imaradio

I like the wirecutter when researching some kind of consumer product.

Problem is that the available models and their pricing is often radically different compared to Canada. If they recommend a certain item as US$20 on amazon.com, the identical item on amazon.ca could be $100, or completely unavailable.

Any alternative websites?

At work I have a Windows PC. I don't have much personal experience with Windows which is why I am asking.

I want to remap the caps lock key to function as a control key. Ideally, on a per-user basis as sometimes other people use the workstation and I don't want to confuse them.

• Was able to install Auto Hot Key. A test script worked. However I couldn't find working instructions about how to do this specific remapping. Example scripts I found seem to have some conflict between v1 and v2 of AH.

• I don't have admin access however I could probably ask for something, but it would have to work immediately without a lot of fooling around. I will not be granted admin access to try a bunch of things til I find something that works.

What's the best way?

I have a keychron v3 (official docs which of course I have looked through) keyboard with a knob. I would like to upgrade the firmware so I can map the knob.

I am using VIA v 3.0.0 AppImage on Manjaro linux. I did the udev thing and it seems to pretty much work.

The factory reset instructions on the keychron website only explain Mac/Windows and I don't know how to transfer them to Linux. Actually I am not sure if this is even the required procedure to upgrade the firmware but it's the closet I can find.

What if I use the hardware reset without the software running on the computer?

Any other tips for mapping this keyboard with linux... I am having a hard time generally as it is apparently undocumented. I can't access their facebook group.

I recently installed debian 12 using debian-12.2.0-arm64-netinst.iso. It is the only OS installed and I used the whole 500GB disk.

I selected something like guided partitioning with separate /home/ using LVM and encryption. Now that I am using my system a bit, I realize that I don't think it ever asked me how big to make the / partition and it is very small. Only 27GB.

Will this be a problem?

Or, is the LVM going to allow the partition to be resized or otherwise take up as much of the space as it requires?

# lsblk
NAME                    MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE  MOUNTPOINTS
sda                       8:0    0 476.9G  0 disk  
├─sda1                    8:1    0   512M  0 part  /boot/efi
├─sda2                    8:2    0   488M  0 part  /boot
└─sda3                    8:3    0   476G  0 part  
  └─sda3_crypt          253:0    0 475.9G  0 crypt 
    ├─mycomputer--vg-root     253:1    0  27.9G  0 lvm   /
    ├─mycomputer--vg-swap_1   253:2    0   976M  0 lvm   [SWAP]
    └─mycomputer--vg-home     253:3    0   447G  0 lvm   /home

I tried booting into a live usb to resize the partition using gparted but I couldn't seem to do so.

If I need to reinstall and change something I'd rather do it now than later.

I have a cheap MechanicalEagle Z-77 keyboard.

I'd like to replace the wired USB A cable with a USB-C port.

when I open it up, I see the cable is attached like this, with wire colors from the top: red white green black black:

When unclipped, I have this, the 5 pins being labeled "S GN D D VD":

I find some tutorials about how to do a similar job with soldering. I don't know how to solder and there is a clip. Can I purchase a USB-C port that will clip into this?

I can't figure out the name of what this component would be called.

I see some mentioning about resistance and capacitors. I don't know about these things. What if anything do I need to find out? I don't know if the info in the soldering tutorials applies the same?

Obviously I am very novice on this topic. If I am missing anything please advise and I will attempt to fill it in.

Here is same device on amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Keyboard-Tenkeyless-Professional-Office-Black/dp/B07ZH7569D

Thank you!

I got this Pixel 6 Pro from ebay. The seller said there were screen issues and it was about CA$200. But the issues are more than I was anticipating. Is there any hope? Or should I return?

• a: bright white line/lines horizontally across the screen

• c and b: cracks in the screen with black splotches behind the breaks so nothing is visible

• screen intermittently (but often) flickers. wasn't able to photograph.

  • It feels like the connection is loose inside. sometimes squeezing it seems to fix it temporarily. but I can't just be squeezing the device all the time, especially with an already cracked screen.

  • it also flickers in horizontal sections. the part from the white line to the top is the most flickering and the rest of it is divided in about 4 rough sections that display in consistently

Do you think a repair could fix it? especially the loose connection issue. I could live with everything except for the flickering which is really obnoxious. but is it possible to make a repair like this without fully replacing the display?

On iFixit the display is listed for CA$300... I would probably not do this myself so add another $50-100 for labor.

It works properly otherwise; there are no dead zones for touch.

Sorry for the crappy photo, the only way I could find to take it was to use the low quality front facing camera on my laptop.

I'm a pretty novice person considering installing opnsense for my personal home use.

Their documentation has what would seem to be incomplete hardware requirement.

