Does anyone know where I can get one a bunch of these Crystal Trackballs?
[UPDATE: New computers don’t have serial ports, and serial to USB adapters suck, so I now no longer have use for these trackballs, even though I love them!]
[UPDATE: I need PS2 versions of these mice, not serial versions! WHERE OH WHERE CAN I GET THESE?!?!?!] [UPDATE: model #173445 is PS2, as opposed to a different model for serial, I think. Manufacturing was by F.M.I.]
I freakin’ love these trackballs.
Functionally, I like a large ball, as this gives you a greater dynamic range and thus generally more precision.
I like the placement of the ball, allowing you to point with — GASP — your index finger, like a normal human. Not one of those stupid trackballs where your THUMB uses the ball. Who the hell points with their thumb?
I like how the buttons are at the bottom, easily thumb-and-pinky-tappable. They are the two least dexterous fingers, and thus the ones most suited to be allocated to button-pushing and not pointing.
I like how it’s a trackball, so I can just sit it in my lap while sitting in my recliner or chair. No desk or mousepad is required.
I like how it’s clear and that makes it have high geek-appreciate value. It’s also a functional boon because it means you can easy see if a part is broken or if the ball dirty.
I liike how the ball is glowing red, with an LED. During a power-out, my battery-backuped computer has allowed me to use this as a (corded) flashlight. At night, the red light projecting on the ceiling has perturbed me.
I like how the ball turns green (more LEDs) when you press the button… As well as when windows initializes it, or finds it when adding new hardware.
The mouse LEDs do not turn on if the mouse is not recognized by windows. Even with no monitor, the red light becomes a symbol of a successful boot-up with a recognized mouse.
I bought at least 5 of these for $30, after going through 5 $10-opaque variants of these that I got from IBM in the early 1990s.
It’s been about 14 years I’e been using these types of trackball.
I ALMOST JUST KILLED THE ONE I HAVE.
I dropped it, and the light stayed green. The buttons were pushed down and could not be unpushed, even if you lifted them up. Nothing I could do would fix it.
So I dropped it upside down. Viola! Force applied in the oppositte direction of a break, made a fix.
But it’s my last.
I need more.
They don’t sell them prominently.
They might not make them.
I have not changed trackball types since I was a freshman in college.
I don’t want to start now.
Does anyone know where I can get one a bunch of these?
March 8, 2007 at 9:18 PM
dnalounge was looking for this same ones, methinks:
http://www.dnalounge.com/backstage/log/2006/01.html
(search for “Crystal”)
I saw no active ebay auctions but one ended recently with NO bidders:
http://cgi.ebay.com/CRYSTAL-TRACKBALL-COMPUTER-PC-M0USE-RARE-NO-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ180091623728QQcategoryZ3678QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Looks very similar. You could probably buy it right now by contacting the seller!
March 17, 2012 at 9:32 PM
YO
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Comp-USA-Crystal-Trackball-Serial-Clear-Trackball-Mouse-/380393857100?pt=Mice&hash=item58913da04c
just thought I would let you know
Just bought one from a flea market and sadly it donesnt work :(. I havent seen or thought about one in years.
Any luck fixing one? maybe you have some broken ones youll send me?
I own a business fixing electronics and gaming systems so I would love to take a look.
let me know
smartguysrepair@gmail.com
March 18, 2012 at 11:53 AM
I… I do have maybe 4 or so brand new ones (not in wrapper, but unused).
March 26, 2012 at 10:42 AM
You have 4 broken unused ones?
March 26, 2012 at 10:47 AM
Not broken, just unused. I took them out of the boxes and put them in my drawers, where they sat for 10+ yrs.
March 26, 2012 at 2:45 PM
interested in selling me one?
March 26, 2012 at 2:47 PM
Whenever i need to mail something it sits in my house for month+ before I finally do, but, uh, maybe? You can email me at clintjcl at gmail dot com if talking through blog comments is too cumbersome. :)
March 9, 2007 at 9:24 AM
I must admit that is the most aesthetically pleasing trackball I have ever seen. ;)
March 9, 2007 at 10:17 AM
Dave, thanks for the links!!
Unfortunately, that guy no longer has the trackball. Someone beat me to it!
