touch pad or pointing stick.

[rimmerchant]

Just wondering. I've been a desktop user for 95% of my computer history.
and I use a mouse.

I still cannot stand using the Pointing stick or touch pad on a laptop.

maybe it's lack of experience and not use to it.

but do you people feel as confortable using those ps/touch pad as using a regular mouse?

I mean not to the same percise level required to play FPS but at a leavel where its not a hinderance to productivity and you don't notice it holding u back when it works

[tituswolf]

I, like you, hate touch pads and pointing sticks. I have never gotten use to them. I guess its a necessary evil with laptops, but man they suck.

[SkyDog]

I don't think you'll find many people who prefer a touchpad or stick to a mouse. But a mouse isn't as portable since it requires a flat surface to work on.

When needing to choose between the two evils, I personally prefer the stick to the pad. I hate having to move my finger across a silly pad three times just to move the cursor across a screen. And I feel like I can control the cursor a lot more precisely with a stick.

If you hate them REALLY bad, you can get a wireless gyroscopic mouse (http://www.gyration.com/ultragt.htm) that works in mid-air.

[I4one]

why doesn't someone invent a remote control with a laser beam - point and click - 2-3 buttons :p

[mynameis]

Mouse>Trackball>Touchpad>Pointing Stick

I used a Compaq Elite Notebook awhile back, it had less than 100mhz if I remember correctly. It had the best pointing device for a laptop ever, it was a track ball to the right of the LCD, the buttons for it were on the top of the lid, so you controlled the trackball with your thumb while you had your index and middle finder on the 2 buttons. I haven't see anything like it since then.

[zackbass]

I prefer the pointing stick to the pad on my Thinkpad. It takes a lot less movemnt to use, I don't have to move my hand from the keyboard, and it's much faster for the same level of precision. Of course, neither comes anywhere near the usability of a normal mouse.

[Delphi00]

same here, pointing stick just much smoother without having to move my finger across the touch pad couple times over...

but maybe get an ibm which has both heh ;)

[ua549]

My Evo N610c notebook has both. I use the pointing stick 99% of the time. The only time I use the touchpad is for scrolling through long documents. Another issue I have with a touchpad. When typing it is easy for a thumb to hit the touchpad causing chaos.

I had a Toshiba 80486 notebook that had a trackball on the right. It was OK but control was not that great. When my right thumb was sprained the trackball was totally useless.

[PCJ]

I actually like my iBook's touchpad. Not as much as a mouse, but it's ok. I have it set so that I can click by just hitting the touchpad once, which makes navigation with 1 hand very comfortable. I wish I had the new Powerbook touchpad though where you can scroll by using it with two fingers. I've tried it and it works really well.

[mynameis]

Originally posted by PCJ
I wish I had the new Powerbook touchpad though where you can scroll by using it with two fingers. I've tried it and it works really well.

The newer iBook touchpads support that, it just requires a hack, kind of like the screen-spanning hack. I don't know why Apple handicaps their hardware like that.

edit: Here is one of the apps to do it, called iScroll2 (http://www-users.kawo2.rwth-******.de/~razzfazz/), it claims to work on all Aluminum PBs and all G4 iBooks, so you should be good to go.

[PriMaTe]

the touchpad is sooooo annoying. Some genius at my school decided it'd be a good idea to have laptops in the new financial services lab. You can't take them off of the desks and move them if you want to because you're not allowed to, i think they're chained down. SO they just sit in this little room on the desks. Of course they don't have normal mice attached to them, so you have to use the touchpad or the little button in the middle of the keyboard to control the mouse. It's annoying and stupid, this school just has money to burn.

[Johnmcl7]

I used to prefer the touchsticks as you didn't have to lift your finger to move the cursor all across the screen, although given the choice of both on my current laptop, I almost always use the touchpad, because you can click by tapping it, I find it annoying to lift my finger to click a button when using the touchstick.

I'm fine with using a touchpad, although I prefer using a mouse when I can.

John

[SkyDog]

Originally posted by Johnmcl7
I find it annoying to lift my finger to click a button when using the touchstick.

Most sticks are clickable, too. If the feature is turned on in the drivers, just tap it instead of pushing it in a direction.

Originally posted by Johnmcl7
I used a Compaq Elite Notebook awhile back... It had the best pointing device for a laptop ever, it was a track ball to the right of the LCD, the buttons for it were on the top of the lid...

I realize it's all a matter of opinion, but that sounds horrible to me! I don't want to move my hands any farther than necessary to go between a pointing device and the keyboard. And if I understand what you said and it's necessary to hold your hand up off the desktop or palmrest to click buttons, that would make for some serious arm fatigue!

Originally posted by Delphi00
but maybe get an ibm which has both heh

A lot of manufacturers' business lines have both. A number of ThinkPads do, as do Compaq/HP Evos and Dell Latitudes.

[rock]

My Dell D600 has both, and I use neither. In a pinch or on an airplane I will use the touchpad over the stick, but I've got a nice light logitec mouse that travels with me. Best thing about moving to these optical mice is how they'll work on just about any surface and weight almost nothing compared to the old ball mice.

[coolqf]

Originally posted by mynameis
Mouse>Trackball>Touchpad>Pointing Stick

I used a Compaq Elite Notebook awhile back, it had less than 100mhz if I remember correctly. It had the best pointing device for a laptop ever, it was a track ball to the right of the LCD, the buttons for it were on the top of the lid, so you controlled the trackball with your thumb while you had your index and middle finder on the 2 buttons. I haven't see anything like it since then.

That's actually how I use my touchpad.

The pros of a touchpad:
1--Your index fingers are MUCH closer to the keyboard
2--No need to carry another device
3--Mice need replacement over time, I have yet to see a touchpad need to be replaced due to average 'wear and tear'.

[Ashpool]

50/50. The pad feels more natural, while the stick takes less effort to work.

[coolqf]

Originally posted by Ashpool
50/50. The pad feels more natural, while the stick takes less effort to work.
Vry true, it's primarily b/c the stick concentrates on less nerves on your finger, resulting in increased pressure.

[Fig]

I actually prefer the pointing stick in the keyboard. I've been scouring the earth to find a desktop keyboard that has a pointing stick in it. Moving my arm from keyboard to mouse takes too much time and is part of the reason for which I have cubital tunnel.

[Fig]

I guess that with my previous searches I wasn't calling the pointing stick by the correct name as I found some IBM desktop keyboards that have the pointing stick. It's too bad that they don't make the keyboards ergonomic by splitting them, though.

[Fatal]

im a fan of the pointing stick. my laptop has a touchpad and i hate using it for extended periods of time. it feels like it gets hotter by the minute. the only thing i like about touchpads is the ability to tap your finger to simulate a mouse click. its biggest con is i hate having to pick my hand up to move the mouse across the screen.

[SkyDog]

Originally posted by Fatal
the only thing i like about touchpads is the ability to tap your finger to simulate a mouse click.

You can do that with most sticks, too, if it's turned on in the drivers.

[Fatal]

Originally posted by SkyDog
You can do that with most sticks, too, if it's turned on in the drivers.

i know what feature im gonna get on my next laptop...