8 ms·

I wish I had seen this a few months sooner! I have solved the problem with hardware via a Keyball: https://github.com/Yowkees/keyball/blob/main/keyball44/doc/r

I wish I had seen this a few months sooner! I have solved the problem with hardware via a Keyball: https://github.com/Yowkees/keyball/blob/main/keyball44/doc/rev1/buildguide_en.md https://github.com/Yowkees/keyball/blob/main/keyball44/doc/r...

dr_kiszonka 2y ago
It looks great! How do you like it? I think I would prefer a small touchpad because it seems like it might put less of a strain on my thumb, but I am very curious about your experience.
- AlexErrant 2y ago
  (I'm not OP - I'm on the Charybdis.) I prefer a trackball because I can momentum-flick my cursor from one side of my 4k screen (at 100% zoom) to another side monitor pretty easily... as long as I keep the ball bearings clean. I've been thinking about using a metal trackball for more momentum, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I have a "sniper" key I use to decrease sensitivity for more precision cursoring... but rarely use it (maybe once a month?). I do not have thumb fatigue.
  - dr_kiszonka 2y ago
    Thanks!
    - cyberbob156 2y ago
      Did you see: https://naya.tech/ https://naya.tech/
      - dr_kiszonka 2y ago
        Thanks for the link, the keyboard looks amazing! Sadly, it's waaaay too pricey for me.
- t_von_doom 2y ago
  I’m loving it! It was quite the jump from a standard layout to split + ortholinear + column stagger but within a week I was comfortable using it in the office. No strain from using the ball, it is (or can be) quite sensitive so you only need very slight movements and as another poster mentioned there are a variety of ways to adjust the sensitivity of the ball on the fly via layers for speed vs precision. It’s entirely programmable, and easy to do so, so if something isn’t working or doesn’t feel right it’s you can adjust every key and ball function to behave as you’d like. Was also very fun to build - but you can buy them prebuilt too
  - dr_kiszonka 2y ago
    Glad to hear it and thanks for responding!
evanjrowley 2y ago
The keyball and trackball manuform variants[0] all seem great to me. My one issue with them is that the thumb clusters are not symmetrical. I don't have money for a svalboard[1] so I opted for an interesting variant found on AliExpress[2]. Unfortunately the delivery person threw the package on the ground[3], so my integrated pointing device project is in limbo until this curious planck-like keyboard arrives[4]. [0] https://bastardkb.com/charybdis/ https://bastardkb.com/charybdis/ [1] https://svalboard.com/ https://svalboard.com/ [2] https://a.aliexpress.com/_m0Tn0vv https://a.aliexpress.com/_m0Tn0vv [3] https://ring.com/share/ff5c6ccf-d168-4975-a726-c58faff51204?spm=a1z65.imconversation.0.0 https://ring.com/share/ff5c6ccf-d168-4975-a726-c58faff51204?... [4] https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqFzwnl https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqFzwnl
- AlexErrant 2y ago
  Happy Charybdis user here. If you ask, I'm sure Quentin would be willing to build a Charybdis with a trackball on both sides - he was very accommodating of a change I requested (I wanted ball transfer units). He already supports having the trackball on either side.

dr_kiszonka 2y ago

It looks great! How do you like it? I think I would prefer a small touchpad because it seems like it might put less of a strain on my thumb, but I am very curious about your experience.

AlexErrant 2y ago
(I'm not OP - I'm on the Charybdis.) I prefer a trackball because I can momentum-flick my cursor from one side of my 4k screen (at 100% zoom) to another side monitor pretty easily... as long as I keep the ball bearings clean. I've been thinking about using a metal trackball for more momentum, but haven't gotten around to it yet. I have a "sniper" key I use to decrease sensitivity for more precision cursoring... but rarely use it (maybe once a month?). I do not have thumb fatigue.
- dr_kiszonka 2y ago
  Thanks!
  - cyberbob156 2y ago
    Did you see: https://naya.tech/ https://naya.tech/
    - dr_kiszonka 2y ago
      Thanks for the link, the keyboard looks amazing! Sadly, it's waaaay too pricey for me.
t_von_doom 2y ago
I’m loving it! It was quite the jump from a standard layout to split + ortholinear + column stagger but within a week I was comfortable using it in the office. No strain from using the ball, it is (or can be) quite sensitive so you only need very slight movements and as another poster mentioned there are a variety of ways to adjust the sensitivity of the ball on the fly via layers for speed vs precision. It’s entirely programmable, and easy to do so, so if something isn’t working or doesn’t feel right it’s you can adjust every key and ball function to behave as you’d like. Was also very fun to build - but you can buy them prebuilt too
- dr_kiszonka 2y ago
  Glad to hear it and thanks for responding!

evanjrowley 2y ago

The keyball and trackball manuform variants[0] all seem great to me. My one issue with them is that the thumb clusters are not symmetrical. I don't have money for a svalboard[1] so I opted for an interesting variant found on AliExpress[2]. Unfortunately the delivery person threw the package on the ground[3], so my integrated pointing device project is in limbo until this curious planck-like keyboard arrives[4]. [0] https://bastardkb.com/charybdis/ https://bastardkb.com/charybdis/ [1] https://svalboard.com/ https://svalboard.com/ [2] https://a.aliexpress.com/_m0Tn0vv https://a.aliexpress.com/_m0Tn0vv [3] https://ring.com/share/ff5c6ccf-d168-4975-a726-c58faff51204?spm=a1z65.imconversation.0.0 https://ring.com/share/ff5c6ccf-d168-4975-a726-c58faff51204?... [4] https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqFzwnl https://a.aliexpress.com/_mqFzwnl

AlexErrant 2y ago
Happy Charybdis user here. If you ask, I'm sure Quentin would be willing to build a Charybdis with a trackball on both sides - he was very accommodating of a change I requested (I wanted ball transfer units). He already supports having the trackball on either side.