Trackpoint?

[illwieckz]

Hi, I can't imagine myself buying a laptop without a trackpoint! The trackpoint is an awesome input, and a trackpad is just something that can never substitute a trackpoint for people who have been intiated to a trackpoint. I guess I'm not the only one in this world who need a trackpoint, I guess most of Thinkpad owners and most of professional consumers from other brands can't imagine buying a laptop without a trackpoint.

[Carlos]

Nice to have, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

[mpasteven]

Trackpoint is patented by IBM, although rumor has it the patents expire in 2016. Regardless, before they expire a patent license would be required even very close to their expiration.

Trackpoints are rather nice though, but I would also want a touchpad also since both can be very handy for specific situations.

[Amitari]

Trackpoint is patented by IBM

Novena has a Trackpoint, it simply uses spare Thinkpad keyboards to get around that problem.

[bryceadamprescott]

Here is another laptop project, with different goals, that has a trackpoint-ish thing: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/gpd-pocket-7-0-umpc-laptop-ubuntu-or-win-10-os-laptop--2#/.
I could swear that back in the 90s, IBM's competitors had something like a trackpoint before touchpads became the norm. I don't think having a red dot that moves a mouse would cause any legal trouble; the issue is probably the name and the exact specs itself.

I see the difficult part being sourcing the keyboards with this built in. The Novena got around it by using a wireless ThinkPad keyboard but something else would be more ideal. Maybe  choosing a spare ThinkPad keyboard part that is highly available would work. The problem with doing anything like that is that the laptop would need a redesign if the parts ever become sparse. Producing a custom keyboard with a red dot would probably be expensive.