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I have no idea how not to use it. Right index finger (I'm right handed) moves it round, right thumb presses the keys. I'm not a classic touch typist, but my fi

I have no idea how not to use it. Right index finger (I'm right handed) moves it round, right thumb presses the keys. I'm not a classic touch typist, but my fingers tend to be near the home row most of the time, having the pointing device one or two keys away, and the mouse buttons next to space, is a big benefit. Having to shift my left hand to the left, and right hand down 3", just to move the pointer, feels like a lot of effort. I use point-to-focus (but not raise) a fair bit too, as moving the mouse is almost as easy as alt-tab, I use it a lot to switch between terminal windows.

masklinn 8y ago
> I have no idea how not to use it. Right index finger (I'm right handed) moves it round, right thumb presses the keys. That's completely immaterial to the precision of it, which is why I'm unable to use it: I never managed to aim at something, I take ages to actually reach a button to click on it (either under- or over-shooting it unless I move the cursor extremely slowly) let alone select some characters in the middle of text. I have that issue on neither trackpad nor mouse, and can use both reliably precisely.
- isostatic 8y ago
  I find it (on my 8 year old t410s) far more precise than any trackpad I've used, and more precise than the old ball-mouse and trackballs. I guess it's what you know. I actually just used the touchpad on said laptop with my thumb, to move the arrow to the 'reply' button (I have an inbuilt distrust of tab on websites). And now I used the trackpoint to resize the text box to read my reply, again without thinking about it. I suspect that when I'm in "doing" mode I use the trackpoint, when I'm in "consuming" mode I use the pad.
- NeedMoreTea 8y ago
  Odd. I find the trackpoint more precise than any touchpad, Macs included. I've owned Macbooks for years yet am instantly happier, and faster, on the keyboard and trackpoint of the wife's T series. I'd pay significantly more over already inflated Apple prices to have my MBP with a trackpoint and no touchpad.
  - masklinn 8y ago
    Yeah odd it's as if different people have different sensibilities and my experience with trackpoints has no influence on yours and the other way around. How surprising.
    - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
      You were the one expressing in absolutes.
      - masklinn 8y ago
        > You were the one expressing in absolutes. No, I was not. Go back and actually read my comment, I very specifically talked about myself and my precision using a trackpoint. In support of lokedhs professing to the same. And as an expression of the uselessness and irrelevance of isostatic's comment answering a question nobody'd asked. But as usual the trackpoint zealots can't even take an expression of personal issues as anything but a personal attack on their way of life. Ya folks are tiring.
        NeedMoreTea 8y ago
        > That's completely immaterial to the precision of it, which is why I'm unable to use it To me that reads as though you are unable to use it because the device itself is imprecise. That some indeed do find it more precise would seem to exonerate the device. Personal preference, is a different can of worms. :) No zealotry present at all, here at least.
        masklinn 8y ago
        > To me that reads as though you are unable to use it because the device itself is imprecise. It is a call back to lokedhs's original issue: > Once in a while I try to use it, but I find it almost impossible control with any kind of precision. Changing the sensitivity doesn't help much. which is what they were asking about when they wrote > How do you use it? Is this just a matter of getting used to it, and if it is, how long does it take? right afterwards, not "what finger are you using" (the index of the dominant hand would certainly be the obvious choice to just about anyone).
- ahnick 8y ago
  I agree and I have the same issue as you. I'm on a ThinkPad T480 running Ubuntu and I only use the trackpad. Whenever I use trackpoint (the nipple/stick/whatever) I'm constantly overshooting, so it doesn't matter whether I can get to it quickly or not from the home row, because I waste more time trying to position the cursor over the tab or button I'm trying to click than I do on the trackpad. Also, on the trackpad I don't have to physically click a button with my thumb, I just have to lightly tap. Now maybe I could get better at the precision piece for trackpoint overtime, but if you use trackpoint you also lose the ability to do multi-touch (two finger) scrolling, which I think is a huge time saver, b/c you can scroll without having to find the scroll bar and/or moving your hand over to the arrow/page keys.

masklinn 8y ago

> I have no idea how not to use it. Right index finger (I'm right handed) moves it round, right thumb presses the keys. That's completely immaterial to the precision of it, which is why I'm unable to use it: I never managed to aim at something, I take ages to actually reach a button to click on it (either under- or over-shooting it unless I move the cursor extremely slowly) let alone select some characters in the middle of text. I have that issue on neither trackpad nor mouse, and can use both reliably precisely.

isostatic 8y ago
I find it (on my 8 year old t410s) far more precise than any trackpad I've used, and more precise than the old ball-mouse and trackballs. I guess it's what you know. I actually just used the touchpad on said laptop with my thumb, to move the arrow to the 'reply' button (I have an inbuilt distrust of tab on websites). And now I used the trackpoint to resize the text box to read my reply, again without thinking about it. I suspect that when I'm in "doing" mode I use the trackpoint, when I'm in "consuming" mode I use the pad.
NeedMoreTea 8y ago
Odd. I find the trackpoint more precise than any touchpad, Macs included. I've owned Macbooks for years yet am instantly happier, and faster, on the keyboard and trackpoint of the wife's T series. I'd pay significantly more over already inflated Apple prices to have my MBP with a trackpoint and no touchpad.
- masklinn 8y ago
  Yeah odd it's as if different people have different sensibilities and my experience with trackpoints has no influence on yours and the other way around. How surprising.
  - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
    You were the one expressing in absolutes.
    - masklinn 8y ago
      > You were the one expressing in absolutes. No, I was not. Go back and actually read my comment, I very specifically talked about myself and my precision using a trackpoint. In support of lokedhs professing to the same. And as an expression of the uselessness and irrelevance of isostatic's comment answering a question nobody'd asked. But as usual the trackpoint zealots can't even take an expression of personal issues as anything but a personal attack on their way of life. Ya folks are tiring.
      - NeedMoreTea 8y ago
        > That's completely immaterial to the precision of it, which is why I'm unable to use it To me that reads as though you are unable to use it because the device itself is imprecise. That some indeed do find it more precise would seem to exonerate the device. Personal preference, is a different can of worms. :) No zealotry present at all, here at least.
        masklinn 8y ago
        > To me that reads as though you are unable to use it because the device itself is imprecise. It is a call back to lokedhs's original issue: > Once in a while I try to use it, but I find it almost impossible control with any kind of precision. Changing the sensitivity doesn't help much. which is what they were asking about when they wrote > How do you use it? Is this just a matter of getting used to it, and if it is, how long does it take? right afterwards, not "what finger are you using" (the index of the dominant hand would certainly be the obvious choice to just about anyone).
ahnick 8y ago
I agree and I have the same issue as you. I'm on a ThinkPad T480 running Ubuntu and I only use the trackpad. Whenever I use trackpoint (the nipple/stick/whatever) I'm constantly overshooting, so it doesn't matter whether I can get to it quickly or not from the home row, because I waste more time trying to position the cursor over the tab or button I'm trying to click than I do on the trackpad. Also, on the trackpad I don't have to physically click a button with my thumb, I just have to lightly tap. Now maybe I could get better at the precision piece for trackpoint overtime, but if you use trackpoint you also lose the ability to do multi-touch (two finger) scrolling, which I think is a huge time saver, b/c you can scroll without having to find the scroll bar and/or moving your hand over to the arrow/page keys.