All the way here. A quality pointing stick (which seems to mean TrackPoint, though I’ve heard Fujitsu had some) is really critical to me. Because I’m a truly dedicated madman, I’ll forgo the trackpad entirely.
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Agreed. I came to Framework as a holdout from the ThinkPad T430, one of the last retail laptops to allow significant modification for end users and a laptop that allows a lot of mods. I definitely agree that, despite the fact that I have already purchased a framework laptop, I will need a TrackPoint to be a truly happy Framework girl.
I fully intend on going to r/thinkpad and telling them that I am leaving the ranks of ThinkPad users(since Lenovo has basically turned the ThinkPad line into high-end soldered e-waste), but I doubt most of them will come without a quality TrackPoint on their Framework laptop. It does have to be a TrackPoint, or a device of similar or better quality, because the “pointing sticks” on Dell Laptops are utter garbage.
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I can’t use a laptop without a trackpoint either and I never use the trackpad. But I strongly doubt that there will be such a keyboard available, because who will have the incentive to produce it for just such a niche product ? Besides, the lack of buttons above/below the trackpad would make actual work/typing on this machine not very pleasant.
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Consider me one more voice saying that TrackPoint is a requirement. I’m otherwise really excited about this thing.
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I’m assuming you are referring to the TrackPoint as the niche product, but that doesn’t really make sense grammatically which forces the question:
Are you suggesting that the Framework Laptop is a niche product?
If so, than, yes, it is not the most well known laptop in the world, but it is also a newcomer to a world of established giants that have done more to emulate a disposable camera than anything else, but that doesn’t make it niche. The company I work for is a Fortune 500 company and they are watching Framework for potential consideration as an alternative to the Dell fleet that currently powers their 26,000 employee workforce.
I’ll agree with you that very few in the general population have picketing in the streets for the right to repair, but that does not necessarily mean that it isn’t an extremely desirable product.
Also, yes, in it’s current iteration, the faceplate/keyboard don’t allow for the TrackPoint, but it could. And the design of this computer means that swapping out the components would be a fairly simple undertaking. I see no point in limiting feature requests and expressions of desire to the product before our eyes, when the very nature of it’s design is diametrically opposed to a WYSIWYG philosophy.
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Watching an interview with the CEO recently, where they got hands-on with the product, it occurred to me as well that a TrackPoint keyboard wouldn’t be a single part replacement, but two things gave me hope that we could see such a keyboard from a motivated hardware hacker:
- the ease with which they casually pulled the Framework apart and put it back together
- the marketplace concept for selling Framework-compatible hardware
Perhaps it could be as simple as a custom palm rest piece that houses a literal Lenovo keyboard.
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I too would love a trackpoint option.
I’ve been using thinkpads for years and this would be a huge selling point for me.
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Eventually someone may be able to design and release a keyboard with a trackpoint (and even a touchpad with buttons) on the Framework marketplace.
My assumption is that since said trackpoint and buttons aren’t very common on current laptops, this isn’t a high priority for the Framework team/company…
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Oh, for sure, this is extremely nichey.
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The thinkpad trackpoint keyboard is not some niche product. Lenovo’s thinkpad line would fail overnight if they got rid of it.
Framework would gain a lot of new customers if they offered a think-pad style keyboard. They are attracting Thinkpad users, and then showing them the door right away.
It doesn’t even need to be the 7-row old kind, as the newer island-style is quite popular still.
If the company won’t do it, then a third-party might. Either way, I won’t buy until I can use a good trackpoint keyboard with it.
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Yah, I’ve been using thinkpads for 20 years because of the trackpoint, and I can’t believe I just said 20 years.
I’ve already got this on pre-order regardless of the keyboard, it’s too much of an upgrade over my x230.
Hopefully, someone can pull off the trackpoint in 3.8 mm because it seems like there’s a long list of buyers.
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Was hanging out in Discord in ThinKeys chat. Someone suggested low-profile cherry switches, but they are 3.5mm in height. @Framework - what switches are you using in the keyboard?
And does anyone know the additional height that a keycap would add?
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+1 for the trackpoint
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@nrp I also signed up to say just this. Trackpoints are simply the better way to mouse around. They’re simply more ergonomic, requiring less hand movement than using a trackpad.
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Another disillusioned Thinkpad user here. I LOVE Trackpoint, and would love to see something like it on Framework in the future.
To be honest though, I’ve actually been a bit disappointed with Trackpoint recently because Lenovo haven’t fixed Trackpoint drift in the 10+ years they’ve owned the Thinkpad brand. It doesn’t seem like it should be a big thing to fix, so this shows that they don’t actually care about it and are probably just waiting for the day that they can get rid of it to save money. If Framework made a Trackpoint style pointer, I would expect this kind of problem to be fixed, and perhaps the actual utility of the nub or software integration to be improved.
Regarding the actual design of the pointer, I think I read somewhere that the Framework devs think the deck may be too thin for Trackpoint to fit, but I’d settle for something like a Nintendo 3DS or Sony PSP analogue nub if it was tweaked to work well for desktop use. If additional features or shortcuts were added to make it work better with modern applications that expect touchpad gestures like pinch and zoom were added it would be even better.
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- 1 for me, a trackpointer. My wife and I don’t really use trackpads, and new computer has to have a trackpoint for the purchase to happen.
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I love the concept, but Trackpoint is a must. My current employer equipped me with Dell without one and I suffer. I’m long time ThinkPad user and the only way I can personally select something else than ThinkPad is the Trackpoint (apart from 15" screen).
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