[off-topic] hardware question with PS/2 keyboard adaptor

[gavinwc]

Hi group,

Trip down memory lane to see if you have any solutions:
Remember when ergonomic or contoured keyboards first became all the rage,
if not before then at least in the '90s? Around the turn of the millenia I
tried a few different ones, but settled on a logitech "New Touch" keyboard,
mostly because of the convenient integrated touchpad located in the wrist
support.

After leaving it languishing in a cupboard for years I decided to drag it
out again because I was spending time doing a lot of typing and hankered
for the old ways :-). This required sourcing a PS/2 > USB adaptor because
PS/2 used to be "the" thing back then for input devices.

Now herein lies the problem: I didn't want to spend a fortune on the
adapters (throw good money after bad) and I didn't want to create waste by
"junking" the Logitech and getting something comparable with USB. So, I
bought two types of cheap adaptors and am having the same problem with both
- the touchpad is VERY choppy/jittery. It's the classic 60x45mm touchpad
with separate L+R buttons, but the smallest movement of your finger pad
causes a jittery mouse pointer that jumps back and forth over around 3-5mm
range on screen, which often makes it hard to hit a selection, as you would
imagine.

>From my limited electronics background, I've been thinking that this is a
A>D resolution problem, like the adapter is only using a chip with, say, 8
bit resolution and not able to provide the smoother experience that a 16
bit chip might? (More memories - I used to have this brilliant USB adapter
that had 2xPS/2, 9-pin serial, and printer port all in one unit, but seem
to have lost that).

Q 1/ Would a more expensive adapter provide a better experience, after
checking its specs to see if it's got higher resolution?
Q 2/ Is this an issue that might be handled with software tweaks in the
touchpad settings?
Q 3/ Should I surrender to having to replace this keyboard (couldn't find
any modern equivalent that had the integrated touchpad)?

Thanks people :-)

Gavin
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