The Space Pilot has totally changed my workflow - I love how it enables me to interact quickly and efficiently with my work. Once I learned the button locations and programmed my own shortcuts, my productivity literally doubled overnight.

The device is well made and sturdy - I was concerned at first that my meaty paws would damage the sensitive input knob but after using it for a couple of weeks I now know my worries were unnecessary. The buttons are crisp and solid, the knob is tight and responsive and the screen is easy to read.

The only downside to this input device is its lack of support as a joystick or game input. After using it, I believe it would make a very effective input device for flight simulators and certain FPS games.

Despite this small shortcoming, I think this is one of the most effective peripherals I have ever purchased (aside from my 21 inch Wacom display tablet). If you are a 3D artist or Photoshop user, you will most likely find the Spacepilot 3D a valuable addition to your palette of tools.

Shane Simon
[..]

I recently purchased the spacepilot after obtaining Autodesk Inventor. I have to say first and foremost that the quality of construction is top notch. The spacepilot is well built and very heavy. Everything seemed to work fine until i noticed a problem with the software. Without going into to much detail, basically the software has a mjor bug in it that 3dconnexion hasn't found or fixed yet. Upon calling I was told buy 2 seperate techs that i should just figure out a way to work around it and that they hadn't noticed the glitch until i brought it up. Now forgive me if i'm wrong but for almost $400 i find it hard to believe that something as simple and obvious as the software would work better. Overall the accessory is well built and worked well. But the software was a point i couldn't work around and so i ended up returning the spacepilot.

When Solidworks went to version 2008, I sadly had to say goodby to my classic Spacemouse--an unsupported serial device. The replacement, the 3Dconnexion SpacePilot, is a welcome replacement. The puck control has less mechanical travel than the Spacemouse, which was easy to get used to. The quality of the device is better than I expected from seeing the images. But the most useful improvement to me is the application-context-sensitive button mapping. When you change applications, the SpacePilot updates its LCD screen to show you how the buttons have been remapped for that application. When you go to Solidworks assembly mode, for example, the buttons change so that you can easily go to insert, mate, rotate, etc. Also there is a special button specifically for "Fit", which is a zoom-all command. Very nice, overall, and as with other 3D mice, facilitates two-handed CAD actions.

I work in 3D Studio Max and the space pilot nearly doubles my navigation speed as compared to using the keyboard/mouse. The customizable buttons are nice, I have a regular preset, a rigging preset, and a modeling preset so far. So when I'm rigging a character I can easily pan around the model and select verticies, adjusting their weights using the programable buttons.

The button placements aren't as good as they could be but bearable, you can actually remap ALL buttons on the device for every configuration you have so you might find it easier to remap the ctrl,shift,alt,esc buttons to custom commands.. or the viewport buttons as those are easier to reach while navigating.

Of course for pure fun factor flying around in google earth with it is a joy, but for that you might as well buy the $60 space navigator.

If you need customizable keys for your work as I do then its definatly worth it and makes navigation a breeze.

I got mine here on amazon for only $270, too bad the price is higher now.

I've now owned my SpacePilot for about a year and use it principally with Autodesk Inventor. I am at my computer all day, every day. I don't know how I ever worked without it. Everything they say about improved productivity is true and in fact may be something of an understated claim.

I seldom use the programmable buttons but I use the orientation buttons (to right of controller knob) and the function keys (to the left of controller knob) all the time. It is robust and has withstood thousands of hours of use with no sign of any wear.

It took no time to become second nature. It is so intuitive that within days it became an extension of my hand. It is ergonomically very comfortable. Between the SpacePilot and my programmable MX Revolution mouse I have most of everything I need in my two hands at all times. I've moved the keyboard back under the monitor and placed the SpacePilot and mouse directly in front of me. For number entry I've placed a number keypad/calculator immediately to the right of my mouse and I seldom need to go to the keyboard.