I don’t know about anyone else but I have no need for a trackpad. I understand why they are necessary when selling a laptop but for most people we plug in a mouse and use that. Especially when gaming.
Does anyone know if the Framework 16 has the necessary connections for future modules instead of the Trackpad?
Better yet, are there connections available to have the keyboard where the trackpad would go and something like a screen module could be placed above the keyboard, similar to the Asus ZenBook Duo.
Unfortunately, the keyboard won’t physically fit in the bottom / touchpad section. Connector wouldn’t work in that position even if it did physically fit.
You can see that the bottom section is smaller. And also the connector are across the middle.
Yes, kind of. The 3 middle connectors intended for the factory touchpad are not usb, I believe they are i2c. A custom bottom module might need to use one of the other connectors, which would then limit the placement of the keyboard above, but you could do it. Though you’ll notice that space is more limited in the bottom section due to the mounting tracks located to the sides.
Unfortunately, the keyboard won’t physically fit in the bottom / touchpad section. Connector wouldn’t work in that position even if it did physically fit.
You can see that the bottom section is smaller. And also the connector are across the middle.
That’s too bad. Hopefully the connections for the trackpad can be replaced with other modules down the road though
Yes, kind of. The 3 middle connectors intended for the factory touchpad are not usb, I believe they are i2c. A custom bottom module might need to use one of the other connectors, which would then limit the placement of the keyboard above, but you could do it. Though you’ll notice that space is more limited in the bottom section due to the mounting tracks located to the sides.
Possibly off-topic for here, but putting the trackpad above the keyboard would make the Framework my dream laptop. I don’t understand why the trackpad is below on all modern laptops. Some older laptops had a trackball above the F-keys, which was nice.
I don’t like having a hard piece of plastic where my wrist will rest when not typing, and issues with palm-rejection completely go away when the trackpad is nowhere near the palm.
Well yes, while palm rejection as defined today is no longer an issue… you will need to find a new term for rejecting palm keypresses. I propose “palm rejection”
Unlike a trackpad, keypresses require moving the key a not-insignificant distance. This makes unintentional keypresses less likely.
Also, maybe it’s just me, but I “live” on my keyboard and “visit” the trackpad, so even if the keyboard were just as likely to register accidental palm-presses as a trackpad, it would still be a big improvement.
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