In one of our favorite television series NCIS, special agents Gibbs, Tony DiNozzo, Ziva David and Timothy McGee all use a Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan trackball mouse. This NCIS trackball mouse can often be seen in a close up or in other shots showing the agents at their desk.

Read our full review of the Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan or read the summary below on this page.

In the series, a silver version of the Logitech Cordless TrackMan is used, but a dark grey version is also available. So if you want the same model as seen in NCIS, make sure to get the silver version. The Logitech trackball can be spotted from the earliest NCIS episodes until the latest season and is used by all agents in the main office. Abby doesn’t use a trackball in her laboratory, but a normal mouse instead.

Sometimes the trackball gets a large close-up, as seen below in the top left image (from NCIS Season 2, Episode 19 “Conspiracy Theory”). Just recently, someone working on the NCIS set posted an image on Twitter showing Ziva’s desk with the Logitech Trackball prominently visible (see bottom right image below).

Screenshots of the Logitech Trackball in NCIS

Conclusion

3.5 / 5

Read our full review of the Logitech Cordless Optical TrackMan here

The Logitech Cordless Trackman is one of the more complicated trackballs to give a simple conclusion. I think, after using it for a while, that it is a very good trackball, especially for demanding users that want a lot of buttons. Heavy users and professionals will be very happy with it when they take the time to get used to it. With 8 buttons (the most of any currently available trackball) and a decent scrollwheel you can make this a very useful tool for your work or even gaming, and one that is of course far superior to a regular mouse, saving you many arms and wrist movements and always being very accurate and fast.

The Logitech Cordless Trackman is decently built, feels solid and comfortable and looks good. Some people have complained online that the soft plastic wears off, and it must be said that it’s sensitive to scratches and intense use.
If you are a laptop user, the downside of this trackball is (surprisingly) the fact that it is wireless. I really wonder why there still isn’t a bluetooth trackball available, that would be a better solution than this huge USB receiver which takes up space, a USB port and has a very limited range. If you are working on a laptop, having a long chord with a wireless receiver and then the trackball device itself, completely defeats the purpose of a wireless device (saving space!). For Desktop users this would be less of an issue, and actually a benefit since they wouldn’t need a cable from the trackball to the computer which probably is placed under the desk.

If you are a casual user mostly browsing the internet and writing emails, then a more simple trackball, like the Logitech Marble, or Kensington Orbit with Scroll Ring might be a better choice. But for experienced computer users, probably desktop computer owners working in for example programming, design or other intense computer work, I can fully recommend this as a very good trackball.