6 ms·

I am growing increasingly unhappy with Thinkpads in general, but as far as I know there is no real alternative for TrackPoint users. There are some that have a

by renke1 5y ago

I am growing increasingly unhappy with Thinkpads in general, but as far as I know there is no real alternative for TrackPoint users. There are some that have a TrackPoint but they lack three physical mouse button that are in reach of ones thumbs.

philliphaydon 5y ago
Why are you growing unhappy? (I have a X1 Extreme Gen 1, and Legion 7, and Legion 5 Pro, so I'm curious)
- renke1 5y ago
  A few things. The newer TrackPoint caps are not good. I actually had to order some 3D printed one from some Japanese guy. Also my Thinkpad T14 is throttling to the extent that I had to install tools [1] (?) that fix this problem. Battery seems to be bad as well. Intel by the way, I wanted to have Thunderbolt for an eGPU. [1]: https://github.com/erpalma/throttled https://github.com/erpalma/throttled
  - philliphaydon 5y ago
    Work gave me a dell XPS last year. I had it for a Week and gave it back because when I turned it on. The fans spin full throttle. And the laptop still throttled itself. So I use my X1E for work. The nipple is as good but it’s flat for the thin profile. I upgraded all 3 laptops with more or better ram, wifi, and ssds. And currently ordering a Traditional Chinese keyboard for the L5P for the wifey. But I took AMD for the legions.
    - renke1 5y ago
      I regret not opting for the Ryzen variant, but I really wanted to replace my old desktop computer for the occasional gaming session (although they are rare these days) and hence the need for Thunderbolt.
  - matthewn 5y ago
    > I actually had to order some 3D printed one from some Japanese guy Thank you for mentioning this alternative! Just found him on Etsy. I have always preferred the old-style concave nibs for TrackPoints over the new convex ones. This will be a serious improvement for my Thinkpad.
    - renke1 5y ago
      It's an improvement but they are not as good as the old ones which were slightly larger. I still use one of those on my external Thinkpad keyboard.
- soperj 5y ago
  Soldered Ram.
  - philliphaydon 5y ago
    Oh so dependent on the actual model not ThinkPads themselves.
    - soperj 5y ago
      As far as I've seen nearly all of them have Soldered ram now. Can you point to some that don't?
      - rhblake 5y ago
        Some of the latest models in the "classic" lines with one or more RAM slots: P14s Gen 2 AMD/Intel (a.k.a. T14 Gen 2 AMD/Intel); T15 Gen 2 / P15s Gen 2; P15 Gen 2; T15p Gen 2; P1 Gen 4; X1 Extreme Gen 4. Plus some of the slightly more "budget" ones like L14 Gen 2 AMD/Intel and E14 Gen 3 AMD. Tip: search "<model name> psref" to quickly get to a PDF with specifications.
- orthecreedence 5y ago
  Bundled spyware. That's why I swore off Lenovo.
  - renke1 5y ago
    I've bought it without any OS installed. But of course the general practice may be good reason to avoid Lenovo (if you can live without a TrackPoint, that is).
    - orthecreedence 5y ago
      Joke's on you, the spyware was in the bootloader =]
lufte 5y ago
What would be the requirement for someone to build a trackpoint for the Framework laptop? Would they need to design a whole new keyboard plus a touchpad with the three buttons?
- renke1 5y ago
  I don't really know, but since there are no manufacturers that built good TrackPoints I think its either hard or there really is no demand (sadly more likely). I don't need a touchpad though. Actually, one of the best laptops I've owned was one without a touchpad [1]. [1]: https://thinkwiki.de/Datei:TP_X60_2.jpg https://thinkwiki.de/Datei:TP_X60_2.jpg
  - lufte 5y ago
    > I don't really know, but since there are no manufacturers that built good TrackPoints I think its either hard or there really is no demand (sadly more likely). Those are good points. I'm thinking there could be patents involved too. > I don't need a touchpad though. Actually, one of the best laptops I've owned was one without a touchpad [1]. That's true! I don't really use the touchpad on my X230, even though it's there.
  - sz4kerto 5y ago
    My Tex Shinobi keyboard has perfect IBM-like trackpoint.
mackrevinack 5y ago
Thinkpad TrapPoint :/

