"The original Adept had six buttons. However, ever since we released the original Adept, the PCBs have contained two unpopulated lands for additional switches. Our intention was always to eventually move to eight buttons. The A+ finally lives up to the ambition that we set for ourselves back in 2023."
So they designed it to have 8 switches from the start - but then hid 2 of them so they'd have a "new version" once the sales of the old one slowed down. I don't know if that's genius or sad capitalism...
However the "ergonomic" design is extremely uncomfortable for me and caused hand pain. I let it ride for a few weeks hoping I'd get accustomed, the pain got better but didn't go away. Also the far-left and far-right mouse buttons are superfluous and detract from the core experience.
Please do a symmetrical version and maybe throw in a scroll wheel with steps/clicks, I'd happily buy another.
I love all I/O devices..
I think the main difference from the Ploopy Adept is they added two knob buttons?
The easiest approach would probably be to add a second optical sensor and do some math to calculate the twist rate.
https://www.kensington.com/p/products/electronic-control-sol...
Even the wrist rest, which I've never seen on another trackball, seems to have been copied from here. Anybody tested out both?
They really need to find a better name than "Ploopy" though.
What is a kit here? A trackball? All the parts needed to assemble a trackball? A populated circuit board, where the rest needs 3D printing? A pile of electronic components that need to be soldered together and the rest needs 3D printing?
> Adept, a unique trackball perfectly suited […] for 3D-printing
I guess this means it could be any color you want? And yeah their store page for the Adept confirms: https://web.archive.org/web/20260720095136/https://ploopy.co...
> Since the Adept is 3D-printed, your Adept can be as unique as you
I am fine with this in theory but would have no idea what to expect here since I'm not familiar enough with 3D-printing. How robust is this for something I'd be touching every day and would want to take apart and put back together multiple times?
The screw wells in the case parts they sell look like the are just plastic and get tapped by self-tapping screws: https://web.archive.org/web/20260720095151/https://ploopy.co...
Maybe the intention is to consider it disposable and make a new one if and when it gets fucked up? If I had one I would like to try adding some machine screw anchors, because for something that's going to get that much use I would probably be taking it apart and putting it back together a lot, fiddling with it until I got it perfect so none of the buttons rub up against anything, so there are no squeaks when I press on it or rattles if it gets moved around, etc.
Those are totally my own hangups of course; not trying to FUD the thing and would love to touch one first and see :)
Dual knobs sounds incredibly cool and are something that makes me want to try a trackball again. I loved trackballs in the '90s† when display resolutions were small and it was normal to click and drag a scrollbar thumb, but I haven't used on any machine in the last 15 years because, I dunno, just haven't vibed with the feel of them. My little 75% keyboard‡ already sold me on knobs by having just one.
† peep my Macintosh Quadra 700 with my favorite Sihlouette ADB trackball https://i.ibb.co/m5qctLzp/Quadra700-Stack.jpg
‡ peep my NuPhy Kick75 High Profile with my favorite Framework Laptop 12 <3 https://i.ibb.co/bjVTfq0m/P1111881-1.jpg
I dig that the Ploopy knob is QMK based, also high resolution. But watching how much effort E.B. has put into my favorite input device of all time, I can't help but want one of theirs.
The internal LED's are cool here. I like the indicator effect, especially with the partial transparency ball. I do wish this was bluetooh and ZMK based. Even though ZMK is lagging a decent bit behind QMK features. Zephyr is just so cool! Wireless is so great. In my opinion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceOrb_360 as one example.
The github[0] for it is kinda cool. Uses the 'CERN Open Hardware Licence Version 2 - Strongly Reciprocal'. The assembly instructions[1] give a bit of a hands on feel.
They had some more details on a reddit post[2] it looks like.
[0]:https://github.com/ploopyco/aplus-trackball
[1]:https://github.com/ploopyco/aplus-trackball/blob/main/docs/a...
[2]:https://www.reddit.com/r/ploopy/comments/1vo4y4r/this_is_the...
The name reminded me of Kooky Plops, the fictional band from the brilliant animated skit[1] by David Firth (of Salad Fingers fame) about the state of pop music in 2009.
There are some trade offs but I wouldn’t go back because it fits my larger than average hand so well. Always found the Logitech ones to be too small.
It's like going to one of those restaurants where you have to cook your own steak at the table and realizing part-way through wtf am I doing?
And yet, people keep going to these restaurants.
Perhaps it's just that people find enjoyment in different ways than you.
