I'd be more interested in something like clicky scroll wheels to use as left/right and up/down arrow keys. Never liked trackpoint mice much.
I've also never been that impressed with using trackpoints myself but after reading the comments at http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2006/05/touchpad-vs-trackpoint.html comparing touchpads and trackpoints, it sounds to me like people who give the trackpoint a bit of time to get used to end up liking them better. There wasn't much mention of trackballs there though.
I personally hate touchpads. Too much lifting of your finger to get across the whole screen, then if you turn the speed up, they're not accurate enough.
The article could be dated as it is from 2006, although the comments go up until 2011.
I prefer trackpoints still, but the older trackpads were a lot less useful than the multi-touch ones made by Apple or Logitech, which are the only decent ones made and worth mentioning IMO. I prefer trackballs to either, but they are not easily implemented in a keyboard regrettably.
Either trackpoint or trackball, I'm definitely still looking at making it happen. It may just end up being a stretch goal on the KS
Looks like good progress acidfire! On a related note did you see the rgb corsair demos at CES? Really makes me want to grab this upgrade on your board even more. I am excited that corsair is making them fully addressable and providing an API to write your own code.
As usually let me know when your ready for both the standard and the 70% board rgb upgrade or not. Just got my latest tube amp built so I'm ready to get back to soldering!
I did! It's very frustrating to see that the clear key switches that are designed to fit an RGB LED are exclusive to Corsair, but then again that would mean you'd have to completely replace your setup in a configuration like mine, so I feel a bit better knowing that mine should work quite nicely as an addon for those that want it.
On the development side, I've taken a bit of a step back to ensure that the boards are done and will work 100%, and instead of working from schematics on paper and in my head, I'm building them properly in Altium before designing the new boards. This has been massively beneficial in a couple of ways, including coming across a different way of setting up the controllers that drops $12 cost/$30 retail from the price
I've also changed the pattern for the key switches a bit, which potentially allows for a surface mount, bottom entry header below the key switch, allowing you to change your LEDs/Diodes without needing a soldering iron
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The only thing I'm currently debating on is the inclusion of the buzzer on the default model. Because of the new change of the controller, there wouldn't be 1 included in a kit there would be 4, one for each controller board. If I source them right now from one of the bigger distributors, they potentially add $9 - $13 to the retail price. Just like the RGB LEDs I was looking at, this is unacceptable, and so I have a couple of quote requests out to chinese suppliers, if the pricing comes back at 0.50 or lower per unit, their inclusion will have a minimal impact on the cost
and you'll be able to make your keyboard sing to you