Having come from an 8320 which served me well, I am now the happy owner of an 8900. I do have a question about the trackball. One my 8320 I am on maybe trackball #3 or #4. They were easy to change and if they started messing up I would pop a new one in. One the 8900 they can't be changed without disassembling the unit and most importantly, voiding my warranty. What experiences are people having with their trackballs. Are they quick to gum up or do they stay cleaner than the older 8300 trackballs?

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You can't take the trackball off the 8320 without taking it apart, unless you found a new way of doing it. The 8900 as you can tell uses a new atomic trackball, this doesn't attract dust and grease as much as the 8320. So it should last awhile, I have changed mine just for looks, but the original works great

Changed mine as well for looks (went yellow)... However the original trackball performed better....

I had the 8310 for almost 2 year and never had a single problem with trackball (I guess I'm very clean) although it's true with the old curve you could replace the trackball without disassembling the unit in a few seconds. I guess with the new trackball there shouldnt be need of replacing the trackball as it should have some kind of self-cleaning property.

I am not sure what you are thinking here. The only way I have seen to change the trackball on an 8320 is to pop the trackball's chrome trim ring off and pop the trackball out, pop the new one in and replace the trim ring. Total time - one minute.

The trackballs on the old magnetic style don't need to be replaced as often as you think, they just need to be cleaned. The magnetic rollers pick up the smallest pieces of crap and prevent them from working properly. The only reason I replaced the one on my 8800 is because I lost it. With the new style I doubt they'll need this same kind of maintenance, if any at all.