Do you use a touchpad or mouse?

Can you even use a touchpad? I feel like I am disabled if I try to use one. Even if I try to get used to it, it's only a matter of minutes before I switch back to my mouse and feel like I'm again.

I'm 35 nos but I do remember back in the day when I had one of my first laptops, a Sony VAIO SZ Premium series I only used touchpad and was very efficient with it but after having had stopped using touchpad for years, I just can't seem to use them comfortably or being productive.

 

Trackpoint on my laptop (the red cursor control on a Thinkpad, some Dells, and some HPs).

Mouse on my desktop.

TL;DR: it really depends. Just choose what's best for you, best for the job, etc.



Really depends on the work. There are some things where I feel the Trackpoint is a bit slower and less easy to use vs a mouse. I've also been in places where a mouse just simply has no place to work on.

A good touchpad is somewhere inbetween the two, for me. Some annoyances are wet fingers or other cases where the touchpad just doesn't work well, or at all. Lots of times, a touchpad won't transition between different operating modes (e.g, ctrl-selecting a large number of items, one by one. Touchpad occasionally thinks I mean "drag" when I mean "move the cursor." So I have to slow down. This never happens with the Trackpoint and its distinct buttons. The same may be true for the few touchpads with distinct buttons, too.).

Again, it really depends on the work. About 90% of my work can be done from the KB. Sometimes, around 100%. So I learned the KB shortcuts and use the cursor input sparingly. I know some people say the Trackpoint is quicker/easier to get to from home row on the KB, but in my experience, it doesn't make enough of a difference to matter.

Sometimes when I'm scrolling through a large PDF, I want the trackpoint (scrolling). Sometimes, the pgup/pgdn/left/right keys are better. Sometimes, a two finger scroll on a touch may be better. Sometimes, a touchscreen reigns supreme. Depends if I'm at work in a lab, at home trying to fix something in the attic, etc.

For multimedia (when the Win10 controls are working properly) the touchpad can be reconfigured in Win10 to control play/pause, volume, etc. I found that to be very nice.

When I'm doing graphics work (e.g, creating a diagram), a mouse is still superior, even a laggy bluetooth mouse.

I've played all of Halo 1 on legendary with a touchpad before. I've also tried playing a game with the Trackpoint. A poor mouse is still less effort (better, IMO).

I also tried CAD component modeling and PCB design (the latter in Altium Designer - an old tool with many KB shortcuts to help) using the Trackpoint. It's doable without a mouse, but I'd rather have a mouse.

I suppose, in the end, a mouse is still a more precise and faster than either a Trackpoint or a touchpad. The magic combo. But you have to pick two out of the three. What's the third? Space. I do not want to carry a mouse with me everywhere, and I just don't always have the space to run a mouse, even if I bring one.

 

Trackpad when moving around (no issues with the one on my m15), mouse/trackball + keyboard at the desk.

 

If I'm just web browsing I can get away with just using the trackpad on my laptop, but anything more and I need a mouse. Since I bought a wireless trackball (m570) I hardly even bother with the trackpad anymore.
<start old man rant> I just can't get used to these clickpads they use nowadays (I also hate pretty much anything with a touch interface). My first laptop was an old Toshiba that had actual right/left buttons and an actual scroll wheel with the touchpad. That was pretty nice to use. <end old man rant>

 

Trackpad when I'm on the couch, mouse with the trackpad disabled when using the laptop at a desk. I bought a Razer Viper Ultimate for easy transport between my laptop and desktop. I've had the mouse for a little over a week, using it for at least 2-3 hours a day, and only now has the charge dropped below 50% with the lighting enabled. It's super light and super comfortable. Razer has really stepped up its game lately, at least in terms of mice and keyboards.

 

No trackball users?

 

I've started using one recently. It's great bit I'm a bit slower with it than with a mouse.

 

It does take a lot of getting used to, but for me, I will take the speed and precision hit and regain some desk space, not to mention potential ergonomic improvements like lesser arm and wrist motion.

Edit: one upside of shifting to trackballs is the growing use of keyboard shortcuts. Since I take a bit of a hit on cursor movement, it makes me look more into keyboard shortcuts. I think IBM/Toshiba was onto something when they came up with the nub point.

 

Agree. For me I just wanted to see if I can handle a thumb trackball and have something different to mix into my input devices repertoire. Additionally, my Elecom has side scrolling and an awesome feature which allows me to define a huge number of custom gesture actions. Had no issues adapting to it, but I feel it slows me down a bit. Actually, will run some benchmarks to test this hypothesis later.

 

OK, used this test for the first time, so no training bias: https://clickspeedtest.com/mouse_accuracy/index.html

30s, tiny, extreme, best out of two, here are my scores:

Brand new Zowie EC2, only just started using it: 56
Alienware m15 trackpad: 34
Elecom EX-G, upgraded to red ball, have used it fairly frequently for about 2 months: 28 (and it was torture lol)

So, yeah, I'd say thumb trackball is def behind on accuracy even against trackpad with its non-existent flicks, but for some light, slow non-precision work it's fine and indeed it's very ergonomic and beats the mouse on desk space.