March 9, 2007 at 10:18 AM
Time to create a google alert for “Crystal Trackball”, I guess! So I will be emailed if they are ever mentioned anywhere.
May 18, 2007 at 2:38 PM
Man… I think I’ve only gotten ONE as a result of two months of google alerts. But plenty of alerts pointing me out to *ME* mentioning it.. Heh
September 4, 2007 at 10:37 PM
PLEASE let me know if you find a bunch. Mine is about dead. I have to push and push on that button before it works. My finger is getting tired. I use it left handed and use my pinky for all my clicks and it hurts! I love my crystal trackball and refuse to use anything else. HELP!
September 5, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Unfortunately, I have my own tricks to find them before others, and I am not willing to share my tricks, as *I* want the crystal trackballs! Muahahah.
September 5, 2007 at 1:31 PM
Clint,
I too have the cystall trackball pictured above. Purchased from CompUSA in 2001 I believe. It is truly amazing how robust these trackballs were manufactured. I use mine at work now and would love one for home, and maybe two or three for backup just in case. It is the best periph device ever made. Any luck on finding any?
September 5, 2007 at 1:35 PM
Oh, I manage to find one now and then. But I can’t even get WinXP to recognize the damn thing, not with the native serial port OR a serial-to-USB converter.
And there are windows drivers for it, yes. An INF file, probably made for windows95 … but … it simply DOES NOT WORK on my XP machine.
Very annoying.
October 22, 2007 at 10:43 PM
Hey guys, I have one but no longer have a driver for it. Can someone direct me to getting a driver for it.
Thanks,
October 22, 2007 at 10:47 PM
Kao Lee,
They are easily googleable.
But they don’t work.
I think I might not have a use for my remaining ones, argh!
November 18, 2007 at 2:53 PM
microsoft serial mouse
file Ver.5.1.2600.2180(zpsp_sp2_vtm.040803-2188)
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mouclass.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\sermous.sys
November 18, 2007 at 2:56 PM
correction changed zpsp to xpsp
microsoft serial mouse
file Ver.5.1.2600.2180(xpsp_sp2_vtm.040803-2188)
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\mouclass.sys
C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\sermous.sys
December 4, 2007 at 5:46 PM
I have been using this trackball for many many years and refuse to switch to any onther till this one dies….
I have never used a driver…..it has always been auto detected and worked.
Under 98, millenium, 2000 and XP
December 4, 2007 at 7:15 PM
Ah yes, another person who touts stories of things just magically working all the time. You sound like my boss.
Considering I have owned about 10 crystal trackballs, used them under DOS, Win95, Win98, WinMe, Win2K, (but not WinXP), at work and at home, EVEN ON A Sun Sparc Workstation (with adapter) … and now have multiple XP machines, neither of which permits its use… I have to say, I do not believe you and I are talking about the same trackball, Kevin. A different model, at least. (And yes, I have multiple brand new ones, and have tried multiple ones.)
December 21, 2007 at 7:51 PM
I’ve been cleaning out my parts box, and I was looking for the driver and came across this page. If you want another one, it’s yours for cheap! Mail me if interested: tonyperkwx at gmail.
March 7, 2008 at 1:32 PM
did u ever find any??? I LOVED them !! I too am looking for a few !! talk about excellent for gaming !!! WOW !!!!
March 7, 2008 at 1:34 PM
forgot to mention: when someone finds the outlet for these, PLEASE…PLEASE…PLEASE …email me too !!!!
April 3, 2008 at 3:23 PM
I bought mine in 1999 or 2000 from a Comp USA store in Tallahassee. Can you believe I am still using it and it got me through the end of undergrad, grad school, and I have used it at work since 2001 developing software. It’s truly amazing; not sure what I’ll do when it craps out. Mine is PS/2 type connection so no worries on the serial issue, and it’s been recocgnized in several MS OS’s including XP (will try on Vista soon). If I could change somethng, I would add a scroll wheel just North of the ball and make it USB. Let’s go to China and setup shop!
April 3, 2008 at 4:55 PM
(Wow, i JUST edited this article TODAY, and it looks like the last comment spoke to my edit. And, because of it, I must re-edit. How odd.)
