Laptops without touchpads?

[The Monkey]

For a while I hated trackpads, and I still dislike them in many ways. I found ThinkPads to have the best pointing devices.

[Dusty Chalk]

Both my dad and my laptop are dead because of the same problem and hp wants $400 USD to fix it.

Really sorry to hear about your dad, but if they can bring him back, $400 seems worth it to me. Unless, of course, he's a zombie. But maybe you could teach him frisbee or something, I don't know, I guess it depends on your relationship with your dad.

[mypasswordis]

:rofl:

My insides are hurting.

[Genetic]

Unless, of course, he's a zombie.

There's another proof that track pads can suck the life out of any man....

Amicalement

[Hopstretch]

My insides are hurting.

That's what she said. Although, to be fair, it was more of a joystick issue.

[boomana]

The touchpad on Macbook is much nicer than Windows Laptop. I'd fix it if I were you.

Dan fixed it at CanJam for me, so I'm good. Unfortunately, the laptop has seen better days (now making horrible noises), and I'm hoping Apple comes out with that snazzy new thing everyone is talking about soon or I'm going to break down and buy a netbook to tide me over, though I really don't want to.

Dusty, though I'm sure you've already thought of it and dismissed it being more of a geek than I, but if you can't find what you want, why not just get one of those wireless mice things. Doug had one when he was here, and it would seem to eliminate the whole trackpad issue quite nicely.

Edited October 12, 2009 by boomana

[darthsilverice]

Really sorry to hear about your dad, but if they can bring him back, $400 seems worth it to me. Unless, of course, he's a zombie. But maybe you could teach him frisbee or something, I don't know, I guess it depends on your relationship with your dad.

Thats what I get for posting late at night. Also hate the fact that I can't edit my posts. I guess a 's goes a long way.

[Dusty Chalk]

No worries, I was just having some fun.

...why not just get one of those wireless mice things. Doug had one when he was here, and it would seem to eliminate the whole trackpad issue quite nicely.

Oh, that's a given (actually in my case, it'd be a wired trackball, but...whatever) -- the problem is more of ... oh, I don't know, just plain desire. I just plain don't want it on there. It strikes me as a waste of space/resources/money, since I know I won't be using it. I realize that's largely psychological, since it probably doesn't contribute that much to the cost of the laptop (and eliminates many cheaper options by forcing me to compromise in other areas), but it just irks me. And since I have plenty of time (I've waited this long to get a laptop, can wait a couple months longer) to shop around, might as well determine if definitively if that is indeed the case, or go with the BIOS or hardware shutoff (my two more favorite choices of those mentioned).

Update: I tried to figure out how to shut off the trackpad on my housemate's laptop; it wasn't easy. (Just as an "exercise".) There was no Function-F8 or Function-F9, that I could find. Also couldn't find anything under control panel, nor in the documentation. (I think it's a 2-year-old Sony Vaio.)

Of course, this makes some kind of sense, since I didn't have a second pointer attached, it might have behaved differently if I actually had an external mouse or trackball, I don't know, but I'd still like something that I don't have to turn off every time I boot up.

The point of this exercise was to determine if I still needed to look for that capability in models, or just ignore it altogether -- seems like I can't ignore it altogether. So if anyone else has any specific experience with either specific models or specific manufacturer lines that either have hardware override, or some sort of BIOS setting that lets you permanently disable the trackpad, I'd like to hear from you.

[jinp6301]

For thinkpads, the Fn+F8 is standard for turning off the trackpad/point. I'm pretty sure thats not the case with other laptop models. I would be surprised if there wasnt a way to turn off the trackpad in the bios in any laptop.

[manaox2]

Could you possibly disable in device manager? I believe mine is listed under mice as Alps pointing device.

[Dusty Chalk]

Yeah, and that should "take", unless I don't understand something.

[n_maher]

Look, the OP said he wasn't interested, it's not really up for discussion.

Could you explain your hatred? I'm trying to understand what there is to hate.

