Buy 3Dconnexion SpaceExplorer 3D mouse3Dconnexion SpaceExplorer 3D mouse Product Description:
- 3Dconnexion SpaceExplorer - 3D-Motion-Controller - optisch - 15 Taste(n) - verkabelt - USB
Product Description
3Dconnexion SpaceExplorer USB 3DX700026 Mice Pointing Devices Mouse
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful.
Sooo useful, and yet...
By Moom
First off, let me say I'm a long-time fan of the 3D "spaceball" type navigator, of which this is the latest incarnation. I've used them for nearly a decade now for various CAD packages, and I find them incredibly useful. The premise is simple: you push the round puck thingy in the way you want your object on screen to behave - twist it to spin it, push it away to zoom out, push it sideways to pan across, etc. The concept is excellent. However, this latest generation of products from 3Dconnexion has left me feeling rather disappointed. The older ones were always very sensitive, and required a bit of getting used to - the first time anybody sat down with them, they'd inevitably spin their CAD model off the edge of the screen at high speed. Once you'd got past this stage, though, it was wonderfully easy to manipulate your model with your fingertips. Clearly, though, some re-engineering of the product has taken place, and the technology behind the system has been altered. A cynical person might suggest this was a cost-reduction exercise, but it has also given the designers the opportunity to dial down the sensitivity. For first-time users this is good, as it gets rid of the learning curve. For those who've used the older products, though, this one is going to feel slightly sluggish.I'm currently using my Space Explorer with ProEngineer, Rhino and Blender. One of my grouches is that all three use slightly different panning techniques - this is not 3Dconnexion's fault as such, but it is worth remembering if you're about to buy one of these for multiple applications. ProE's is the most intuitive (and is the one I've found used most often elsewhere). Rhino's is slightly different in a hard-to-explain way - it's all to do with the way Rhino pans and rotates its models, there are simply some directions it won't let you go in. Blender, though, has the exact opposite implementation to ProE. I think the theory is you are pushing around the camera instead of the object - but it's still hard to get your head round. What's more, I'm having issues with sluggish behaviour in ProE - for some reason, when you hover your mouse over a feature and that little popup label comes up, this causes model rotation to become very choppy. Basically, what I'm saying is that the Space Navigator engages with a wide range of software and not all of it is entirely butter-smooth in its implementation.That said, I've used similar 3dconnexion products with Unigraphics NX and SolidWorks and they worked perfectly. So it can be plain sailing.There's another issue here, and that is the cost. 3Dconnexion's cheapest offering is about half the price of the Space Explorer. It only has two buttons, and no wrist rest. The wrist rest is important - in fact, I'd say it was crucial, because I own one and I find myself lifting the thing up when I try to pan upwards at any speed. So if you're spending soemone else's money, then the Space Navigator is a nobrainer. But that's a big jump in price for something which effectively is just holding the thing in place. Okay, it's got some extra buttons on, but still.So here's my recommendation: if you're doing any sort of CAD work, a 3D mouse of this type is incredibly useful. If you're buying for a business, then by all means get the Space Navigator - it's slick, (almost, oh-so-close-to-being) plug-and-play, and has all the necessary features to be a real productivity boon. If you're buying for yourself, though, I'd suggest finding a way to hold the cheaper version to the desk - or looking for an old Spaceball to crop up on a well-known auction site.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.Exellent
By OK
3D Connexion Space Explorer works very well with 3D cad.It feels natural to rotate, zoom and pan. Programmable buttons makes it very comfortable to work with.
Latest Price: Click Here - Amazon.co.uk!
More Info: Click Here - Amazon.co.uk!
See Customers Review: Click Here - Amazon.co.uk!
