Not a very technical Question, but a Question none the less.

[chip35]

Ok sorry for filling up board space with this but couldn't think of a more knowledgeable bunch to ask.

My mam uses an iBook for a bit of surfing, photo stuff and word processor etc. Now the mouse pad and buttons have become very dodgy and she is really struggling with it. No decent mac service places around here and to be honest I guess it could work out expensive to fix.

So she has been asking about just using a mouse alternative. The problem is she has not got a great deal of feel/control in her hands due to having multiple sclerosis. She has tried using a regular mouse, but her co-ordination makes it very dificult to use and she managed much better with the mousepad on the mac.

My question is do you guys think one of the trackball designs or any other type of mouse alternative would be suitable for her to use? Can anyone reccomend a specific product, baring in mind that budget here is very important.

Thanks for your help and look forward to replies/suggestions.

[tigerboyce]

There are a number of alternatives of which i think that the very best option is that you can actually buy the laptop style touchpads but i unsure about getting ones for Macs,

this is an exapmle of one: (It says its for XP but of you look in the table the USB IS slightly compatable with MAC

http://www.cirque.com/cpages/?page=24

[chip35]

There are a number of alternatives of which i think that the very best option is that you can actually buy the laptop style touchpads but i unsure about getting ones for Macs,

this is an exapmle of a XP compatable one:

http://www.cirque.com/cpages/?page=24

give me a sec to trawl google and ill get back

Thats an interesting idea, it says basic operation on a mac anyway, and I guess all she needs is the basic operation that the left click and movement of cursor offers. Had no idea this kind of thing was available. Thanks for your help, I was going down the trackball way of thinking but was worried about compatability with OSX, as with any input device she currently has to turn the tracking speed of the cursor down to very slow other wise she's one side of the screen to another within a split second lol

[tigerboyce]

Yeh, looks like a solution, but only problem is finding a UK store.

Another possibility is getting a keyboard that has one built in too, but with a laptop that may seem a bit confusing and pointless

best thing to do is after finding the bst product, give them an email and see if its OSX compatable.

[chip35]

Yeh, looks like a solution, but only problem is finding a UK store.

Another possibility is getting a keyboard that has one built in too, but with a laptop that may seem a bit confusing and pointless

best thing to do is after finding the bst product, give them an email and see if its OSX compatable.

Yeah, I am pretty sure any USB input device will work fine on OSX, but its the ability to adjust the tracking speed of the cursor that worries me. Thanks again for the pointers, much appreciated.

[WLC-1989]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=433757

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=170466

Two examples of keyboard/touchpad combos.

[chip35]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=433757

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=170466

Two examples of keyboard/touchpad combos.

Cheers, can't see her going for a keyboard in front of her little iBook though