For example it does not list any network hardware. I assume you need at least 1 Ethernet connection. I recall reading somewhere that you might need 2 network cards? One for in and one for out?

What about network card specs? I have old computers lying around that exceed the CPU/RAM/SSD requirements but cards are practically antiques. Should I upgrade? If so, to what?

ETA: The best internet I could subscribe to where I'm at is 1024 Mbps down, 50 Mbps up. So don't worry about wasting fibre speeds. :(

Does anyone know about a more thorough description of requirements?

For a while I have been planning to switch from an all-in-one wifi router to having separate devices because that way they can be upgraded piece by piece instead of having to replace the whole thing.

I am confused about the role of the firewall.

If I have a router running OpenWRT, does it have a firewall included? Either by default or by installing certain packages?

Or is it required to have a separate firewall running opnsense/pfsense?

If not required, what would be the benefits that would lean in favour of separate firewall?

use case: small home network 2-3 users. some internal self hosting and maybe one day external self hosting.

ETA: The best internet I could subscribe to where I’m at is 1024 Mbps down, 50 Mbps up. So don’t worry about wasting fibre speeds. :(

My assembled components so far are: router, WAPs, switches, ethernet cable and cable modem.

Thanks for any advice.

My phone is broken and I neeeed to listen to my podcasts while this is resolving. I thought it would be simple enough but I have been banging my head for days now.

There are lots of rss readers and podcatchers.

Ideally the downloading and listening would be integrated. Failing that, I can put up with 2 separate steps.

I can do the downloading although it's kind of clunky. Best for this are RSSGuard and Gpodder. But once you get the files, things totally break down.

minimally require:

• track listening status
• properly access metadata, not just going by filenames.
  • most crucially: name of podcast, episode title, published date, download date
  • maybe the downloader has some role to play in writing file/metadata correctly but the ones I have tried don't seem to do it
• don't need to make an account/server to do the above

I tried everything in arch/aur repos. A few of them had totally broken UIs not sure what the deal is. I am open to TUI options but none seemed viable.

manjaro/xfce

I am wondering if someone know some trick about how to "tighten" the broken android screen?

I have a pixel 5a.

I dropped the phone and the screen broke. I could see the bottom half of the screen if I squeezed/twisted it. Touch is not consistent but sort of works for whole screen.

Now I can't see any of the screen. It seems that the screen is partly just loose connection since previously it was able to be fixed by squeezing. Still provides haptic feedback. Seems to be turned on.

Is there like a special way to apply pressure to get it to connect back again? even half the screen was functional enough. I have found guides online of how to replace the screen. I already had the screen replaced once; it seems the screens for this device sucks. I ordered a different phone. I'd like to be able to use this without the screen if I can because otherwise it is still functional.

I haven't ever opened a phone before and I don't have the special tools. If it is totally hopeless I don't know if I want to do it. Any ideas?

Google Pixel 5a Screen Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/1382545 (first trying cross posting, am I doing it ok?)

I wanted to share this thing I found because it is great.

I think it is newly available. On amazon reviews, forum posts, blogs, youtubes and all other sources of information, nothing is found dating prior to March 2023. I do not recall seeing it before.

I have used photos already available online if they were adequate. I took some original photos to show details not captured by others.

Contents

Here are the sections of this article with a brief summary.

Basics

• Price and value: Good luck getting a cheaper trackball! Amazing.

• m505 vs m505b: Difference between models is the "b" model has an annoying light ring around the ball.

Design

• Shape and feel: A comfortable, quality feeling finger trackball. Mode buttons show attention to detail.
• Aesthetics: Look OK overall, not too "gamer".
• Buttons and scroll: left + right + forward + back + scroll/middleclick = 5 buttons. All except right are thumb-operated. Geography is reasonable and they all work properly. Click is good. Software programmable on linux.
• m505b light: I find this kind of light very obnoxious. Could have been worse.
• m505 vs Sanwa Gravi: Device is either a clone of Sanwa Gravi or actually manufactured by the same people.

Function

• Tracking experience: Smooth, precise, adjustable.
• Wireless connection: 2.4g and Bluetooth both working better than expected on linux. 2.4g dongle has comfortable home.
• Power: USB-C rechargeable! Auto power-off is 30 minutes and it gracefully wakes up when you need it again. Battery life/quality unknown.

Elsewhere and the future

• Support: 18 or 24 month warranty. Maybe. Unknown brand, not sure what future will bring.
• Links: all sources used and product websites. Includes archive.org links for reviews posted by individuals.
• License: CC-BY-NC

🔝

Basics

Price and value

Summary: Good luck getting a cheaper trackball! Amazing.

I have used trackballs manufactured by by perimice, deft, kensington and logitec. Like the worst person you've ever been on a first date with, I can't help but make comparison to my prior experiences.

