[sanddrag]

We are beginning to use a 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse for our lead CAD and CAM students. It definitely takes several hours of practice to become proficient, but they're beginning to like it, and they're faster on it than just a standard mouse and keyboard combo. After practice, I'm still about the same speed as my classical methods.

I was very reluctant to try it at first, and I felt like I was not very good at it, but it's starting to grow on me. The real benefit is for orbiting CAM simulations in Inventor HSM. It's very smooth with this mouse. I can also see it being good for doing demos and lessons when I'm teaching, and not necessarily working really fast, but want to focus on the task rather than on constantly manipulating viewing tools.

If anyone in the Western US is looking for some more info on the 3Dconnexion stuff, PM me; I know their product rep for this region quite well.