Seeing ripster's steel ball and billiard ball -based trackballs got me interested, and now today's enthusiasm is for trackballs.
After ordering TWO DT225s, wondering what kind of cool things people have found to use as trackballs.
First thing I thought of and remembered was this:
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(http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/9246/img2764.jpg)
Tritium Spheres (http://www.cpfmarketplace.com/mp/showthread.php?t=194646), but alas he only makes them up to 18mm, and the laws on this in the US are kind of gray-area (the stuff is technically radioactive).
So then after thinking about things like crystal balls in cultish shops, found out Ebay has lots of neat polished stone spheres, many guaranteed to have high energy levels... just search for the size + "sphere" and you get tons of results from cheap up to hundreds of dollars.
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(http://i.ebayimg.com/02/!BOl1++gBmk~$%28KGrHgoH-DQEjlLl%29,B+BJv,El10FQ~~_12.JPG)
Even saw a laser-engraved ball, like the tourist shop paperweights have... wish there were different designs, though:
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(http://i11.ebayimg.com/01/i/01/db/56/d2_1_b.JPG)
Before I buy something though, just wondering if there are any more neat ideas out there...
A glass ball might work, but I already tried the stone spheres. Almost all of them have very slight imperfections that make it no good, at least for a steel bearing trackball. One that uses rollers for bearings they might work on of course.
I looked for alternatives for TBE's for a long time and couldn't find anything. They have a really odd size as well. Acrylic spheres don't work either.
Did some reading into the L40SX laptop - apparently the Trackpoint was an optional extra, costing $159. Also, keyboard should be easy to recognize -
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(http://images02.olx.pt/ui/2/86/88/30667888_1.jpg)
It could even be fitted with the same optional numpad...
That keyboard is an IBM M4. I would recognize one anywhere, considering it was my first IBM keyboard.