astroid 6000 – The Review, Part II

Ok, let’s get into it. My initial impression was that the ball was rather cheap looking. While it felt robust enough, I got the impression that if I squeezed too hard it might break.

I didn’t care for the fact that it didn’t come with an installation CD. You have to go to spatial freedom’s website to download the drivers as well as a second program for the SolidWorks add-in portion. I’m not sure why they did it this way, but it would be mighty inconvenient if you were without an internet connection when you wanted to install your astroid. I know, I know, most everybody has one, I’m just saying…

Anyway, I got everything loaded and hooked up and opened up SolidWorks. The little instruction sheet that comes with the controller says:

"The next time you open a SolidWorks file there will be a new Astroid drop down menu…"

Uh-uh, not in SW2007 anyway. You have to go in an check the add-in to activate it. (I know that I’m being nit-picky here, but I know that the people from spatial freedom are going to be reading this and I just want them to be aware of some possible improvements.)

Now I’m ready to start using this puppy! I opened up a file and started to mess around with the astroid. The ball works pretty much how I figured it would. The part on my screen flew all over the place in accordance with the movement of the ball. I’m still not sure what benefit the scoll hat provides though…

My present thinking is that this controller is good for the money. I didn’t notice any sloppiness in the ball, something that I’d heard was common. While parts of it might look cheap (sorry, John), it works in the manner one would expect. I’m going to use it into next week and post a final review Thursday or Friday.

Let me know if you have any specific questions.

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November 10, 2006 · Posted in Hardware Review

Comments

Clem

I would of thought that for someone who was involved with the original spaceball product, more time would have been invested in the overall ergonomics of the Astroid. Why the symmetry and the tiny buttons? For they're first generation product I think they are headed in the right direction though.

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About Jeff's Tool Shed

While most of what I write will be about SolidWorks, or partner products, from time to time I've been known to go off on random rants about whatever crosses my mind.

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