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OLIMEX / DIY-LAPTOP

Do It Yourself Open Source Hardware and Software Modular Hacker's Friendly Laptop
Apache License 2.0
495 stars 89 forks source link

Different keyboard and mouse pin? #18

Closed petterreinholdtsen closed 5 years ago

petterreinholdtsen commented 6 years ago

I love the idea behind the laptop, and am really contemplating to get one. But I would very much like to have a keyboard with a mouse pin, not a touchpad, similar to the keyboards on Thinkpads. A good keyboard with slight curves on each key (for the finger to feel if it is at the center or the edges of the keys), and a physical effect on the finger when a key press is registered is vital to be able to type very quickly. The current keyboard is very flat, as far as I could tell from testing a friends version. What is needed to use a different keyboard with a mouse pin, and replace the mousepad with mouse buttons? Are there alternative keyboard suppliers available?

TsvetanUsunov commented 6 years ago

we can't offer any other keyboard for the moment, we got at least 20 request for different layouts, key arrangements, key types, unfortunately it's not so easy to source custom keyboard which to fit exactly in this plastic and to please all variations people may , this is not 3D printing service where we can make individual whish requests, but people work on 3D printed plastics now so who knows what we will got in future as options :)

petterreinholdtsen commented 6 years ago

Right. I hope something come out of it. I've been using Thinkpad X keyboards for the last 15-20 years, and my typing speed with such keyboard is above 300 presses per minute. Moving to a keyboard with less finger feedback lead to a significant loss of typing speed. As the keyboard is the main link between my head and my computer, it is quite important to me. I prefer a mouse pin over a touchpad as the touchpad is located where I rest my hands, causing spurious mouse movement and clicks, and a mouse pin is quicker to operate when I move between windows. :)

Do you have links to the people working 3D printed plastics? I would be perfectly willing to buy a loose thinkpad keyboard (for example a replacement part for a thinkpad X42/X230/whatnot), and use it instead of the default keyboard, but I lack the skill set required to make such modified enclosure myself.

jcstaudt commented 5 years ago

A 3D-printed case design has been developed by Fork Sand, Inc. and the design files may be found here. I have added a link within this repo's FAQ page.

The OEM injection-molded plastic enclosure makes it too costly to modify in such a way that allows for configurable input devices, so a modification of the 3D-printed lower assembly would be required. There is a learning curve involved with tools such as FreeCAD, but with some dedication and support from the community, it shouldn't be too laborious to carve out a place for a loose ThinkPad keyboard.