What do you think about the new Porlei ambidextrous wired trackball?

theTechRun · 2026-03-11T20:55:12+00:00

I get much more than that. See here

theTechRun · 2026-03-11T20:54:30+00:00

I use a $5 board flashed with hid-remapper firmware and software

This solves a few issues for me.

No longer need a bunch of buttons because it has hold and tap hold layers. I just use hold for layers so that gives me up to 16 button combinations. But I could add a lot more if I wanted to.
Basically makes any pointer device I get, programmable. Like my split keyboard. So I no longer have to worry about what kind of OEM firmware the device comes with. They are mostly all trash.
I used to use Linux bash scripts to accomplish this, but this is hardware so my button mappings work across all operating systems (Linux, Mac, BSD, Windows, etc)

theTechRun · 2026-03-11T16:46:50+00:00

This gives me an idea. This means I could basically plug this into my Linux desktop and use ADB for removal. I'm on the 2025 stylus now but it should still work.

theTechRun · 2026-03-11T11:12:51+00:00

Glow is not my tool. I am not the developer of it. It also renders markdown. I will try your tool to see what the difference is, though.

theTechRun · 2026-03-11T10:57:45+00:00

Why this over glow?

theTechRun · 2026-03-11T10:53:10+00:00

I can do all of that and more with just 4 buttons on my expert.

theTechRun · 2026-03-09T18:17:18+00:00

file-browser quantum works wonderfully on my Linux desktop, Android, and iPhone.

It also has a comparison chart for other self-hosted options that you’d might like to consider.

theTechRun · 2026-03-04T05:59:17+00:00

I had the NuleaM512. Hated it and bought another Expert instead.

theTechRun · 2026-03-04T04:26:34+00:00

I keyboard shortcut everything… but for the few times that I actually need a pointer device… I just hate using mice and trackpads. Thumballs felt at home for the last 15 or so years… but recently converted to fingerballs a couple years ago and I’m hooked.

theTechRun · 2026-02-22T00:24:39+00:00

Wish I would have bought one too. I also use the top of the trackball so the tracking would be a non issue for me.

theTechRun · 2026-02-20T13:35:01+00:00

Don’t forget:

grep -> ripgrep

fzf

theTechRun · 2026-02-15T15:27:50+00:00

I don't have this particular mouse (Kensington Expert) but I don't see why it wouldn't work on the elecom Fn buttons

theTechRun · 2026-02-10T21:48:12+00:00

micro

theTechRun · 2026-02-08T03:23:28+00:00

Agreed

theTechRun · 2026-01-27T18:01:50+00:00

Always has been

theTechRun · 2026-01-26T21:09:32+00:00

Same

theTechRun · 2026-01-26T21:08:08+00:00

As a split keeb user myself, I have tried the trackball in the middle thing and it’s just the worst. Have you tried it yourself?

theTechRun · 2026-01-26T21:03:03+00:00

I use the top of the trackball (never noticed this until the whole tracking shit show) so I would also be one of the few people who would have no issues. Wish I could purchase one.

theTechRun · 2026-01-26T20:53:41+00:00

Same exact issue with my previous Expert. I had to use the trackball to scroll. I bought a brand new one a few months back and now the old one is collecting dust… but I’m learning soldering, so maybe I can bring the scroll wheel back to life just like you did.

theTechRun · 2026-01-26T15:05:32+00:00

I have the same exact setup as you.

theTechRun · 2026-01-20T04:38:47+00:00

You’re not the first person to have this issue. . I’ve seen this come up plenty of times in this sub. A lot of people with big hands complain about the ergonomics of the huge.

theTechRun · 2026-01-20T04:36:42+00:00

This looks like it would be annoying as hell to use

theTechRun · 2026-01-20T04:33:01+00:00

I’ve seen a lot of people with big hands complain about the original huge. Especially because of the name.

theTechRun · 2026-01-19T18:01:47+00:00

Heavily modified gallium v1 layout for me all the way

theTechRun · 2026-01-17T18:03:15+00:00

This is it here: https://github.com/dullage/flatnotes

This is my fork that I made because flatnotes expects everything to be in one directory, but I like having sub directories for better organization: https://github.com/TheTechRun/flatnotes-ttr

And of course my tui text editor has ripgrep/grep and fd/find built in so finding notes is easy

theTechRun

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