Which pointer device with external keyboard?

MNT Reform
1

Dears,

I really like the external standalone keyboard. I have even two of them, one at home and one at work :slight_smile:

However, what I’m missing desperately is an integrated pointer device, i.e. either a touchpad (e.g. 10in USB Verdrahtete Tastatur mit Touchpad 84 Schlüssel Touch Pad Tastatur Scirrors Fuß Tasten mit Präzise Touch Control für Desktop laptop|Tastaturen| - AliExpress) or, maybe better, a Lenovo style “clit mouse” between “G”, “H”, and “B” (e.g. Lenovo’s new ThinkPad keyboard is the best way to get the infamous nub on your desktop - The Verge).

I don’t want to work with something that forces me to move my fingers away from the keyboard, nor do I have desk real estate for any moving parts.

Does somebody have similar requirements and solved them somehow? E.g. a USB touchpad glued somehow to the keyboard?

Thank you so much in advance!

PS: I would even be willing to participate in crowd funding a free and open clit mouse, if necessary.

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Qmk supports the keyboard, and there are options for mapping mouse movements to keys if you’re willing to get your hands dirty in the firmware. I’ve used that feature in the past and could never get used to it, but it’s an option

Edit: autocorrect

1 Like
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You might want to consider the TEX Shinobi (or DIY version with hotswap sockets). I have one and it is very good. The main downsides are that it’s not low profile (Cherry MX instead of Kailh Choc), and the hardware and firmware aren’t open source. (I also used clicky Cherry ML-compatible switches for the mouse buttons, which are much better than the linear Cherry ML’s that came with the board, but were very difficult to source.)

I think the pointing stick used by the Shinobi might also available as a standalone module, probably not as purely free/open hardware, but as a simple sensor that probably has a data sheet available. The difficulty is that it requires modified G, H, B key caps (which the Shinobi has in its design).

Lastly, please don’t call it that. There’s no need for such an overly sexualised name - “trackpoint”, “pointing stick”, or “mouse nub” work just fine to describe it.

2 Likes
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Sorry for using the controversial term. It’s the one I knew, but both “trackpoint” or “nub” sound accurate to me!

Thanks for pointing to the TEX Shinobi! It looks by far too big and clumsy for my taste, however.

Looking at https://imgur.com/a/0VHce, I wonder, if it were possible to insert a Lenovo nub in the MNT keyboard… Nice project for the time after retirement.

My Lenovo keyboard has the “B” only slightly modified. It’s probably fine to install the nub a little bit higher and modify only “G” and “H”. Less work and maybe even a better position.

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Thanks! I will think about it, but I probably would not get used it either. At least that’s far less work than installing a nub in the MNT keyboard!

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For the “ultimate hacking keyboard” from HU, there are plugin pointing devices:

Maybe it is possible to combine them with the MNT keyboard somehow…