I tend toward the lower end of price range. I have occasionally splurged on a mid-price device, always disappointing. Cost has actually been inversely related to quality. That pattern remains unchanged with this being by far the best trackball at around the lowest price you can expect to find.

It is almost to good to be true.

List price is CA/US$40-45. Even after you add Canadian sales tax, it is still cheaper in Canada which is quite strange. Generally we pay premium price for stuff. US/Canada amazon links at bottom.

view larger source: watchmono

🔝

m505 vs m505b

Summary: the "b" model has an annoying light ring around the ball.

When I was looking at these online I could not figure out if there was a difference between the models. I wasn't even sure if the different pages were distinct models or maybe just different sellers.

Only once I had it and was writing this that I realized the difference: the ring of light around the ball.

• m505 does not have a light around the ball
• m505b has a light around the ball Since I had ordered the m505b and hate the light, I ordered the m505. Therefor I have both. I plan on returning the m505b.

view larger

see also: m505b light

🔝

Design

Shape and feel

Summary: A comfortable, quality feeling finger trackball. Mode buttons show attention to detail.

Like a lot of people, my first trackball was thumb-controlled. Thumb controlled trackballs are more widely and cheaply available. They can also closely resemble the experience of a traditional mouse with regards to button placement so the learning curve is not high. After using it for a while, I found the thumb side of my hand would get sore. I decided I wanted a finger-controlled ball and have been looking for one I like.

view larger image source: watchmono

This device is pretty big compared to a regular mouse but so are a lot of trackballs. You couldn't make a regular mouse this large because it would be too heavy. Also, because your hand/wrist/arm are stationary when in use, you tend to let it drop and rest more heavily. So the shape of the device becomes more important. My hand (small size of medium and short fingers) rests fairly comfortably on this. Like with a lot of devices I find my pinky and ring finger tend to curl up when not being used which can cramp. I might try doing some sort of customization to add more bulk and keep my fingers in a more comfortable position.

The surface is matte. It has pretty "good quality" feeling, whatever that means for a plastic thing.

view larger image source: watchmono

Also I will say that the power, mode and DPI buttons on the bottom are reasonable to use. They are large enough to press/move with a finger, have enough give and spring. I appreciate this.

view larger image

This is a right-handed device. There is no indication of a left handed version being available or planned.

🔝

Aesthetics

Summary: Look OK overall, not too "gamer".

I don't spend a lot of time gazing upon my input devices. Because of how much time I spend touching it, I will put how it feels over how it looks. OTOH, I do not love the "gamer" look and given the choice I'd rather have something far away from that. This trackball is fine looking but not great. Reasonably professional. I don't expect to find a device that matches my style and works properly anytime soon and it isn't hideous so I am satisfied. If there were a white version available, like nulea has for some other models, I would have chosen that.

🔝

Buttons and scroll

Summary: left + right + forward + back + scroll/middleclick = 5 buttons. All except right are thumb-operated. Geography is reasonable and they all work properly. Click is good. Software programmable on linux.

There are 5 buttons:

• Right: On the far right side of the top face All the others are located on the inside (left) face and manipulated with the thumb. From top t o bottom they are:
• Forward and Back
• Scrollwheel (also middle click)
• Left

view larger image

source: watchmono

view larger image

source: watchmono

I find these buttons intuitive to use. They are big enough that I don't have to search for them. They don't feel squeaky or mushy or have other annoying tactile characteristics.

If you are new to trackballs, one hint is that not all trackballs come with a scrolling mechanism. Some of them have unusual scrolling components not seen on regular mice but which many people appreciate once getting used to them. Others can only accomplish scrolling by means of an awkward combination like clicking a button and moving the wheel. And you may have to implement/hack that yourself. For me I definitely wanted a device with a good scroll. This works as I had hoped.

On linux, all the buttons worked as expected out of the box. I was able to reprogram the function back and forward buttons using input-remapper which it a GUI program that reliably works with just about everything (except some weird keyboard F keys). It does not actually reprogram the mouse itself, just how the computer interprets input. So it needs to be set up on every computer. I do not think the actual mouse can be reprogrammed unfortunately.

One thing I noticed having both models is that input-remapper thinks they are the same. Mappings made to one are applied to the other automatically. I don't mind it since I want to use them the same way. Typically you need to create mapping for every individual device.

In the manual, it says that the back/forward buttons do not work at all on Mac.

I was hoping to get something with a couple of extra function buttons. There is room on the top for them. But we can't have everything.

🔝

m505b light

Summary: I find this kind of light very obnoxious. Could have been worse.

As mentioned at the top, the difference between the m505 and m505b is the latter has a decorative light. As I didn't understand this I accidentally purchased the m505b so I will say what I thought about it.

The manufacturer seems to think this is a major selling feature.

