trackpads - Gizmodo

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I Love Trackpads!
Synaptics Clickpad Brings the Clickable Trackpad Design to PCs
Samsung NC10-11PBK Special Edition Boosts Battery Life, Price Tag
Spend $15 and Give Your Multitouch Trackpad Tablet-esque Functionality
Synaptics Adds New Multitouch Gestures To Trackpads

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nutbastard
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
i think of a trackpad as the most convenient solution to an annoying problem - you dont see desktop users buying trackpads. it's better than not having a mouse, but not as good as having one.
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strider_mt2k
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
Not a trackpad fan, but I DO appreciate the extra functionality you can get from the Synaptics pads with the right drivers.
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Nick
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
I Love Trackpants!

fixed it for you.
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.357
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
I still prefer the mouse.
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dc-united
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
I find a mouse MUCH MUCH MUCH easier to use when editing photographs. For all other uses, the trackpad is intuitive to the point that I feel annoyed that my Windows laptops don't support the same set of gestures.

(It's a little like my stupid habit of tromping on the non-existent clutch pedal when I get into an automatic car.)
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.357
06/10/09

@dc-united: Same here on the clutch thing. Growing up driving manual, I can't stand slushboxes.
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fuchikoma
06/10/09

@dc-united:

I like trackpads too, but I'm about equally happy with Apple's solution, or a PC with a pad with scrollbars on the sides. I cannot get used to the new MacBooks' clickable pad though, that's just weird. I set it to tap-to-click and never actually click it.

I picked up a Wacom Bamboo tablet several months ago, and now I swear by it for photo editing - it makes an hour-long mouse job into a trivial 10-minute job, at least for me. Lately I've been using it like a large trackpad when not editing - it has an absolute position mode, and a relative position "mouse mode."
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dc-united
06/10/09

@fuchikoma: Sounds promising. I'll look into it. Thanks.
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fuchikoma
06/10/09

@dc-united:

No prob, it was shocking what a difference it made to me.

The Bamboo line is their entry-level so you should be able to get one for $100 or less, but it's still very accurate and pressure sensitive.
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WEGGLES90
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
You'll never convince me a trackpad is superior to a mouse. I've tried and tried to use a trackpad. Never liked them.

(I also hate when people have the trackpad sensetivity REALL low and you gotta move across it like 80 times to go from one side of the screen to another)
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Jonathan Moll
06/10/09

@WEGGLES90: I'm with you. Using my pointer finger to control is so clunky vs using an actual mouse. I hate when I have to use a laptop for work, I attach a mouse to it.
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WEGGLES90
06/10/09

@Jonathan Moll:

Also, how can it be faster, mice have scroll wheels and buttons for going back and forward. And middle click and such.
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Barry99705
06/10/09

@WEGGLES90: So do track pads.
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Sentath
06/10/09

@Barry99705: Where? Which one? Show me ONE of those up above that has a scroll wheel. Not a scroll area, or a scroll track, those are humiliatlingly useless.
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Tiger-Fever
06/10/09

@Sentath: All Mac trackpads (like the one in the mainpage picture) have two finger scrolling along the entire trackpad. Not to mention page forward and back, expose, and zooming with all the other multitouch gestures. They really are incredible and after 2 years of using my trackpad, I dislike using a mouse.
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sprice82
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
Trackpads are evil.
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Kaiser-Machead
06/10/09

@sprice82: Most trackpads are pieces of sensitive shit. If there's one thing that Apple got stupendously right, it's that trackpad.
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anon
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
Apple needs to take a leap and design something fresh again.. like a screen in a touchpad.. wtf apple? where's my one last thing?!
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Tvhargon
06/10/09

@anon: Didn't they just come out with a one button trackpad?
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anon
06/10/09

@tvhargon:

one button track pad.. yah that was.. breath taking.. i want a secondary display like the article picture dude..
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/10/09

@anon: See, I used to think that would be a good idea - having another screen down there. Then I realized that I never look at the track pad/mouse and only rarely look at the keyboard.
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kitsuneconundrum
06/10/09

In reply to I Love Trackpads!
Lenovo's red dot is clearly superior.
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/10/09

@kitsuneconundrum: I seventh this sentiment.
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GitEmSteveDave_DefinesTurgid
06/10/09

@kitsuneconundrum: I recently broke the keyboard nipple off a Compaq b/c it kept insisting that I all of a sudden wanted to be on the opposite side of the screen and stay there. I was getting frustrated, and it snapped right off.
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Kaiser-Machead
06/10/09

@kitsuneconundrum: It seems to me that Lenovo is the only company that manages to get the trackpoint right. The track toggle on other laptops has this nasty habit of sticking in one direction, which renders the trackpad useless and you end up taking the SafetyMachete_GitEmSteveDave route and snapping it off to save yourself.

I used to despise the trackpoint, then I got to use it a bit more, then I got used to it, then it started to feel natural, and now I actually like it. It's now become a strict requirement of mine if I were to ever purchase a netbook. If netbooks never get a good one, then I will never own a netbook.
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Salamanderjuice
06/10/09

@Kaiser-Machead: When Lenovo's netbook was rumoured i was hoping it would have a trackpoint and it didn't just a cramped trackpad like everyone else, so i just got an aspire one instead. I think a trackpoint is the smallest possible mouse thing you can have yet they don't put on netbooks it makes no sense
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Kaiser-Machead
06/10/09

@Salamanderjuice: The sad part is that the only one that offers a "netbook" with the trackpoint, at least as far as I've seen, is Sony.
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
06/02/09

In reply to Synaptics Clickpad Brings the Clickable Trackpad Design to PCs
Not really a big fan of the click-pad and I like the new MacBook keyboards even less.

My trusty 15" G4 still has plenty of life left in it yet..
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brobot - Beboptimus Prime
06/02/09

@Jrsy Devil's Food Cake®: oh how I miss the G4s... :::sigh::: the new trackpad and keyboard will definitely grow on you, though, if/when you end up with a newer notebook If you give it a fair chance, you'll never go back :)
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Jrsy Devil's Advocate®
06/02/09

@brobot: I got a black MacBook when they first came out. I returned it after two weeks for several reasons, chief among them was my dislike for the keyboard. My two favorite laptop keyboards are the PowerBook and my Thinkpad.

And before anyone chimes in about using an external keyboard, it's something extra to lug around and it defeats the purpose of having a built-in keyboard (IMO anyway).
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Révolution
06/01/09

In reply to Synaptics Clickpad Brings the Clickable Trackpad Design to PCs
Probably works like my ancient 2004 synaptics. It has 4 regions, and if it is regions on the left, left click, regions on the right, right click.

It isn't hard to know where a finger is. :P
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Adrian Covert
06/01/09

@Révolution: yeah, i'm sure that's what it is. just haven't heard it from their mouth...yet.
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Oakie Pokie
12/24/08

In reply to Spend $15 and Give Your Multitouch Trackpad Tablet-esque Functionality
i bought one of Ten One's Pogo Styli for the iPhone. it's a bit smaller than the Sketch, has no clip, but comes with a clip-on that wraps around the backside of the iPhone to clip the stylus to. it was some special for a forum i'm a member of offering it for $12. the Stylus really isnt worth the $20 they're asking for it, but the Sketch for $15 is since it's a more usable length.

i'll probably pick up a Sketch, donate the Stylus to a friend or something, and just keep this in my laptop bag.

it really does work and works very well, i will give it that much.
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