SpacePilot PRO: The Next-Gen 3D Mouse to Rock Your CAD… and More

by Josh on April 16, 2009 · Comments

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Just when you thought everything was calm and it was safe to bring the kids in and show them the wonders of using a 3D mouse to create amazing products and fly around virtual worlds… 3DConnexion slaps a brand, spankin’ new 3D space manipulatin’ device on the table to completely shock your senses.

Gather the children, 3DConnexion has just announce the next in their line of 3D mice, their “most powerful 3D Mouse Ever”, the SpacePilot PRO.

We’ve got the release and the photos, but within the next couple days we’ll have a hands-on nitty-gritty look at all it offers you design, engineers and 3D hobbyists. In the meantime, feast your eyes on the the LCD screen and fresh, new button arrangement. Nice.

SpacePilot PRO Goodness
I had a quick chance to play with this at SolidWorks World 2009. I’ll have one in my hands later today, but in the meantime here’s some highlights sure to interest you.

Color LCD

Lists function-key assignments
Access to e-mail, calendar and task lists
Totally customizable

Improved Navigation for MCAD

Five new dual-function QuickView Navigation keys
One-touch 32 view access
Simpler, more customizable control

Advanced Function Keys

One-touch access to 10 frequently used commands
Automatically detects the active application
Color LCD shows functions assignments

Improved Comfort

Soft-coated wrist rest
Smoother fingertip control
Symmetrical layout

Close-up Images
Well have more, not so PR’y photos coming up. Here’s some close-ups of the new buttony comfort. Click to Enlarge.

After using it…
It is indeed more comfortable. The buttons are also improved making it A LOT easier to press the keys. The layout of the keys feels much more natural and the symmetry is definitely welcomed being left-handed. THe LCD screen… well, just amazing really, I had some comments to them about this, so it will be interesting to see if it’s changed, improved and what it will add to the workflow. More coming soon.

If you want to know specifics about any feature, option or function, let me know in the comments below.

UPDATE: Here’s some pricing and compatibility info! From the manufacturer…

“The SpacePilot PRO is backed by a three-year warranty, and is currently available at a suggested retail price of $499. The SpacePilot PRO is supported by Windows XP, Windows Vista®, Sun Solaris 8 (SPARC), Sun Solaris 10 (x86), and Linux® (Redhat Enterprise Linux WS 4, SuSE 9.3 or later). Linux and Solaris support workflow assistant function key assignments only.”

You can pick up their other products for about $20-30 less at places like Amazon, so be on the look-out for prices around $450-475.

(No Ratings Yet)

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Comments

Tagged as: 3d mouse, 3dconnexion, google earth, spacepilot

Chris Serran

Any word on MSRP?
Did they remove the button to lock the rotations like on the current Pilot and Explorer? I find it's a really handy button and use it quite often, especially with sketching.

I still think the SpaceBall was the best laid out device so far, followed by the SpaceExplorer. I just have trouble switching between using an Pilot at work and Explorer at home.

How did you find the accessibility of the controls for the display screen?

*edit* Found the rotations button...phew! As for the Outlook functions, it's only possible on Outlook 2003 and newer. Curses us for being behind the times and on Outlook 2002!

Josh M

Chirs, I just updated the post with some pricing info. It's coming in at $499 - $100 more than the SpacePilot. The buttons are a lot nicer than on the Explorer for sure. I'll look into the locking, but you can still center rotation.

Accessing the LCD controls was pretty straightforward. I tried doing a couple things via the screen when I tested it at SWW and I'm wondering if they added them in. I'll see when I get it in later today.

As for Outlook, that kinda sucks, but since I try to limit email usage while I'm working, I would probably not use that as much. We'll see though once I get it in. The customization of that LCD screen is going to be very interesting to test.

Jeff Mirisola

You can not only lock rotation, but pan/zoom so things don't fly off your screen. If you'd read my post, Chris, you'd know that. Just kidding, Josh. I'm still jealous that you got a sneak peek at SWW.

Bruce Buck

I've struggled alot with this one. I won a Space Pilot back at SWW'07. I loved it. I felt it indeed helped me save time and navigate my parts and assemblies.

But I always found myself feeling hindered when going back home to work on something, or working on someone else's workstation. They didn't have one, so I was left with trying to remember the "old" way.

So I decided at that time to sell it, and just get used to the keyboard/mouse. I figured, every computer will have those two things, so I should be good to go.

The new design and features definitely look like something nice enough to look into using again, but I'd have to buy at least two of those puppies to really make it work for me.

Brian

I was just talking to someone here at work the other day about this... This is about the only downside I see to having a 3D controller.

Robin Capper

Bruce, You share my concerns about non-std controllers. I wrote a post today about just that will be on-line tomorrow. Considered the little navigator one but then realised would need to lug it around or get two.

Rod_Uding

Looking at the pictures and reading all the good stuff this thing does makes me want one. On the other hand it seems like they have taken a simple idea and added too many bell and whistles.

It would be great to have one for a test drive for a week or so to see how it works before shelling out a good chunk of money for one.

Dave Moore

Is anyone using the SpacePilot PRO? If so, how much computing overhead does it take? RAM? CPU%?

Josh M

Hey Dave, this was going to be in my review, but I'll fill you in. The base app uses 4-5MB. The LCD and each program represented on it uses about 2-5MB. THe LCDMon process runs at 17-20MB. I have 8 total processes running for this thing for a total of approx 45MB. You can kill the LCD process and it wipes the other 7 out.

For what I run, this is kind of low, it's comparable to Autocad or the PDM program I use. I'd most likely shut down firefox or outlook before this when using it on large assemblies. Hope this helps!