I am bothered by devices with LEDs especially those that have movement, flashing, throbbing etc. Do not understand the appeal why have anything other than the dimmest light that lets you know the status. I was worried that it would be always distracting me and because of the placement I'd not be able to do anything to hide it. It gave me hope when I read one review complaining it was "too dim", at least it probably wouldn't light up the whole room.

The decorative throbbing light is somewhat subtle and not annoying. You can turn it off by holding down the right and left buttons at the same time. You need to do that every time you turn it on. Which is annoying and will drain the battery. You should only get the one with the light if you really want the light all the time.

There is a translucent white diffuser ring that surrounds the ball. The light shines through this. Even when you turn the decorative throbbing light off, you can see the red light from the optical tracking through the ring. When I take the ball out, I see that the whole socket it made of the white translucent plastic which optimizes the light transmission. It is possibly more annoying than the slowly color-changing light because it is flashing on and off all the time which the color changing sort of disguises.

view larger image

how the light looks in the dark (with no tracking ball, with the ball, with the ball + tracking light on):

view larger image

even just the tracking light is pretty bright due to the translucent white plastic in the socket (without ball, with ball):

view larger image

I can see why a designer thought it looked cute to have an outline around the ball though. When turned off it looks pretty slick.

🔝

m505 vs Sanwa Gra

Summary: Device is either a clone of Sanwa Gravi or actually manufactured by the same people.

The m505 is said to be a clone of the Sanwa Gravi, a Japanese manufactured trackball. As far as I can, it tell is unavailable in Canada. On amazon.com the wireless Gravi costs US$65.

/u/_Rob_K_ on /r/Trackballs wrote a comparison between these 2 devices: Sanwa Gravi and Nulea M505 (initial impressions). He included some side-by-side pictures.

view larger image

source: /u/_Rob_K_

User Archie on Trackballs.EU has the following gossip:

Actual manufacturer of Gravi is Dongguan Togran Electronics Co., Ltd. Interestingly, this factory is also offering another variant with slightly more rounded casing, different arrangement of buttons (one on the right side, but two above the wheel on the left) and LED-illuminated ring around the ball, just like original MTE had. This model is pictured unbranded, so it's currently not clear if it will be marketed under Sanwa label or some other brand. [Update by spring 2023: modified versions appeared as Nulea M505 and ProtoArc EM03 models. The latter is reportedly made by Shenzhen Seenda Technology Co., Ltd.]

If I understand properly, Archie is saying that that the Nulea and ProtoArc devices are made by the same company as the similar Sanwa devices?

I did find the ProtoArc EM03 on amazon.com at a list price of US$50. There is page on amazon.ca but it is not available an there is no price. They do look very similar to the m505b except for there is another light in the scrollwheel. Like nulea, ProtoArc does not seem to put their products on their website.

🔝

Function

Tracking experience

Summary: Smooth, precise, adjustable.

The ball moves smoothly. It does not stick or rub or jump or jitter or hesitate. It is not laborious to get the pointer to a specific spot on the screen. It work as I would expect which has been surprisingly difficult to say about trackballs from my experience.

The ball is 44mm which is medium-sized for a track ball. There are 3 small ball bearings inside. They are white, I guess plastic.

view larger image

There is a DPI button on the bottom. It is said to have 200/400/800/1200/1600 DPI.

I typically use a 1280x720 display. On the 200 dpi setting the mouse moves about 1/3 across when flung. At 800 it just gets all the way across and since I have no need for more than that I don't put it higher.

view larger image

I don't game so I can't comment. I saw some reviews saying it wasn't great for that. Also if you use a huge mega size display, no comment.

🔝

Wireless connection

Summary: 2.4G and Bluetooth both working better than expected on linux. 2.4g dongle has comfortable home.

I am a linux user and have tried both 2.4g and bt. They both work great.

Bluetooth

Usually I don't use BT because it is always annoying which could be due to hardware, user error, interference, who knows what. In general I find with BT there is a lot of power off/on, reconnecting, re-pairing, blah blah blah.

But I am impressed by this. I paired it without consulting the instructions by just mashing the buttons and got it connected fairly quick. I tried it for about 2 days to test and had no problems once paired. I guess my computer is not as badly set up as I thought.

2.4g

2.4g: I bought this because it had 2.4g. That is what I want because it is generally reliable. I have had problems with other devices failing to maintain a connection on this particular computer even at very close range, but so far no issue.

There is a place to keep the 2.4g dongle on the bottom. It is not in a battery compartment or otherwise placed so you must dismantle to access. Even with very short fingernails I can remove the dongle from its home without use of a prying implement. It is a small detail but it is rare to be able to say all that.

