T60 - touchpad mod

[jknight770]

In my quest to upgrade my T60, I'd like to get rid of the palmrest / double mouse:



... and install something more like the single large touchpad of a Mac or IdeaPad.

After 6 months of using a macbook pro, I'm used to the gestures, and the little touchpad on the T60 actually supports gestures quite well (2 finger scrolling, 2 finger tap to right click, etc.) with Mint linux (mouse preferences->touchpad). I'd like to mod my T60 to end up with something more like this:



I thought perhaps I could get an ideapad plamrest (ebay, $10) and modify the plug / splice the cable / solder it.
I can do some trimming and cutting of the palmrest as needed to make it fit.

This seems like a longshot, but I see someone has had success taking a touchpad and getting it to work as a PS/2 mouse:
Laptop touchpad/mouse pad salvaging

Possible ?

[dr_st]

I don't see it working out.

Problems:

* Nothing but the original palmrest will fit properly. To even get it to hold you'll have to apply glue or drill screw holes and put screws where they are not supposed to be, and even if you can make it stick, it will look and feel horrible.
* The trackpoint buttons above the touchpad are actually part of the keyboard+trackpoint assembly. If you wish to remove them - you'll have to break the keyboard as well.