[Dusty Chalk]

Could you explain your hatred? I'm trying to understand what there is to hate.

Contrary to the "predisposed" theory, I didn't start out hating them. It wasn't until work gave me a laptop for an extended period that I learned to hate them (prior to that I was only mildly irritated by them, and perfectly willing to just Suckitup

[grawk]

I still don't understand why they don't put the touchpad above the keyboard, rather than below.

Because then it's awfully hard to use with the rest of your fingers on the keyboard.

[Dusty Chalk]

I'm having trouble imagining a scenario in which you're typing at the same time that you're mousing.

[grawk]

I frequently use the trackpad without moving my hands to quickly do something like select text then switch back. Part of why you have trouble imagining it is because you've decided that because of one bad experience, the whole concept must suck...

[Dusty Chalk]

On the contrary -- here's an analogy. (One with which I personally relate.) I'm a keyboardist (musician). I've tried taking up the guitar, and I find it extremely difficult. Not just because I'm a beginner, but because I'm used to it (making music) being easy for me, so I find the fact that it's hard for me to make music (on the guitar) particularly frustrating. I do not think that the whole concept sucks, I realize I just need to perservere until it's easy enough to accomplish the things I want to accomplish with it, and I greatly admire people who can make music on the guitar better than I can.

Similarly with touchpads (and mice for that matter) -- I don't think that you're retarded because you can work efficiently with both a mouse and a keyboard, or a trackpad and a keyboard, I just don't see the point in me having to do that, since I don't have to, for anything I need to accomplish. On the contrary, I think I'm the retarded one because I just can't seem to get it, but I don't see the point in continuing trying to teach the pig to sing, as it were. It just frustrates the farmer, and makes an awful racket, which usually ends in bacon.

[n_maher]

There, happy? Can we please put this part of the discussion to bed now?

Jesus Peter, sensitive much? I was honestly curious because I've had issues with them in the past as well and was wondering if the solutions that I'd found would help you deal with your problems.

I know use a program called TouchFreeze that disables the touchpad while you type and it has worked wonders. You just have to remember to turn it off if you want to game or perform tasks that require simultaneous mouse and keyboard inputs.

[Dusty Chalk]

Jesus Peter, sensitive much?

Quite probably, yes. Oh hei, let me FTFY.

No, seriously, sorry, I shouldn't be taking it out on my friends, I do appreciate your input.

I'm going to get a neural impulse actuator. Here's to hoping I don't accidentally drag'n'drop a virtual piano onto my virtual brain.

[jinp6301]

I dunno if you already made up your mind Dusty but the x200s is friggin cheap right now

Lenovo Thinkpad x200s Ultraportable Laptop: Core 2 Duo 1.4 GHz, 2GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, WiFi, 12.1" 1280x800 LCD, Vista Basic $664 For Amex Cardholders - SlickDeals.net Forums

[Sherwood]

Apple's multitouch touchpads really are, in my opinion, far and away the best physical user interfaces out there.

That's because you're ignorant and want computing to be handed to you, apparently.

[Voltron]

And moronically flushing away kilobucks. Don't forget that either.

[Dusty Chalk]

I dunno if you already made up your mind Dusty but the x200s is friggin cheap right now

Lenovo Thinkpad x200s Ultraportable Laptop: Core 2 Duo 1.4 GHz, 2GB DDR3, 250GB HDD, WiFi, 12.1" 1280x800 LCD, Vista Basic $664 For Amex Cardholders - SlickDeals.net Forums

That is pretty friggin' cheap, thanks for posting that. I conservatively put together a system I wanted, and it was a little more than a thousand dollars (which is a great price). Too bad I have neither a thousand dollars to spare, nor a friend with an amex card to use.

[grawk]

Lenovo - Contractor Purchase Program familyandfriends

[some1x]

If your touchpad is a Synaptics, you can install their driver. There is an configurable option called "PalmCheck." This makes the touchpad respond only when your finger moves across it (it does this by only responding when a small part of the surface is touched).