I tested to see if the 2 devices would use one another's dongles. They did not.

view larger image

🔝

Power

Summary: USB-C rechargeable! Auto power-off is 30 minutes and it gracefully wakes up when you need it again. Battery life/quality unknown.

Charges via usb-c. This is very cool! Even a lot of pricier wireless trackballs are still using AA or AAA batteries. It becomes expensive to run the device over time because they run out quickly. Those which recharge are commonly on micro USB. The documentation included warns against using fast charge to avoid killing the battery. The included USB A-to-C cable is about 6' with a nice feeling thick housing. It has a very low power according to the app on my phone. However my phone doesn't even recognize a lot of older model USB C cables so I am not sure how reliable it is.

I can't comment on the long-term battery life. I charged it once since it arrived but it wasn't dead yet at the time. You can use it while it is plugged in charging which is nice.

It has an auto poweroff which is not obnoxiously short unlike some other wireless input devices. I've had devices that turn themselves off after 10 seconds. According to the manual, it turns off after 30 minutes inactivity which sounds reasonable to me. You click any button and it restores itself immediately. Even with BT I wasn't annoyed by having to wait for it to re pair. I also didn't experience having to connect another device or use the keyboard to get BT going again, which is one thing that has really stopped me from using BT input devices.

🔝

Elsewhere and the future

Support

Summary: 18 or 24 month warranty. Maybe. Unknown brand, not sure what future will bring.

The manufacturer, nulea, does not list this product on their website. There is no documentation available online that I can find. There is a manual for the M501 model which from the outside looks the same except for being thumb-operated.

The nulea website indicates either an 18 month or 2 year warranty on their products, if you register within 30 days of purchase, and if you get it from amazon.

I haven't tried to contact them. The manual lists 2 email addresses by way of electronic contact: [email protected] and [email protected]. Searching for the first finds this webpage: 联系我们 | cet product service which also has the same mailing information as the manual.

I do not see any indication that a replacement 2.4g fob could be obtained if the original one was lost. OTOH at least BT works properly.

A brief manual is included in the box that contains the small amount of information required to operate. It includes English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

It looks like it might be reasonable to disassemble this to repair or modify it. There are 2 phillips head screws visible on the bottom and the plastic doesn't look like you'd have to break it to take it apart. I am not the right person to test this out. If that is of interest, see user Archie's post on Trackballs.EU.

I did not locate more detailed technical information, disassembly, diagrams etc. Perhaps they will become available.

view larger

view larger

🔝

Links

Summary: all sources used and product websites. Includes archive.org links for reviews posted by individuals.

blogs, forums, reviews

Here are a few reviews I found. I sent them all to archive.org in case you find this in the future and links are dead.

• Sanwa Gravi and Nulea M505 (initial impressions) (archive.org) by /u/_Rob_K_ on /r/Trackballs. A pretty long review especially comparing to the Sanwa Gravi.
• クローンのワイヤレストラックボール『Nulea M505』 (archive.org) watchmono.com, looks like a Japanese language tech review website. good pictures.
• Sanwa Gravi 400-MAWBTTB138 (archive.org) by user Archie on Trackballs.EU
• Nulea M505 quick first impressions : Trackballs (archive.org) by /u/henrebotha on /r/Trackballs
• Nulea M505 - Spoiled reviewer? (archive.org) by /u/kitebok on /r/Trackballs. A review from someone who didn't like it.

commercial

Links (tracking codes removed):

• amazon.ca: m505 CA$43 +tax (free shipping, no import fees)
• amazon.ca: m505b CA$39 +tax (free shipping, no import fees)
• amazon.ca: search for nulea this company also makes similar looking trackballs in other shapes and styles if you do not want a finger ball
• amazon.com m505 US$44 (at time of writing on sale US$38)
• amazon.com m505b US$40
• amazon.com nulea store
• nulea.com lists almost none of their products

If you search for this items on amazon you may find this case for the Palm Pilot m505. This is a different product:

view larger image source: amazon.ca

🔝

License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

🔝

I wanted to share this thing I found because it is great.

I think it is newly available. On amazon reviews, forum posts, blogs, youtubes and all other sources of information, nothing is found dating prior to March 2023. I do not recall seeing it before.

I have used photos already available online if they were adequate. I took some original photos to show details not captured by others.

Contents

Here are the sections of this article with a brief summary.

Basics

• Price and value: Good luck getting a cheaper trackball! Amazing.

• m505 vs m505b: Difference between models is the "b" model has an annoying light ring around the ball.

Design

• Shape and feel: A comfortable, quality feeling finger trackball. Mode buttons show attention to detail.
• Aesthetics: Look OK overall, not too "gamer".
• Buttons and scroll: left + right + forward + back + scroll/middleclick = 5 buttons. All except right are thumb-operated. Geography is reasonable and they all work properly. Click is good. Software programmable on linux.
• m505b light: I find this kind of light very obnoxious. Could have been worse.
• m505 vs Sanwa Gravi: Device is either a clone of Sanwa Gravi or actually manufactured by the same people.

