4 ms·
Am I the only one who finds the Synaptics trackpads on many laptops are simply a nightmare in itself regardless of the operating system due to the physical desi
by segfaultbuserr 6y ago
Am I the only one who finds the Synaptics trackpads on many laptops are simply a nightmare in itself regardless of the operating system due to the physical design? Not all Synaptics trackpads are created equal, on some machines, the surface friction just doesn't feel correct, making the pointer acceleration difficult to control. I know I was probably using it wrong and I should've spent an hour tweaking the parameters in the Synaptics Windows Driver, but I don't really know what's the best for me. Even worse, some Synaptics trackpads have cheap plastic that worn out after a year or so, creating an uneven friction, making the navigation a difficult experience. I know I could replace it, but making the touchpad as a consumable item is not a good design. Also, on many ultralight machines, the available space is simply too small to have an adequate space for plamrest.
Finally, as a matter of personal preference, I found clicking the button on the touchpad is never a good experience - the pad is clickable, but only on its edge, or you could touch-click, but you need to constantly lifting your finger. The touch gestures are confusing as well, to this day I never figured out any of the gesture I could use. The device driver really should come with an animated tutorial. The only feature I found was scrolling at the edge or double-finger scrolling, but it's only useful if you want to scroll a few lines, rolling the entire page is a tiresome experience (unlike the middle-button scrolling on a TrackPoint).
As a result, I only use the TrackPoint on Thinkpad laptops. Although the TrackPoint is not completely free from the pointer acceleration issue in general on Linux (although I never found it to be an issue for me), the overall usability is much better because it doesn't have the physical design issues.
- emmelaich 6y agoThe trackpad on Macs is one of the major reasons I stick with Mac laptops.
- PunksATawnyFill 6y agoExcept it's way too big now, resulting in spurious cursor-jumps, erroneous right-clicks... it's dumb. Even dumber is that Apple didn't do the obvious thing to make the giant trackpad pay off: Make the Pencil work on it! DUHHHH
- Wowfunhappy 6y ago> Even dumber is that Apple didn't do the obvious thing to make the giant trackpad pay off: Make the Pencil work on it! DUHHHH I really don't think the trackpad is large enough for this to be broadly useful. Now, if they'd just put a damn touch screen on their laptops...
- neal_jones 6y agoI remember yelling at my computer screen during some Apple announcement while some VP pontificated about how touch is the natural, convenient, intuitive, superior etc. approach all while ignoring the GIANT SCREEN. Honestly I am not wanting for a touchscreen but if you are going to rant about how great “touch” is just swap the screen with an iPad and shut up. While I’m ranting, the other year when I saw the Microsoft Surface Studio (https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microsoft+surface+studio&t=iphone&iar=images&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=microsoft+surface+studio&t=iphone&...) I thought, “10 years ago if you made me guess who made that machine I would have said Apple”
- spacephysics 6y agoSame, despite the overheating issue with my model, and the copious amount of OS issues with the more recent releases, I’ve yet to find a laptop that comes close to Apple’s track pad. To a point where sometimes I prefer the track pad over a mouse.
- neal_jones 6y agoYou’ve probably already heard about this, but there has been a large discussion about how charging from the traditional left side of 15” (and I believe 16”) MBPs results in heat and fan issues. A lot of people have had improved results just by switching power to the right.
- api 6y agoThat is just ridiculous.
- teruakohatu 6y agoNot more than the previous keyboards which can't handle a spec of dust under the keys.
- navanchauhan 6y agoif what you have told me is true, you will have gained my trust
- karlding 6y agoThis was on HN about a month ago [0]. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22957573 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22957573
- spacephysics 6y agoCurrently using a third-party 'mag-safe' adapter and after changing to the recommended side, have had much less issues with heat
- 6y ago
- neal_jones 6y agoI remember years ago after I had switched to Apple using a Windows laptop and I thought, “How is this trackpad even acceptable?” In more recent years I have noticed Windows machines have made some very good trackpads.