3DConnexion SpaceNavigator for Notebooks

Computers are great at portraying three dimensions, but the world’s favourite input device – the mouse – is steadfastly 2D. Enter desk left (or an axis of your choice) the SpaceNavigator for Notebooks – an Atari 2600 paddle detached from its handset and plonked atop a jack-in-the-box spring affixed to a steel paperweight. Sort of. Manufacturer 3DConnexion describes it rather more succinctly as a “3D mouse for your 3D world”.

However you choose to express it, the SpaceNavigator for Notebooks is a six-axis controller that’s pitched at addicted Google Earth users. Okay, so Logitech-offshoot 3DConnexion reckons it's also ideal for use with the likes of Autodesk Inventor and SolidWorks but frankly, who gives a fig for dull stuff like that when there are neighbours’ gardens to be nosed around?

To be clear, the SpaceNavigator is not intended as a replacement for a mouse – it's marketed as a complementary controller. Plonked on the left side of your desk (or vice versa, if you’re of sinister bent), the idea is that one hand manipulates the paddle to turn, twist and tilt Google Earth’s 3D globe, while the other works with whatever pointing device takes your fancy, clicking at the endless overlay datasets.

For example, twist the SpaceNavigator’s paddle left or right and the Google Earth representation of the planet will obediently spin anticlockwise or clockwise. Similarly, tilt it forward or back and the Google Earth viewing angle shifts with your movements. Finally, press on the paddle to zoom in, or gently lift to fly back out. It might take a couple of hours to get used to this but, once paired with your brain, it all feels quite natural – control almost becomes thought.

However, for goggle-eyed Google Earthers, the SpaceNavigator for Notebooks is so borderline brilliant that its major flaw stands out all the more. You see, it is a small and heavy gadget – it feels like a good paperweight, in fact – but it’s not nearly heavy enough.

This problem affects three of its six control axes. Tilt (that’s forward and back) works just fine but pull to zoom out and the SpaceNavigator is at risk of being lifted up from the desk. Such levitation is disconcerting in itself, but it also has knock-on effects for the twist/pan controls.

Plonk the hovering SpaceNavigator for Notebooks down a few degrees either side of true and suddenly your brain’s ability to have your hand lead it through 3D space is all messed up. Pan-left is no longer quite pan-left, for example, and roll may make your head spin as the globe turns in an unexpected direction.

The situation is compounded by the fact that too firm a twist left or right may also see the SpaceNavigator turn away from true. You may find yourself spending as much time repositioning the paddle north as you do exploring the globe – it’s frustrating.

To be fair, the supplied 3DxWare driver does allow the paddle’s sensitivity to be adjusted, such that gentler movements can be made to achieve twists and turns of the desired speed. This mitigates a little but for our money, we would’ve liked even higher sensitivity options to eliminate the problem entirely. As it is, blob of Blu-tack applied to the underside of the SpaceNavigator for Notebooks worked its adhesive magic to secure the paddle to our test bench.

The SpaceNavigator for Notebooks connects via USB, and is illuminated by a ring of blue light – nice, if you like that kind of thing. Finally, there are two buttons either side of the paddle. These don’t serve as mouse buttons, though (remember, the SpaceNavigator is meant to work in conjunction with a mouse). Instead, they can be assigned user-defined commands, such as to reset the tilt and to return to true north: we found them rather fiddly, mind.

We haven't mentioned it so far, but as you can probably guess, the SpaceNavigator for Notebooks is aimed at laptop users – the model designed for desktop PC use, the SpaceNavigator Personal Edition USB, has been available for a while. The laptop version is a little smaller and half the weight of the half kilo desktop model, but 250g is still a noticeable addition to a laptop bag. Despite the use of less raw materials though, the portable model still costs nearly three times more than the desktop one -- £106, compared to £39.

If the bulk of your working day is spent using 3D environments on your laptop, then the SpaceNavigator for Notebooks could conceivably make your life a little easier. But given the inexplicably steep price, we imagine all but the most pernickety of portable pointers would rather make do with a mouse if the laptop's touchpad doesn't work well enough.