Function

• Tracking experience: Smooth, precise, adjustable.
• Wireless connection: 2.4g and Bluetooth both working better than expected on linux. 2.4g dongle has comfortable home.
• Power: USB-C rechargeable! Auto power-off is 30 minutes and it gracefully wakes up when you need it again. Battery life/quality unknown.

Elsewhere and the future

• Support: 18 or 24 month warranty. Maybe. Unknown brand, not sure what future will bring.
• Links: all sources used and product websites. Includes archive.org links for reviews posted by individuals.
• License: CC-BY-NC

🔝

Basics

Price and value

Summary: Good luck getting a cheaper trackball! Amazing.

I have used trackballs manufactured by by perimice, deft, kensington and logitec. Like the worst person you've ever been on a first date with, I can't help but make comparison to my prior experiences.

I tend toward the lower end of price range. I have occasionally splurged on a mid-price device, always disappointing. Cost has actually been inversely related to quality. That pattern remains unchanged with this being by far the best trackball at around the lowest price you can expect to find.

It is almost to good to be true.

List price is CA/US$40-45. Even after you add Canadian sales tax, it is still cheaper in Canada which is quite strange. Generally we pay premium price for stuff. US/Canada amazon links at bottom.

view larger source: watchmono

🔝

m505 vs m505b

Summary: the "b" model has an annoying light ring around the ball.

When I was looking at these online I could not figure out if there was a difference between the models. I wasn't even sure if the different pages were distinct models or maybe just different sellers.

Only once I had it and was writing this that I realized the difference: the ring of light around the ball.

• m505 does not have a light around the ball
• m505b has a light around the ball Since I had ordered the m505b and hate the light, I ordered the m505. Therefor I have both. I plan on returning the m505b.

view larger

see also: m505b light

🔝

Design

Shape and feel

Summary: A comfortable, quality feeling finger trackball. Mode buttons show attention to detail.

Like a lot of people, my first trackball was thumb-controlled. Thumb controlled trackballs are more widely and cheaply available. They can also closely resemble the experience of a traditional mouse with regards to button placement so the learning curve is not high. After using it for a while, I found the thumb side of my hand would get sore. I decided I wanted a finger-controlled ball and have been looking for one I like.

view larger image source: watchmono

This device is pretty big compared to a regular mouse but so are a lot of trackballs. You couldn't make a regular mouse this large because it would be too heavy. Also, because your hand/wrist/arm are stationary when in use, you tend to let it drop and rest more heavily. So the shape of the device becomes more important. My hand (small size of medium and short fingers) rests fairly comfortably on this. Like with a lot of devices I find my pinky and ring finger tend to curl up when not being used which can cramp. I might try doing some sort of customization to add more bulk and keep my fingers in a more comfortable position.

The surface is matte. It has pretty "good quality" feeling, whatever that means for a plastic thing.

view larger image source: watchmono

Also I will say that the power, mode and DPI buttons on the bottom are reasonable to use. They are large enough to press/move with a finger, have enough give and spring. I appreciate this.

view larger image

This is a right-handed device. There is no indication of a left handed version being available or planned.

🔝

Aesthetics

Summary: Look OK overall, not too "gamer".

I don't spend a lot of time gazing upon my input devices. Because of how much time I spend touching it, I will put how it feels over how it looks. OTOH, I do not love the "gamer" look and given the choice I'd rather have something far away from that. This trackball is fine looking but not great. Reasonably professional. I don't expect to find a device that matches my style and works properly anytime soon and it isn't hideous so I am satisfied. If there were a white version available, like nulea has for some other models, I would have chosen that.

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Buttons and scroll

Summary: left + right + forward + back + scroll/middleclick = 5 buttons. All except right are thumb-operated. Geography is reasonable and they all work properly. Click is good. Software programmable on linux.

There are 5 buttons:

• Right: On the far right side of the top face All the others are located on the inside (left) face and manipulated with the thumb. From top t o bottom they are:
• Forward and Back
• Scrollwheel (also middle click)
• Left

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source: watchmono

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source: watchmono

I find these buttons intuitive to use. They are big enough that I don't have to search for them. They don't feel squeaky or mushy or have other annoying tactile characteristics.

If you are new to trackballs, one hint is that not all trackballs come with a scrolling mechanism. Some of them have unusual scrolling components not seen on regular mice but which many people appreciate once getting used to them. Others can only accomplish scrolling by means of an awkward combination like clicking a button and moving the wheel. And you may have to implement/hack that yourself. For me I definitely wanted a device with a good scroll. This works as I had hoped.

