USB port.
Pretty sure these existed back in the late 90's early 2000's - not a new idea...