 

I suppose this is since using a mouse requires more than just fingers, so you got more muscles and nerves coordinating, whereas a trackball is manipulated with the thumb or the index/middle fingers depending on model.

Then again, I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and messed with things like DPI settings or sensitivity.

 

Definitely. I suspect one of the large palm-operated trackballs would offer potential for higher accuracy.

 

I use trackpoint all the time. Only connect a mouse when playing first-person shooter games.

No.

Same.

I still remember pretty well how touchpad was dragging my productivity down.

Mouse is great and all, but obviously requires removing one hand from the keyboard, which is a waste of time and effort. Same goes for trackball, which is otherwise quite nice in my opinion.

I typically use laptop on my lap literally, so mouse is not an option most of the time. Trackball is much better, but doesn't solve the problem of moving hands back and forth. And touchpads, while can be operated with thumbs without removing hands from the keyboard, are just not precise enough and thus hinder productivity, also scrolling sometimes results in zooming which is very annoying and never happens with other input devices.

For me, input devices has become one of the major factors in choosing a laptop, if not the main one, over the years. Properly implemented trackpoint is a very versatile tool once you master it, especially for text work, and on the go when you have nowhere to put a mouse comfortably. I really wish a well implemented trackpoint was standard on most laptop and tablet keyboards, it does make a lot of difference in daily use.

I'd love to see things change for the better once IBM/Lenovo trackpoint patents expire, but seeing the pathetic state of keyboards and touchpads on many current devices of different manufacturers, I have serious doubts they ever will.

 

Never used that nipple mouse pointer on IBMs/Lenovos. How is it? Can you get any precision/productivity out of it?

 

Not the other person, but the last time I used it was during the Centrino days on one of the first Lenovo ThinkPads. I never got the whole hang of it, but it did feel like word productivity got a shot in the arm.

 

No. Anyway, Spynovo sux.

 

I'm the only one that voted for touchpad LOL

I only use touchpads on my laptops.

Only time I add a mouse is if I am gaming

 

It can be fantastic, but learning curve is very steep, trackpoint takes noticeably more time & effort to become proficient with.

Hell yeah! It's very precise, and great for productivity since one can keep their hands on keyboard's home row while using it. Also, scrolling with trackpoint is a pleasure, I prefer trackpoint scrolling to any other pointing device.

Sadly only IBM/Lenovo implemented trackpoints well. Some Dell, HP, Fujitsu, Toshiba business laptops also come with trackpoints - but the experience is noticeably worse.

 

This isn’t a laptop, but there is a keyboard maker called the Ultimate Hacking Keyboard whose eponymous keyboard splits in two so you can reposition each half as you see fit (within limitations of the tether).

They’ve designed a module plug next to the space bar so that if you split the keyboard, you can attach different modules, and one of them is a track nub.

 

Just to mention the super-obvious, a trackpad is also reachable with fingers on the home row....

 

Absolute nonsense IMHO. One can disable unwanted features such as zooming if their dexterity is insufficient to master them. The degree of precision afforded by the trackpad compared to the clit is in a different league, and I say that as someone who has had a fair amount of experience with the contraption, and got to a good level of proficiency in using it.

 

True.

Trackpoint, same settings. First attempt 50, second attempt 52.

 

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That's a bit hard to believe for me for a number of reasons, including the suspiciously low variance. You know there are good reasons why the device never gained wider popularity and gave way to trackpads...

 

I can only speculate on reasons why trackpoints didn't gain wider popularity.

What I know is IBM/Lenovo trackpoints were and still are the best trackpoints by miles. As far as I read, the main reason for this is due to IBM/Lenovo patents that prevented other manufacturers from making their trackpoints as good or better. Sounds plausible to me. Should also be noted that trackpoints, just like touchpads, rely a lot not only on hardware but also on software to deliver good experience.

Steep learning curve and the fact that being harder to implement from engineering standpoint than touchpads, trackpoints were typically reserved for expensive business machines, very rarely available on anything consumer, didn't help either.

First version of this sentence looked terrible, glad you rewrote it. (=

I tried with my Logitech mouse - first attempt 54, second attempt 58. Frankly I expected far better results from it. Tried with a trackpoint again - 56.

 

70 on touchpad, 86 on mouse, each two attempts.
Microsoft Precision Touchpad drivers really does make a big difference.
I tend to use both depending on the situation, leisure/casual work - touchpad, when I've got no time/gaming - I plug in my mouse.

 

Only if I'm doing simple/basic things surfing trough websites, news reading, watching videos, etc.

 

touchpad, less need to carry something around

 

Hi everyone, in my case i use both, depend what i'm doing.

 

Mouse - 99%

Touchpad - 1%

Essentially, if I forget my mouse I will use the touchpad. For any task I prefer the mouse but it is indeed a handy failsafe method to include a decent touchpad.

 

I have a logitech touchpad, a touch pad on my keyboard, a new microsoft surface mouse (awesome for travelling because of its fold flat design), touchscreen on my desk and computer. The more input options the better. All have different use cases.