On linux, all the buttons worked as expected out of the box. I was able to reprogram the function back and forward buttons using input-remapper which it a GUI program that reliably works with just about everything (except some weird keyboard F keys). It does not actually reprogram the mouse itself, just how the computer interprets input. So it needs to be set up on every computer. I do not think the actual mouse can be reprogrammed unfortunately.

One thing I noticed having both models is that input-remapper thinks they are the same. Mappings made to one are applied to the other automatically. I don't mind it since I want to use them the same way. Typically you need to create mapping for every individual device.

In the manual, it says that the back/forward buttons do not work at all on Mac.

I was hoping to get something with a couple of extra function buttons. There is room on the top for them. But we can't have everything.

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m505b light

Summary: I find this kind of light very obnoxious. Could have been worse.

As mentioned at the top, the difference between the m505 and m505b is the latter has a decorative light. As I didn't understand this I accidentally purchased the m505b so I will say what I thought about it.

The manufacturer seems to think this is a major selling feature.

I am bothered by devices with LEDs especially those that have movement, flashing, throbbing etc. Do not understand the appeal why have anything other than the dimmest light that lets you know the status. I was worried that it would be always distracting me and because of the placement I'd not be able to do anything to hide it. It gave me hope when I read one review complaining it was "too dim", at least it probably wouldn't light up the whole room.

The decorative throbbing light is somewhat subtle and not annoying. You can turn it off by holding down the right and left buttons at the same time. You need to do that every time you turn it on. Which is annoying and will drain the battery. You should only get the one with the light if you really want the light all the time.

There is a translucent white diffuser ring that surrounds the ball. The light shines through this. Even when you turn the decorative throbbing light off, you can see the red light from the optical tracking through the ring. When I take the ball out, I see that the whole socket it made of the white translucent plastic which optimizes the light transmission. It is possibly more annoying than the slowly color-changing light because it is flashing on and off all the time which the color changing sort of disguises.

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how the light looks in the dark (with no tracking ball, with the ball, with the ball + tracking light on):

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even just the tracking light is pretty bright due to the translucent white plastic in the socket (without ball, with ball):

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I can see why a designer thought it looked cute to have an outline around the ball though. When turned off it looks pretty slick.

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m505 vs Sanwa Gra

Summary: Device is either a clone of Sanwa Gravi or actually manufactured by the same people.

The m505 is said to be a clone of the Sanwa Gravi, a Japanese manufactured trackball. As far as I can, it tell is unavailable in Canada. On amazon.com the wireless Gravi costs US$65.

/u/_Rob_K_ on /r/Trackballs wrote a comparison between these 2 devices: Sanwa Gravi and Nulea M505 (initial impressions). He included some side-by-side pictures.

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source: /u/_Rob_K_

User Archie on Trackballs.EU has the following gossip:

Actual manufacturer of Gravi is Dongguan Togran Electronics Co., Ltd. Interestingly, this factory is also offering another variant with slightly more rounded casing, different arrangement of buttons (one on the right side, but two above the wheel on the left) and LED-illuminated ring around the ball, just like original MTE had. This model is pictured unbranded, so it's currently not clear if it will be marketed under Sanwa label or some other brand. [Update by spring 2023: modified versions appeared as Nulea M505 and ProtoArc EM03 models. The latter is reportedly made by Shenzhen Seenda Technology Co., Ltd.]

If I understand properly, Archie is saying that that the Nulea and ProtoArc devices are made by the same company as the similar Sanwa devices?

I did find the ProtoArc EM03 on amazon.com at a list price of US$50. There is page on amazon.ca but it is not available an there is no price. They do look very similar to the m505b except for there is another light in the scrollwheel. Like nulea, ProtoArc does not seem to put their products on their website.

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Function

Tracking experience

Summary: Smooth, precise, adjustable.

The ball moves smoothly. It does not stick or rub or jump or jitter or hesitate. It is not laborious to get the pointer to a specific spot on the screen. It work as I would expect which has been surprisingly difficult to say about trackballs from my experience.

The ball is 44mm which is medium-sized for a track ball. There are 3 small ball bearings inside. They are white, I guess plastic.

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There is a DPI button on the bottom. It is said to have 200/400/800/1200/1600 DPI.

I typically use a 1280x720 display. On the 200 dpi setting the mouse moves about 1/3 across when flung. At 800 it just gets all the way across and since I have no need for more than that I don't put it higher.

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I don't game so I can't comment. I saw some reviews saying it wasn't great for that. Also if you use a huge mega size display, no comment.

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Wireless connection

Summary: 2.4G and Bluetooth both working better than expected on linux. 2.4g dongle has comfortable home.

I am a linux user and have tried both 2.4g and bt. They both work great.

