Shadowy modder gives Eee PC a risky back alley trackball implant

Remember that guy who uber-hacked his Eee PC with a GPS, Bluetooth, draft-n WiFi, FM transmitter, SDHC card reader, modem, USB hub, 2GB RAM? Well, we got one more for him. This enterprising gentleman, fed up with suffering through the three-finger scroll of his Eee PC 901, integrated the trackball of his Apple Mighty Mouse into the netbook's palm rest. Of course, this took some time and effort: in the end, the trackball leads had to be unsoldered from the mainboard, the trackball itself soldered to the mainboard, and the whole shebang installed under the surface of the netbook itself. But you know what? It works. That is, until the Mighty Mouse itself craps out -- as they have been known to do. Still, it's all in a day's work for a heroic modder. Right? Hit that read link for the step-by-step, but not before you peep the vid after the break.

[goinskiing @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:45AM]

I wish I had time on my hand like that...

[Uchiha Sasuke @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:19PM]

Everyone has time on their hands, what you can accomplish depends on how you make use of the time you have.

[darkstar @ Jul 2nd 2009 4:24PM]

i wish trackballs are more prevalent!
why were they removed from laptops in the first place? i remember they were there in the 90s

[mitchdunc @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:46AM]

thats really cool, although im fine using the 2 finger scrolling on my eee.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:50AM]

Had me with the hacks, lost me with the big RunCore Sticker.

Dude, most people don't know, and the ones that do will call you a douche for the sticker, so it's lose-lose.
(I stuck mine to the bottom of my Mini 9)

Keep the Atom one though. -those have panache. :)

[Nate @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:28PM]

You'd call someone a douche for having a sticker on their laptop? Wow and I thought I was an asshole.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 2nd 2009 6:06PM]

That sticker, yes.

As for you, the jury's still out. ;)

[rjdsmith @ Jul 3rd 2009 12:19AM]

I tip my hat to you for the use of the word Panache.

[OneLove @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:51AM]

I love implants!

[CtrlBurn @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:58AM]

I modded my netbook to add a dual-core processor, DVD burner, full-size keyboard, and 17" widescreen. It's awesome.

[bublik @ Jul 2nd 2009 11:59AM]

yeah and what? who cares?

[CtrlBurn @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:20PM]

nevermind.

[David E @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:31PM]

teehee.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:00PM]

FM transmitter, eh?
I didn't really think about that before, but it's an interesting idea.

[Johnny @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:08PM]

The mouse is one area where Apple has never got it right. I like the idea of the ball, but they don't last. When we buy new computers around here that come with a Mighty Mouse, they last maybe a year and then the user decides to go back to their old mouse or we have to order a new, non-MM, one. I prefer Logitech.

I like two-finger scrolling. If you are using the trackpad, it is a lot easier than moving your hand over to the trackball that is not going to work for long anyway.

[Haikibutsu @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:09PM]

To the contrary, I hated the mighty mouse. It was pretty cool, but once you realize its worth cow udders in gaming (You can't simultaneously right+left click), you would start to wish for a more utilitarian mouse. That, and the trackball always got dirty and screwed up. I replaced mine 4 times before I gave up and just started to use a normal mouse.

And Holy manhole batman, Paul Chapel isn't trollin?

[Haikibutsu @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:13PM]

Two finger scrolling is really good. I would love to see it implemented in all notebooks. This is a stretch, but even incorporate the two-finger right-click aswell.

A lot of my friends are the closed minded Windows Fanboys, so they think anything from apple is A) Junk B) Weak C) Gimmicky. It annoys me, because I bet that if they had two-finger scrolling or two-finger-right-rightclick on their windows machines, they would love it. I'm glad I don't have allegiance to companies that just want your money and nothing else; Apple AND Microsoft. I have Leopard & Windows 7 on my MacBook, Ubuntu 9 & Windows 7 on my gaming rig, and I am trying to get OS X on it too.

[gsanluis @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:15PM]

Not a bad idea, but i probably won't mess with my EEE 901 since it already came with two-finger scroll mode.

[No Phone For You @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:19PM]

Cool.

[Haikibutsu @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:27PM]

7.7 I honestly think (most of the time) you are a troll, and I am not an apple hater at all...

[lazy @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:47PM]

wow very cool!

[chispito @ Jul 2nd 2009 12:50PM]

I hate the scroll ball on the MM. I like smoother, gliding movements for scrolling. The scroll ball is way too small and imprecise, and requires you to pass your finger over it what seems like a hundred times just to scroll down a blog entry, or else start your scrolling movement halfway up your forearm. I guess you could increase the sensitivity, but as imprecise as it is that would seem to be a recipe for frustration. If they're dead-set on eliminating useful tactile feedback, and using a point instead of a wheel, they should have accomplished the scrolling with a second, up-facing IR sensor instead of that stupid little ball.

[frank @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:21PM]

boop

[gcc @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:37PM]

now if he could just come up with a good keyboard for it...

[MattyG @ Jul 2nd 2009 1:55PM]

I'd like to think that since the modder can take this thing apart that the ball can be clean easily so won't die at all

[Uchiha Sasuke @ Jul 2nd 2009 2:51PM]

".......ball can be clean easily so won't die at all."

er,.....That's what she said...

[cameron @ Jul 8th 2009 4:24PM]

beavis? is that you?

[seon @ Jul 2nd 2009 5:38PM]

Does it scroll left to right?

[AwkwardlyBlake @ Jul 3rd 2009 12:29AM]

The Eee is a two finger scroll not a 3 finger scroll... 3 fingers would be annoying, two fingers is the same as the MacBooks, I don't see anyone complaining about that, actually I'm sure some people are complaining about that. Anyway moral of the story, I have an Eee, it has a 2 finger scroll.