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My home computer setup is much like a media center PC. I have a small Shuttle PC hooked up to a large 37" 1080p LCD panel as the main monitor. As a bachelor renting a house with friends, my PC is in the same room as my bed, and there are a lot of times when I'm watching a DVD or Hulu.com or playing World of Warcraft and would really like to be able to lounge on the bed and control the computer.
I have used wireless keyboard & mouse combo units and found that they are totally unreliable. The thumb stick is nearly useless in precision and doesn't allow you to quickly move the mouse around the screen. They also tend to run through batteries quickly, and when running low on batteries they will miss key presses or mouse input randomly. I searched for a wired keyboard & mouse combo and found that my options were very limited. Many of them were built for media center PCs and have non-standard keyboard layouts, small keys, and were also pretty expensive.
After running out of other options, I decided to roll my own! This instructable will show you how to take an ordinary USB keyboard and USB trackball mouse and combine them into a single unit. The units in this instructable are WIRED, however you should be able to do the same thing with a wireless keyboard and mouse, albeit at a much higher price.
I have used wireless keyboard & mouse combo units and found that they are totally unreliable. The thumb stick is nearly useless in precision and doesn't allow you to quickly move the mouse around the screen. They also tend to run through batteries quickly, and when running low on batteries they will miss key presses or mouse input randomly. I searched for a wired keyboard & mouse combo and found that my options were very limited. Many of them were built for media center PCs and have non-standard keyboard layouts, small keys, and were also pretty expensive.
After running out of other options, I decided to roll my own! This instructable will show you how to take an ordinary USB keyboard and USB trackball mouse and combine them into a single unit. The units in this instructable are WIRED, however you should be able to do the same thing with a wireless keyboard and mouse, albeit at a much higher price.
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Signing UpStep 1Gather the materials...
I purchased all of the electronic items in this instructable at Newegg.com. Here is the list:
1) LITE-ON Black USB keyboard - $7
2) Logitech Gray 3 Buttons + Wheel USB TrackBall TrackMan Wheel Mouse - $30
3) SYBA 4-port mini USB hub - $8
4) BYTECC 10ft USB extension cable (Type-A Male-Female) - $3
5) JB Weld - Had this already.. use whatever epoxy-like compound you have handy
6) Small Zip Ties - Already had this as well, feel free to use twist ties or whatever
Total price: $48 + shipping
Total time spent: ~30 minutes construction time, plus a few hours to let the JB weld set properly
1) LITE-ON Black USB keyboard - $7
2) Logitech Gray 3 Buttons + Wheel USB TrackBall TrackMan Wheel Mouse - $30
3) SYBA 4-port mini USB hub - $8
4) BYTECC 10ft USB extension cable (Type-A Male-Female) - $3
5) JB Weld - Had this already.. use whatever epoxy-like compound you have handy
6) Small Zip Ties - Already had this as well, feel free to use twist ties or whatever
Total price: $48 + shipping
Total time spent: ~30 minutes construction time, plus a few hours to let the JB weld set properly
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I do a -lot- of number entry... When I'm at work! Not when I'm sitting on the couch though. ;)
CyberBill: Rather than sacrifice the numeric pad, I would get a piece of 3mm acrylic cut to size so that it fits under the keyboard and protrudes far enough on the right side so you can attach the track-ball.
If the keyboard cable is coiled, thread the trackball cable through the middle. If not, rather than twisting them together, use braiding technique--that way they still look twisted together, but they won't keep trying to untwist.
The tape we all know and love was originally called duck tape, and there is even a brand of it called Duck Tape, most likely available at any home improvement store near you, at least if you live in the United States.
It only came to be called duct tape later (= after WW II; it was developed during the war to fill the need for a strong, waterproof tape). Also, if you look on rolls of duct tape, they typically include a warning not to use it on heating and air conditioning ducts. Why not? It's waterproof, but heatproof? Not so much. Some kind of metallized tape is usually used on ducts,.
its hard to paint the keyboard but you could have painted the trackball casing black and use some Plexiglas or anything to smooth out the edges between the trackball and the keyboard.
http://usb.brando.com.hk/prod_detail.php?prod_id=00678
And it's wireless too!
I've been looking at the Brando because I'm planning to kit out a house with "Beagleboard-powered" TVs (and central NAS media storage). For mediacenters the Brando should indeed be more than enough. The media buttons are unlikely to work in Linux, but that's hardly a problem with VLC Media Player.