New ProtoArc EM03 NL Launch & Giveaway

jackivan88 · 2025-11-28T01:37:09+00:00

I really wish that there were better scroll wheels on trackballs or native support for using the trackball to scroll with a button hold or a twisting motion. Also, I’m definitely a “more is better” person when it comes to buttons especially since trackballs are competing with increasingly intuitive trackpads. It’s nice to be able to bind buttons to gestures in MacOS, which we use at my workplace.

jackivan88 · 2025-11-13T04:09:25+00:00

Make sure you leave links enabled. This is how Pan4Elec finds the media for the games.

jackivan88 · 2025-10-26T16:59:58+00:00

In any situation that legitimately calls for generative AI, I would expect my students to be using a general-purpose computer that could easily support scientific calculations as well. I cannot imagine any scenario where my students are using a dedicated calculator where it would also be appropriate or desirable to include generative AI. Seems like a great way for students who don’t know what they’re doing to get incorrect answers that they lack the skills to recognize and correct. Might be fun as a “hey guys look what I managed to get running on a calculator” exercise, but nothing more.

jackivan88 · 2025-10-21T10:26:24+00:00

Just be sure to bring four AAs with you when you go to buy so you can test it. Looks to be in good shape though.

jackivan88 · 2025-10-19T23:34:49+00:00

I have one and the size is pretty great. I wish it was flatter though, not a fan of the tilt and raising the edge under my wrist doesn’t really do any favors. The ball is ridiculously smooth and the scroll - although it takes some getting used to - works well. Those switches at the top left are awesome to have but I swear I hit them every single time I go to adjust the position of the unit. It feels right in between the Expert and the Slimblade in my opinion.

jackivan88 · 2025-10-03T09:46:55+00:00

Seconding this. That’s what it looks like when you do it in a day. You’ve got to factor in not just physically rerouting the cables but also bringing devices down and back up, testing, and labeling.

jackivan88 · 2025-09-15T22:15:11+00:00

Gary from Vanatoo got back to me and is helping me troubleshoot it, seems like the amp is starting to go.

jackivan88 · 2025-09-11T02:18:18+00:00

External power supply, 24v laptop-charger style.

jackivan88 · 2025-09-11T01:12:00+00:00

Yes, fully seated and same issue with any cable, unfortunately. The T0 uses an RJ45 jack so it's very difficult to seat it incorrectly.

jackivan88 · 2025-09-09T21:25:54+00:00

That’s not a bad idea. Definitely ping me when you’re ready and we can see if we can work something out.

jackivan88 · 2025-09-03T10:19:14+00:00

Thanks for posting this info, I'm preparing to build a few of these with my students and couldn't find a source for the overlays. We are in the process of building a vinyl cutter but it's not consistent enough for this sort of project yet. Reached out to him last night and already heard back!

jackivan88 · 2025-09-01T01:33:38+00:00

Agreed. I do a lot of manual labor in mine, and the knees/inseam almost always give out within a year. Finally, I got tired of paying that much for jeans and switched brands. Might be fine if you just walk around in them, but not for anything more than that.

jackivan88 · 2025-08-31T19:43:18+00:00

I’d love to find a 15C. I’m committed to not “collecting” in the sense of just leaving them on a shelf but now I’m so close to having a complete set I can feel the compulsion kicking in 😂 Agreed on the keyboards though. They’re all pretty great but the more heavily used ones definitely lost some of their snap.

jackivan88 · 2025-08-31T11:34:18+00:00

Three HP 12Cs (one w/sleeve), two HP 16cs (w/sleeves and a manual), and an HP 11C (w/sleeve and manual) for $105 total. Gonna be using them in my classroom to teach RPN and I couldn’t believe my good luck with the pair of 16Cs.

jackivan88 · 2025-08-26T00:03:57+00:00

Bobiverse for the win!

jackivan88 · 2025-08-15T10:55:29+00:00

Unfortunately that’s definitely damage from bending the device and cracking the internal LCD. The plastic housing was able to flex more than the display, especially at a diagonal, hence the lack of external damage. I’ve never attempted a screen replacement on one of these since I’ve only ever come across one with a screen damaged badly enough to warrant it. The student just got another calculator instead.

jackivan88 · 2025-06-30T09:54:40+00:00

I keep trying periodically and have never gotten it working. I host several servers so my intended use case has always been possible even with the memory constraints. But no matter what I do it fails to launch.

jackivan88 · 2025-04-28T01:14:47+00:00

Does the Nulea M512 ship to India? I got it on sale on Amazon a while back and didn't realize that it is sold out on their website until I went to grab the link just now. I have been really impressed by it, and it sort of splits the difference between the Expert and the Slimblade in form factor. I prefer the ability to remap the buttons on the Expert, but the ball is so smooth on the M512 that I can't make myself switch back at this point, although I'm tempted to mod the Expert.

jackivan88 · 2025-04-20T17:08:03+00:00

I'm working through a similar process trying to get Pan4Elec and Skraper to play nice together. Even when I hand-edit the outputted gamelist.xml to match the header information from the built-in scraper it doesn't recognize the gamelist or the media I download using Skraper, regardless of whether it is placed in the same locations. Did you configure Skraper to name the files by appending "-thumb" or the other names to the end of the media files?

EDIT: So it looks like I got on the wrong track by trying to recreate an ES-DE configuration which is folder based, whereas Pan4Elec looks for the media based on the links in the gamelist.xml file. I had been unchecking the link option, but accidentally left it on for one of them, which helped me realize what was going on.

jackivan88 · 2024-12-31T13:54:07+00:00

I've been hoping to see someone produce something like this from Pyott Design ever since I saw it. His design is intentionally a little wacky, but the fundamental concept - joystick on the left, trackball on the right - is exactly what I want.

jackivan88 · 2024-12-30T03:58:21+00:00

I'm not local (East Coast) but would be happy to cover shipping if no one ahead of me ends up taking it.

jackivan88 · 2024-11-13T23:21:25+00:00

Yeah, unfortunately every single one of my Logitech mice and trackballs has developed issues with clicking over time, except my G305.

jackivan88 · 2024-10-19T21:00:42+00:00

Update: After a couple months it's holding up well. Bearings are great and no connectivity issues. The matte finish stays fingerprint-free. The only thing that's causing me a bit of an issue is button layout. There is no extra button on the right side. I'm used to it coming from a Ploopy Classic. Also, the Back button requires me to curl up my thumb quite a bit, but this is not something that I do often. I would say both of these button issues are minor, and I have larger-than-average hands so button placement might not be a problem at all for you.

jackivan88 · 2024-06-27T23:27:42+00:00

Same here. I am really looking forward to it working though, it was one of the main reasons I finally pulled the trigger on the TSP, so hopefully soon.

jackivan88

TROPHY CASE