geekhack
geekhack Community => Input Devices => Topic started by: Warm Woolly Sheep on Fri, 08 February 2019, 20:27:20
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When this site first opened I curated a list of every desktop keyboard with a trackpoint. They were mostly out of production, and there were few mechanical options. (I could dig up the list and try to update it again if there's any interest.)
Mechanical keyboards have blown up since then, but it doesn't look like trackpoints have had the same luck :(
Aside from Unicomp's offering, am I missing a great mechanical keyboard with a trackpoint that's still in production?
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Tex Yoda,Tex Yoda II are the only ones I can think of.
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Ohh I love this idea as I've always loved trackpoints. I didn't even realize the Unicomp with trackpoint was still being produced.
On a random note one of the projects I've had in the back of my mind for a while now is a full sized custom keyboard of my own making that would have a trackpoint and the left/right click buttons vertical instead of next to each other similar to what my ancient Toshiba Satellite Pro had for better ambidextrous use. I'd also like to integrate a scroll wheel and back/forward buttons on the left similar to my MS RT9450 keyboard for browsing/scrolling. And it just so happens that I've got a junk RT9450 here I can play around with one of these days. But I've never built a keyboard from scratch but I can learn, right?
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For the longest time, I've wanted an ordinary full-size mechanical keyboard with unrestricted chording and a well-implemented TrackPoint. Sounds easy, right?
(By "well-implemented," I mean: with the correct, non-wobbly action, adjustable tracking speed (changing the operating system pointer sensitivity is unacceptable, since that setting will also affect other pointing devices), mouse buttons that use mouse-style switches, proper placement (in the center of the alphanumeric cluster-- I suppose it might be nice to have a pointing device near the arrows, probably upwards and to the right of them, for simultaneous use with the number pad, but this would have to be a second TrackPoint if present, as it does not substitute for having one in the normal position), and good quality overall.)
Well...the EnduraPro fails on chording and on some of the TrackPoint characteristics, while the various Tex products fail on form factor and other TrackPoint characteristics. The Access-IS keyboard with a TrackPoint fails on, at the very least, TrackPoint placement (I can't find information about its chording) and is difficult to obtain. The Lenovo ThinkPad board has a proper TrackPoint but fails at form factor, chording, and mechanicity. So this very simple-sounding ask is just plain unavailable, with nothing even on the horizon. sigh
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Some great ideas in this thread! Keyboards have changed a lot this past decade, and almost all for the better. In 2007 a "high quality" keyboard was a membrane board with a bunch of media keys 😂 Maybe trackpoints will be the next big thing.
I've had my eye on the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard for its trackpoint module, but they're such a small operation it's hard to trust them. I'd also like to mention the EnduraPro has a 4 key rollover, making it useless for gaming.
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Mechanical Keyboards w/ Pointing Stick currently in production / pre-production:
- Unicomp EnduraPro
- Tex Yoda II
- Ultimate Hacking Keyboard w/ trackpoint module
- Tex Shinobi
Any I'm missing?
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If you don't mind MX blacks, this is a full size, NKRO (or 6kro, don't recall) with trackpoint.
I had one, let a friend borrow it, he spilled something in it. Missed it enough to buy another one. Lately it sits in a box, but when I need a scan a passport or credit card, I'm covered... LOL
[attach=1]
https://www.ebay.com/itm/ACCESS-IS-USB-Keyboard-w-Magnetic-Card-Reader-AKEATUA307-6-A1392/184232917671?hash=item2ae5233aa7:g:~tUAAOSw7RJegiOH