Struggling with Nape Pro
A major new arrival in the trackball world that debuted with much fanfare. Its name is "Nape Pro".
With rumors of raising hundreds of millions of yen in crowdfunding and high expectations fueled by the hype, the voltage was at its peak.
However, despite waiting so long and finally having it in my hands, I hardly use it.
The reason is that I am pairing it with the wrong keyboard.
Due to its height, the Nape Pro doesn't match low-profile keyboards. However, the keyboard I am using is a Logicool MX Keys mini
Therefore, the height is completely off for the trackpad-style placement I had originally envisioned. I had expected to place it as shown in the images on the Kopek Japan website (figure below), but the keyboard is just too low...
Ideal
Reality
One solution would be to get a normal-profile keyboard (standard height), but I like the MX Keys so much that I can't let it go.
Another solution is to change the position. For example, in the photo above, place it in the position of the trackball on the right. However, because the shape is angular, it feels painful when held.
I could buy an HHKB to match the height, but... that's an additional 38,000 yen. What should I do?
Below are three solutions proposed by Claude.
Order to try before buying a new keyboard
Raise the keyboard — Simply place a 10-15mm thick wooden or acrylic board under the MX Keys mini. At a cost of a few hundred to 2,000 yen, this is the cheapest solution that doesn't require parting with the MX Keys. If you tilt it in reverse to make the front slightly higher, the space bar becomes even easier to press.
Place it at an angle — Actually, in the official setup guide, one of the use cases (the engineer in Case 03) solves the low keyboard height issue by placing the unit at an angle so it can be used without lifting the hand. Instead of placing it directly below, place it at an angle to the bottom left (or bottom right) of the keyboard. Since it costs 0 yen to try, this might be the place to start.superkopek
Soften the angular grip — The reason the vertical placement on the right is painful is likely because you are gripping the unit in thumb-operation mode. Since OctaShift allows you to choose between index finger operation and thumb operation depending on the mode, switching to index finger operation and adopting a posture of "resting the fingers without gripping" will change the contact points. If it's still painful, wrapping the edges with self-fusing tape should make it much better.
Postscript: The official HHKB website also recommends the "+Nape Pro" combination
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