April 7, 2008 at 2:16 PM
Correction to the comments up top (I gave inaccurate info). Model #173445 for PS/2 version is correct, disregard serial version’s model #. Manufacturer was F.M.I., not F.A.I.
Here is the link from CompUSA: http://fmi.compusa.com/driver.asp?SKU=173445
April 7, 2008 at 2:23 PM
Ahh, thanks for the update!
And glad to see you got your email problem fixed.
June 17, 2008 at 1:33 PM
pcGil, I tried the link and did not get to any drivers or downloads. Do you need to register in order to get this driver? Thanks – Paul
November 18, 2008 at 8:55 PM
I bought 5 of these over like 8 years and they all broke. They were only 20$ and lasted about a year and I loved every one of them. The shape is perfect, I can’t believe that no one has copied it since then. I’ve tried Kensington, Logitech, and a couple of others and they all suck.
Not having wrist strain and a mouse pad are great, but the best was for first person shooters. You could set it for precision aiming (about 70 degree turn from one exposed side of the ball to the other) and then ‘flick’ it to turn a 180 in a split second and then have precision aiming back. I can’t tell you how many times I railed a guy through the head from across the map then flipped a 180 and railed another guy through the head, both in one second.
My biggest beef with all the new optical track-balls (besides not being shaped perfectly for a lefty or anybody else) is that they fail when you flick the ball fast. I keep waiting for someone to have ‘extreme gaming this’ or ‘hyper sampling that’ on an optical, so that no matter how fast you flick the ball it stays within 5% accuracy in it’s tracking, but no one’s done it yet.
Here are some things I learned from these track-balls over the years:
1. Every version I ever had was a PS/2. The ones I bought in the late 90’s had serial adapters, and the last 2 I bought had USB adapters, but the unit and the cord was always PS/2. Using the USB adapter caused it to lag which was unacceptable for gaming but ok for desktop stuff. My motherboard (Intel D845PESVL) has trouble recognizing the unit during a reboot unless I hold down every button and flick the ball at the moment it loads devices (keyboard/USB), which can be really annoying when installing a system, otherwise the electronics work fine.
2. The early models had cheap switches which could easily be destroyed by hard core gaming. I got my third one working again by cannibalising the working switches from the first two.
3. Every model from the oldest to newest has a problem where the plastic ‘X’ rod that goes from the switch to the button is worn away by the tab on the switch. After about a year you’ll find a notch in the plastic where the switch touches it and will have to start ‘pressing hard’ to make it work. My first modification was to take heavy duty tin foil and make a 2 to 6 layer strip about .7 cm x 2 cm. Make sure that piece is perfectly smooth in the middle and fold it over the plastic ‘X’ rod and secure it tightly with 4 tiny pieces of tape. Also make sure you smooth it down hard with something round like the back of a spoon before securing it with the tape. If when you rescrew the unit closed a button is always on, then redo the strip with one or two less layers of foil. Finally put a dollop of lube on the tin foil with a Q-tip. I prefer Tri-Flow (just fancy WD-40 + Teflon).
4. The ball (and I think the metal rollers that touch the ball) have a thin soft plastic coating. This is why the units always work so well for the first 6 months. Unfortunately this coating seems to degrade from roller wear, human skin oil (from your hands), ammonia (Windex), and worst of all, rubbing alcohol. If I ever manage to get a new (in box) unit I will never wash the ball or rollers with anything other than soap and water.
After that soft plastic coating is gone you may not notice that the unit seems to not track as well when you don’t clean it. If you don’t play demanding games you may not notice this for a while. As the coating wears off the unit become VERY sensitive to human skin oil and you have to clean it more and more often. It got to the point where I would clean it every 10 hours of game play or 40 hours of desktop work (unfortunately at the time with Windex or Isopropyl Alcohol).
Once that coating is gone it’s really the begging of the end for your unit (at least for gaming). The ONLY thing that I found that returns the ball to something approaching it’s original state is lightly sanding it with ultra fine sandpaper until it’s frosted. Eventually the oils in your skin and/or the rollers ‘resmooth’ the ball. I estimate that it takes about 2-4 weeks for the ball to go from ‘frosted’ to ‘crystal clear’ because of wear. The inner acrylic of the ball, while being very hard, also wears very fast. After about 5 to 10 sandings the ball with be physically smaller and will be all but useless.
