Call me when they make a thinkpad-like trackpoint
Unicomp, which inherited the IBM Model M tooling, still makes a keyboard with a trackpoint: https://www.pckeyboard.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Cate...
Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
21–30 of 54 posts
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#22A year ago I went down the rabbit hole of looking into custom trackball-keyboard integrations. Ploopy, Charybdis, Dactyl, CCK-ball, etc. My final boring conclusion is that what I had already been doing for the past 20 years is much cheaper and gets me 99.99% of the way: All you need is a regular ~$50 trackball and a regular ~$100 keyboard without a numpad. (You can have an overlay for that, if you need it.) As someon…
I did build a charybdis, and I daily it. Its been great typing wise. I don't have any wrist issues anymore.
The trackball I don't use for any precision actions. Its useful if I want to hit a tab, or move to the other monitor. But trying to hit small links for example is painful. (That being said I am using the stock bearings, which don't seem to work well)
It was a significant expense for a keyboard, especially being a kit. Albeit my wrists are worth it.
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#23Call me when they make a thinkpad-like trackpoint
For trackpoint fans Lenovo makes a classic Thinkpad keyboard as a standalone rechargeable wireless keyboard. It works with Bluetooth, it's own USB wireless dongle or even wired USB. Has a switch for Windows or Android/Linux key mapping. I have one and like it (although it's pricey at around $100).
https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/keyb...
https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Trackpoint-Keyboard-4....
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#24A year ago I went down the rabbit hole of looking into custom trackball-keyboard integrations. Ploopy, Charybdis, Dactyl, CCK-ball, etc. My final boring conclusion is that what I had already been doing for the past 20 years is much cheaper and gets me 99.99% of the way: All you need is a regular ~$50 trackball and a regular ~$100 keyboard without a numpad. (You can have an overlay for that, if you need it.) As someon…
> this new trackball will make you move your fingers (and wrists) significantly off home row.
Only if you use it off to one side or the other. Seems like it was built to live below the KB and be operated with thumbs. If that's the case, your fingers should never have to leave the home row.
Now it may interfere with KB wrist rests, but learning proper typing form (raised wrists) would solve for that.
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#25I think the trackpoint nub would have been a better choice.
While I do use one daily (when I'm laptop only), I would say that it seems to be made for fingers, not thumbs. It's hard to be accurate with thumbs.
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#26A year ago I went down the rabbit hole of looking into custom trackball-keyboard integrations. Ploopy, Charybdis, Dactyl, CCK-ball, etc. My final boring conclusion is that what I had already been doing for the past 20 years is much cheaper and gets me 99.99% of the way: All you need is a regular ~$50 trackball and a regular ~$100 keyboard without a numpad. (You can have an overlay for that, if you need it.) As someon…
Yes, seeing this product's very angular non-3d-printed yet-prototype design brought back memories of the days when the default portable hardware interface didn't always include a pointing device and thus there were these clip-on trackballs, like below. Maybe some of the weirdest were things that looked like small mice that were linked and position-sensed by a bar linkage to the laptop. I can't find a reference to one…
You are thinking of the HP Omnibook.
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#27Call me when they make a thinkpad-like trackpoint
For trackpoint fans Lenovo makes a classic Thinkpad keyboard as a standalone rechargeable wireless keyboard. It works with Bluetooth, it's own USB wireless dongle or even wired USB. Has a switch for Windows or Android/Linux key mapping. I have one and like it (although it's pricey at around $100). https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/p/accessories-and-software/keyb... https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-Thinkpad-Trackpoint-Keyboar…
This keyboard is one of the staples of my desk. Saying this as someone who also dabbles in all of the exotic stuff. Sometimes you need a reliable, small, and convenient keyboard - that's where these tiny Lenovo trackpoint keyboards fit in every time.
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#28Call me when they make a thinkpad-like trackpoint
Unicomp, which inherited the IBM Model M tooling, still makes a keyboard with a trackpoint: https://www.pckeyboard.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Cate...
I love that keyboard, but I wish they'd increase the TrackPoint cut out for the GHB keys more. It's not the easiest when attempting to move the cursor to the top-left, top-right, and bottom areas of the screen.
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#29May need a custom wrist pad to surround it
Re: Keychron's Nape Pro turns your keyboard into a laptop‑style trackball rig
#30Call me when they make a thinkpad-like trackpoint
Some great options have been mentioned already.
Another interesting option is the HHKB Studio keyboard. https://hhkeyboard.us/hhkb-studio/product
HolyKeebs also has TrackPoint modules available for some exotic ergo split keyboards: https://holykeebs.com/
A very exotic option is the Svalboard, which is available with both trackball and trackpoint configurations: https://svalboard.com/