Bluetooth

Usually I don't use BT because it is always annoying which could be due to hardware, user error, interference, who knows what. In general I find with BT there is a lot of power off/on, reconnecting, re-pairing, blah blah blah.

But I am impressed by this. I paired it without consulting the instructions by just mashing the buttons and got it connected fairly quick. I tried it for about 2 days to test and had no problems once paired. I guess my computer is not as badly set up as I thought.

2.4g

2.4g: I bought this because it had 2.4g. That is what I want because it is generally reliable. I have had problems with other devices failing to maintain a connection on this particular computer even at very close range, but so far no issue.

There is a place to keep the 2.4g dongle on the bottom. It is not in a battery compartment or otherwise placed so you must dismantle to access. Even with very short fingernails I can remove the dongle from its home without use of a prying implement. It is a small detail but it is rare to be able to say all that.

I tested to see if the 2 devices would use one another's dongles. They did not.

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Power

Summary: USB-C rechargeable! Auto power-off is 30 minutes and it gracefully wakes up when you need it again. Battery life/quality unknown.

Charges via usb-c. This is very cool! Even a lot of pricier wireless trackballs are still using AA or AAA batteries. It becomes expensive to run the device over time because they run out quickly. Those which recharge are commonly on micro USB. The documentation included warns against using fast charge to avoid killing the battery. The included USB A-to-C cable is about 6' with a nice feeling thick housing. It has a very low power according to the app on my phone. However my phone doesn't even recognize a lot of older model USB C cables so I am not sure how reliable it is.

I can't comment on the long-term battery life. I charged it once since it arrived but it wasn't dead yet at the time. You can use it while it is plugged in charging which is nice.

It has an auto poweroff which is not obnoxiously short unlike some other wireless input devices. I've had devices that turn themselves off after 10 seconds. According to the manual, it turns off after 30 minutes inactivity which sounds reasonable to me. You click any button and it restores itself immediately. Even with BT I wasn't annoyed by having to wait for it to re pair. I also didn't experience having to connect another device or use the keyboard to get BT going again, which is one thing that has really stopped me from using BT input devices.

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Elsewhere and the future

Support

Summary: 18 or 24 month warranty. Maybe. Unknown brand, not sure what future will bring.

The manufacturer, nulea, does not list this product on their website. There is no documentation available online that I can find. There is a manual for the M501 model which from the outside looks the same except for being thumb-operated.

The nulea website indicates either an 18 month or 2 year warranty on their products, if you register within 30 days of purchase, and if you get it from amazon.

I haven't tried to contact them. The manual lists 2 email addresses by way of electronic contact: [email protected] and [email protected]. Searching for the first finds this webpage: 联系我们 | cet product service which also has the same mailing information as the manual.

I do not see any indication that a replacement 2.4g fob could be obtained if the original one was lost. OTOH at least BT works properly.

A brief manual is included in the box that contains the small amount of information required to operate. It includes English, German, French, Italian and Spanish.

It looks like it might be reasonable to disassemble this to repair or modify it. There are 2 phillips head screws visible on the bottom and the plastic doesn't look like you'd have to break it to take it apart. I am not the right person to test this out. If that is of interest, see user Archie's post on Trackballs.EU.

I did not locate more detailed technical information, disassembly, diagrams etc. Perhaps they will become available.

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Links

Summary: all sources used and product websites. Includes archive.org links for reviews posted by individuals.

blogs, forums, reviews

Here are a few reviews I found. I sent them all to archive.org in case you find this in the future and links are dead.

• Sanwa Gravi and Nulea M505 (initial impressions) (archive.org) by /u/_Rob_K_ on /r/Trackballs. A pretty long review especially comparing to the Sanwa Gravi.
• クローンのワイヤレストラックボール『Nulea M505』 (archive.org) watchmono.com, looks like a Japanese language tech review website. good pictures.
• Sanwa Gravi 400-MAWBTTB138 (archive.org) by user Archie on Trackballs.EU
• Nulea M505 quick first impressions : Trackballs (archive.org) by /u/henrebotha on /r/Trackballs
• Nulea M505 - Spoiled reviewer? (archive.org) by /u/kitebok on /r/Trackballs. A review from someone who didn't like it.

commercial

Links (tracking codes removed):

• amazon.ca: m505 CA$43 +tax (free shipping, no import fees)
• amazon.ca: m505b CA$39 +tax (free shipping, no import fees)
• amazon.ca: search for nulea this company also makes similar looking trackballs in other shapes and styles if you do not want a finger ball
• amazon.com m505 US$44 (at time of writing on sale US$38)
• amazon.com m505b US$40
• amazon.com nulea store
• nulea.com lists almost none of their products

If you search for this items on amazon you may find this case for the Palm Pilot m505. This is a different product:

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License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International

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