5. Sanding the tops of the buttons (or the whole top of the unit if you like) makes the unit easier to use as well, but like the ball (but even faster) human skin oil will gradually wear it down to smooth. No big deal for that.
6. I now have 3 (mostly) working, beat up, units and 3 worthless frosted balls. My last mod was to replace a worn out ball with a snooker ball. Just for reference:
Ball in Unit 2” (50.80 mm)
Snooker Ball 2 1/8” (53.97 mm)
Pool Ball 2 1/4’ (57.15 mm)
You’d think that 3.17 mm wouldn’t make that much of a difference but I had to cut an extra 1/4” to the hole on the top plate to close the unit. It’s nowhere near it’s glory days and is barely limping along but it’s works for now. I don’t play games much anymore mostly because the heavy snooker ball doesn’t ‘flick’ like the old acrylic one did, and it’s very sensitive to hand oil having to be cleaned almost every 10 hours. Luckily the big top hole allows me to remove the snooker ball without taking the unit apart, and I usually just wash it with soap and water (along with my hands) before my weekend gaming.
7. I found one place that sells new balls (don’t know if they have the soft outer coating) at http://www.trackballworld.com/accessories.html, maybe when I get desperate and buy a Qtronix Libra or an ITAC Evolution (which I’ll probably hate) I’ll get one (or two or three) of the 2” acrylic balls.
8. Like many of you I’ve been looking on EBay and the web for a NEW, IN BOX, COMP USA CRYSTAL CLEAR TRACK BALL for over a year now, to no avail. I can’t believe trackballs like the incredibly crappy PC-TRAC are still being sold (my father had one during the whole 90’s). Sure they don’t break and last forever, but they suck for gaming just like all the current optical trackballs from Kensington and Logitech.
Well I hope this helps you at least get you buttons working again and for the love of all that is good and crystal cleary, don’t clean your ball with anything other than soap and water (outside the unit of course).
Good Luck! :)
November 19, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Wow, Technocrat! That is the most informative post about crystal trackballs ever!
I’ve never found one with a ps2. Serial only. Even locally in the past 2-3 years. Even the ones I see on Ebay.
Putting a snooker ball into the trackball is awesome!
I ALWAYS cleaned mine with rubbing alcohol, haha. I’d dab it on the ball and roll it around to the contacts, so i could clean the contacts without taking the crystal trackball apart.
I keep the used balls too. They roll around the floor forever. Sometimes cats play with them.
My problem is I now have a couple, but no way to hook them to my computer with no serial port. And my serial to usb converter was a big waste of $20…
Wanna pay me for mine? hehe
November 19, 2008 at 3:39 PM
That serial PS/2 thing is weird. I found two for sale in cached (not current) Google pages on Ebay and they all were well used and had serial plugs. I’m thinking that there may have been different manufacturers which isn’t uncommon for simple electronics. In the past I’ve seen things like LCD monitors and blank DVD-RW media branded with a single name but actually made by 3 or more subcontractors to that company. They can even use different manufacturers at the same time if one can’t handle the capacity. I bought all of mine in Southern California in the late 90’s to early 00’s.
I’ve noticed that the serial versions glow red normally and green when pressed. All of my PS/2 versions glow green and red when a button is pressed (opposite of the serial). The first 3 I had all had failing switches, while the last couple have nearly indestructible switches which grind down unprotected ‘X’ rods from the buttons. They were either made by different companies or at least that company changed it’s component supplier.
