http://www.itechnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Lenovo-ThinkPad-USB-Keyboard-with-TrackPoint-1.jpg
At the time I posted this it was on sale from Lenova here:
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=38&Code=55Y9003¤t-category-id=E9ADAEB6787146E29B78400A33E7FE8A
It is about $47US and considering that you get mouse-pointer capability with it, is quite inexpensive.
It took me about 30 seconds to get to like this keyboard. Granted it is not wireless, but because it is so suitable a keyboard, I'm willing to live with the wire. On the other hand, because it is wired (USB), it works right out of the box, no sweatola. Unlike a BT keyboard, you can use it in the boot screens from the get go. It is very light weight with good key feel. When you look at the image, you might wonder why the keyboard foot print was not trimmed to just what would contain the keys. It could have been but there is a reason it is not, the extra real-estate below the keys is where one is to rest the heels of one palms. In this position, one can reach all the keys and use the track-point-mouse without moving ones hands. Also, when resting ones palms on the keyboard the keyboard is naturally restrained from moving about. This allows me to easily touch type without ever changing my hand position. I even have room to keep the PS3 controller in my lap so that if I do need/want to use it, it is in easy grasp. Since this keyboard does not have the touch screen mouse it is ok if the controller rests against the keyboard. All in all, for me it works perfectly, I can easily touch type in the dark with this puppy.
I know that some people do NOT like to use a track point. I am drawn to the simplicity of the track-point and this track-point is smooth, responsive and easy to use (some the earlier track-points were not as good). There is a version of the keyboard that includes the UltraNav touch screen under the space bar though it also has the number-key-group on the right hand side so is not quite so compact, lightweight and inexpensive:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00009APTK/ref=asc_df_B00009APTK913941?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&tag=googlecom09c9-20&linkCode=asn&creative=380341&creativeASIN=B00009APTK
Here are some keyboards that I tried (all were recognized by GameOs and Linux). I was not totally unhappy with these, but they didn't quite work for me either:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage.aspx?Image=23-172-022-02.jpg&S7ImageFlag=0&WaterMark=1&Item=N82E16823172022&Depa=1&Description=Gyration%202.4GHz%20RF%20Air%20Mouse%20GO%20Plus%20w%2fMotionSense%20and%20Compact%20Keyboard%20Suite
The Gyration keys have great feel but it is hard to use the keyboard in your lap (nothing to hang on to, for me it wanders side to side, making touch typing all but impossible). The separate mouse can be used like a normal mouse or can be a motion sensing pointer though I did not like the motion sensing mode that much. In any event you have to move your hands to use the mouse. It is uses a dongle and both GameOS and Linux recognize it as a USB (so you can enter the kboot parameter if you wish). It is a great product, just not for me.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823126039
I tried the Logitech diNova Mini and really love the overall design execution, it is beautiful and it seemed a perfect match for my needs. Unfortunately, I found it totally unusable. I took it back (with a very heavy heart I might add). One time I ran across a chording key board (from MIT Media Lab), it was hand held, with a few buttons that you would press in combination's to get the various characters. So you would type about like you might play a guitar. I thought that would be perfect too but I could only type painfully slowly. A lot of ideas are that way.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823202004
The nMediaPC is nice with good key feel and a bit easier to keep centered in your lap. There are two mouse devices, a separate ordinary-ish mouse as well as a trackball in the upper right hand of the keyboard. The track ball seemed nice but you have to move your hands a lot to use either the mouse or the track ball . The mouse action was not sufficiently sensitive. The keyboard was a bit heavy too. The mouse buttons are in two places both on the forward corners of the keyboard and in the upper left corner (there are only two buttons not three). So to use the mouse, you end up moving both hands. The separate mouse is peculiar - it can be used like an ordinary mouse an can be used much like the gyration mouse but is not real motion sensing. I like the laser pointer (so did one of my dogs, he liked to chase the dot) but sorry Cujo, it's not quite what I wanted.
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/gaming/playstation_3/devices/3616&cl=US,EN
I wanted to like this one too but couldn't. For me the first problem was that I did not like the key feel. It is BT so the boot loader does not see it meaning that you can't enter kboot parameters. Once the BT sub-system is up, the keyboard works fine. But mainly, the keyboard is too large and with the touch screen with buttons under the touch screen on the far right side. When I balanced it in my lap, I could not touch type because the J and F keys were not centered (they are far from the center of the keyboard). When I centered the J and F keys relative to my lap, the right side of the key board hangs over my lap causing the keyboard to tend to tilt because again, there is nowhere to rest the heels of your palms . When you use the mouse and the mouse buttons you again have to slide the keyboard over. This is not really conducive to typing in the dark.
IMO, the Lenova keyboard is really nice and easy to use. The keys are not large so the keyboard is overall not very large but also not so small that I hit multiple or wrong keys. Of course I would prefer that the Lenova keyboard be wireless. One thing that crossed my mind was to find a wireless-usb-extender. I looked expecting to find many but to my amazement there are only two decent ones and while they look nice, they are neither inexpensive nor compact:
http://www.icron.com/products/usb_new/wireless-usb.php
and
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=4505
On closer examination, it appears that they are the same device with different decoration. It would be easy to produce an inexpensive wireless usb extender; it is quite surprising to me that there are none.
