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Adding a Trackpoint to an Inexpensive Mechanical Keyboard

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Re: Adding a Trackpoint to an Inexpensive Mechanical Keyboard

#4
post #2

Nice build! Thanks for the xinput trick. I'm actually surprised it went so well. If you're not a fan of putting this whole thing together yourself these guys in Taiwan make a really nice mechancial keyboard called the Tex Yoda 2. Kinda hard to get though...

Or for half the price, the Unicomp EnduraPro.

http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/FeaturedProducts/UB40PGA

Re: Adding a Trackpoint to an Inexpensive Mechanical Keyboard

#6
post #2

Nice build! Thanks for the xinput trick. I'm actually surprised it went so well. If you're not a fan of putting this whole thing together yourself these guys in Taiwan make a really nice mechancial keyboard called the Tex Yoda 2. Kinda hard to get though...

Or for half the price, the Unicomp EnduraPro. http://www.pckeyboard.com/page/FeaturedProducts/UB40PGA

Used to love Umicomps, but bucking springs is actually kinda undesirable to me now. I partly blame open offices but frankly I also have come to prefer different switches from the get go, something requiring less force.

Re: Adding a Trackpoint to an Inexpensive Mechanical Keyboard

#9
post #8

I wish more keyboards had the trackpoint, ideally a brown switch or clear switches.

Trackball under one thumb would be awesome. Then split the keyboard to have two independent parts so you can type with your arms parallel (even better, add a half-keyboard holder at the end of each of your chair armrests).

Re: Adding a Trackpoint to an Inexpensive Mechanical Keyboard

#10
post #9
post #8

I wish more keyboards had the trackpoint, ideally a brown switch or clear switches.

Trackball under one thumb would be awesome. Then split the keyboard to have two independent parts so you can type with your arms parallel (even better, add a half-keyboard holder at the end of each of your chair armrests).

That's pretty much what I did with Gergo[1], I got tired of the ergonomics of other boards and designed/built my own split board. It's smaller to reduce finger travel/extension, the layout is optimized for programming/vim and even tacked on a trackball. After too many terrible keyboards I made Gergo, and it is extremely comfortable to use for hours at a time!

There's some photos on my blog with the development PCBs (just got the production ready ones in and am shipping them out). Cases are in the works :)

I'm actually planning on adding additional modules (there's I2C contacts on every switch). And the trackpoint is next on my list.

[1] https://www.gboards.ca/

[2] https://pasteboard.co/HUI3Zqy.jpg

[3] https://blog.gboards.ca/2018/12/photodump.html

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