I’ve also noticed on the net a lot of people had problems with their system recognising the serial version. All my PS/2 versions worked with Windoze just fine, but often had problems being recognized by the motherboard (like in a soft reboot). If the motherboard fails to detected it then there’s nothing the system can do. At different times I had to use the PS/2 to Serial adapter and the PS/2 to USB adapter that came with the units when my motherboard stopped recognizing all PS/2 devices after a bios flash. I don’t know why your Serial to USB adapter isn’t working, but you might want to try these instead:
Drivers for ancient legacy devices don’t change much even from different OS kernels like Win 95/Win XP, so if you physically have a serial port you may wan to try this:
http://members.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=66256
If you don’t have a serial port (a lot of new computers don’t) you can try these:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Product_Id=18651
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812116207
Thanks for the offer to sell your unit, but I would be wary of used serial versions. Like USB I have a sneaking suspicion that the serial version has a lower sample rate (updates per second) than the PS/2 which would kill it’s use for gaming (I could be wrong). Also you cleaned your ball with alcohol just like me and everyone else who ever owned one and didn’t want to take it apart. The fresh balls feel hard but slick (sometimes tacky) and you can dimple it by pressing your thumbnail into the side. It feels like a hard ball that’s been shrink wrapped, while the old worn out balls just feel like hard balls (stop laughing!).
My two PS/2 versions are (other one is in parts in a box somewhere):
Clear Trackball
S/N 205001740
#173445 SCROLL
ATB 2730 : 3882B302
Clear Trackball
S/N 204006125
#173445 SCROLL
ATB 2730 : 3882B302
The snooker ball thing is OK. I didn’t worry about it because I have 2 more top plates around here somewhere in case I ganked it up. It’s not as good as a new original ball. It’s still smooth but the ball is bigger so it sits higher on the rollers. If I flick it fast it comes off the rollers for a moment like a raised car going around a corner fast. Also it’s almost twice as heavy, so even though it’s smooth it doesn’t have that ‘feather touch smooth as glass’ feeling as a brand new ball/unit has.
Lastly I never once cared about the lights or the clear case. I’ll admit they are nice for diagnostic purposes. Like when the motherboard doesn’t detect the trackball the lights won’t come on, or when a switch breaks you can see it not working because the lights don’t change, even if it makes a ‘click’ sound, or if your dad eats Fritos while doing his eMail, you can look through the case and see the crumbs in there clogging it up. For me it’s all about the layout and the feel.
I think I’m going to try the Qtronix Libra, If I hate it I can pawn it off on my dad who has a Kensington Orbit Trackball (optical with only 2 buttons, yuck) with failing buttons. If you’re dead set on the clear look you can try the PC-TRAC 1400 ( http://www.trackballworld.com/40-140.html ). My dad had one of these in the 90’s. In all the versions I’ve seen the third button, besides being hard to get at, was really just an on/off toggle (for dragging) for the second button.
I guess I’ll be seeing you all on eBay ;)
November 19, 2008 at 6:10 PM
Actually, although no longer in packaging, my last 2 or 3 are *completely* unused… (will respond more tomorrow)
April 11, 2009 at 1:30 AM
Hi Clint! Just great reading your comments on trackballs, I’ve been “joytrackballing” since early nineties and as much as I try I can’t get used to mouse+kbd or have a similar performance from when I played with my deadly (pun intended) Assassin 3D trackball and Microsoft 3D Pro Joystick. Since then lots has changed and technology has evolved, but joy+track is still both competitive with mouse+key in most departments _and_ superior to the standard combo in many senses, especially close-range combat. I’m currently writing a huge article for a major gaming site and got many different trackballs to review, so be sure the Libra 90 (aka Assassin 3D shameless clone) is a great opto-mechanical model. If you’re looking for optical prowess instead of a jumpy 800 dpi resolution go for the expert “flimsy low-weight feel” or the new CST laser model. I haven’t tried the new CST yet but the former 1545 Pro already had three independent buttons instead of a drag-lock third button. I got curious about this model you pointed, it seems quite similar to the A3D/libra but I doubt we could find a modernized version of it.
On a second note, please drop me a line if you’d like to contribute with our major article on trackballs for gaming, I’d love your input and especially any Q3/TF2 replays showing your skills. We have to spread the word, without a market soon we won’t have our toys to play with, aye? ;)
PS.: Also check out http://assassi.ning.com/, some cool fellow joytrackers and news in there.