by renke1 5y ago

philliphaydon 5y ago

Why are you growing unhappy? (I have a X1 Extreme Gen 1, and Legion 7, and Legion 5 Pro, so I'm curious)

renke1 5y ago
A few things. The newer TrackPoint caps are not good. I actually had to order some 3D printed one from some Japanese guy. Also my Thinkpad T14 is throttling to the extent that I had to install tools [1] (?) that fix this problem. Battery seems to be bad as well. Intel by the way, I wanted to have Thunderbolt for an eGPU. [1]: https://github.com/erpalma/throttled https://github.com/erpalma/throttled
- philliphaydon 5y ago
  Work gave me a dell XPS last year. I had it for a Week and gave it back because when I turned it on. The fans spin full throttle. And the laptop still throttled itself. So I use my X1E for work. The nipple is as good but it’s flat for the thin profile. I upgraded all 3 laptops with more or better ram, wifi, and ssds. And currently ordering a Traditional Chinese keyboard for the L5P for the wifey. But I took AMD for the legions.
  - renke1 5y ago
    I regret not opting for the Ryzen variant, but I really wanted to replace my old desktop computer for the occasional gaming session (although they are rare these days) and hence the need for Thunderbolt.
- matthewn 5y ago
  > I actually had to order some 3D printed one from some Japanese guy Thank you for mentioning this alternative! Just found him on Etsy. I have always preferred the old-style concave nibs for TrackPoints over the new convex ones. This will be a serious improvement for my Thinkpad.
  - renke1 5y ago
    It's an improvement but they are not as good as the old ones which were slightly larger. I still use one of those on my external Thinkpad keyboard.
soperj 5y ago
Soldered Ram.
- philliphaydon 5y ago
  Oh so dependent on the actual model not ThinkPads themselves.
  - soperj 5y ago
    As far as I've seen nearly all of them have Soldered ram now. Can you point to some that don't?
    - rhblake 5y ago
      Some of the latest models in the "classic" lines with one or more RAM slots: P14s Gen 2 AMD/Intel (a.k.a. T14 Gen 2 AMD/Intel); T15 Gen 2 / P15s Gen 2; P15 Gen 2; T15p Gen 2; P1 Gen 4; X1 Extreme Gen 4. Plus some of the slightly more "budget" ones like L14 Gen 2 AMD/Intel and E14 Gen 3 AMD. Tip: search "<model name> psref" to quickly get to a PDF with specifications.
orthecreedence 5y ago
Bundled spyware. That's why I swore off Lenovo.
- renke1 5y ago
  I've bought it without any OS installed. But of course the general practice may be good reason to avoid Lenovo (if you can live without a TrackPoint, that is).
  - orthecreedence 5y ago
    Joke's on you, the spyware was in the bootloader =]

lufte 5y ago

What would be the requirement for someone to build a trackpoint for the Framework laptop? Would they need to design a whole new keyboard plus a touchpad with the three buttons?

renke1 5y ago
I don't really know, but since there are no manufacturers that built good TrackPoints I think its either hard or there really is no demand (sadly more likely). I don't need a touchpad though. Actually, one of the best laptops I've owned was one without a touchpad [1]. [1]: https://thinkwiki.de/Datei:TP_X60_2.jpg https://thinkwiki.de/Datei:TP_X60_2.jpg
- lufte 5y ago
  > I don't really know, but since there are no manufacturers that built good TrackPoints I think its either hard or there really is no demand (sadly more likely). Those are good points. I'm thinking there could be patents involved too. > I don't need a touchpad though. Actually, one of the best laptops I've owned was one without a touchpad [1]. That's true! I don't really use the touchpad on my X230, even though it's there.
- sz4kerto 5y ago
  My Tex Shinobi keyboard has perfect IBM-like trackpoint.

mackrevinack 5y ago

Thinkpad TrapPoint :/