April 11, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Well, I never kid myself that a trackball could do as much as a mouse. You can only turn it the width of the ball before your hand hits the enclosure. This limits the total distance you can consistently move without losing control by taking your hand off of it. If you want the same dynamic range of motion in less distance, then you lose precision. I’ve switched to keyboard and mouse :)
May 14, 2009 at 7:44 AM
Sorry Clint, I beg to differ. Actually I couldn’t disagree more, since with the right amount of “momentum” – like you get with the best bearings-supported trackballs – it’s quite easy to keep ‘perpetual rotation’ in the same direction by continuously flicking the the control fingers in the intended direction. Easier to show than to explain in fact, but I do this all the time. I’ll get some of my replays on wegame, vimeo or youtube to showcase this. Trackballs do lose the battle when it comes to linear/translation accuracy though, and that’s where you shoot a joy in the mix since they offer fine analog “2D” control (ie. no rotation) to your move+strafe, which means you can actually aim with the joystick as well as the trackball.
Sad to see you switching to the dark side anyways. Oh well ;)
March 20, 2010 at 7:47 PM
Clint, can you or someone provide me the driver for the crystal trackball? Like you I absolutely love mine and like using nothing else. Thanks I appreciate it.
March 25, 2010 at 10:10 AM
Sorry, mine is offline. I never really used it with any success, either. Either the computer recognized the serial port and mouse intrinsically (Win95, Win98, WinMe, Win2K), or it didn’t (WinXP).
Yet another thing I hate about XP. But then they stopped putting serial ports in computers. I got a $20 USB-to-serial converter, and had 0 success.
I had to give up. Wanna buy my stock of crystall trackballs? I had determined them to be my favorite pointing device, and started monitoring ebay for them when they stopped making them.
My goal was to buy enough that I could replace mine every 2-3 yrs for the rest of my life with a new one.
But now? I have 3-6 extras that I probably wont ever get to use.
Incidentally, these trackballs are so easy to clean. Put some purell sanitizer on the ball, then move it to the inside unit, and go over the 3 contact wheels. No taking apart necessary, because you can see what you’re doing, and the ball is so huge!
I’m better at Quake3 now that I stopped using it, though…
March 10, 2011 at 3:32 PM
A bit late to ask, but I wonder if any of your crystal track balls are still for sale. Mine is ~12 years old, and after several repairs is close to retirement.
March 10, 2011 at 3:44 PM
I’m kind of an asshole about mailing things in a timely manner, but if it was a good price for my remaining lot, I’d probably be willing to part with them. :)
May 15, 2010 at 10:02 AM
CompUSA had these distributed by FMI, but they were really made by Fourstar group (the 800 # was for support was from Fourstar).
I wonder if Fourstar has the driver or could possibly put us in contact with whomever made them to get another run of them made?
http://www.fourstari.com/
May 18, 2010 at 1:30 PM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220607975939
The mouse is listed on this site. If anyone is still looking for it..
October 28, 2010 at 4:15 PM
Well folks i must say i have gotten my crystall tracball mouse #173445 to work on my w7 system .
after messing with it for awile then i put it up , then i got it out , and finally i just went to fry’s electronics and got a serial to usb converter, and loaded the software and for a minute i thought it was not going to work , because i did the same thing a couple of years ago wih a radio shack serial to usb converter and it did not work.
tried it again and wow , my all time favorite compusa crystal trackball is now back up and running.
So folks the crystal trackball does work with w7 and a serial to usb conferter from frys elaectronics…………….Robert
October 28, 2010 at 4:18 PM
Thanks for the tip. It might be extremely helpful if you could look on your packaging and get any additional info — brand, model, make, model#, serial#…. How much did you pay for it?
March 16, 2011 at 12:10 PM
If anyone has an extra one they could part with, I’d be interested in getting one. Also, the Macally iBall pro is similar, but does not have LED’s. Have not compared functionality of both, but I love the Compusa one.
June 11, 2012 at 4:33 PM
I have an original PS2 one like you show, but i swapped out the plastic ball for a solid marble one of identical size. I would part with it if someone really wanted it. I no longer have the original clear ball as I so much preferred the constant cool touch of the marble/stone ball in there now. @Gandalf973 on twitter or email through my website http://www.gandalf.biz or CustomVW_at_gmail.com
May 21, 2018 at 4:01 PM
I realize this is probably a dead posting, but I do have 1, tested and cleaned.
https://www.elecshopper.com/fmi-crystal-trackball-173445-ps-2.html