4 ms·
Is it really useful and handy? Never had Lenovo stuff.
by lovegrenoble 2y ago
Is it really useful and handy? Never had Lenovo stuff.
- jpalomaki 2y agoIt was more important when the trackpads were small and not so good. For example drag and drop was difficult with small trackpad as you had to move your fingers more often when you hit the sides of pad.
- hexagonwin 2y agoIt is, I don't need to use a mouse or trackpad as it's much quicker/easier.
- 51Cards 2y agoSee I'm the opposite, despite using primarily IBM / Lenovo laptops since it was first introduced (yes, am old) I never found it quicker or more accurate than a trackpad or mouse. The last few laptops I have had I now disable it and pull the rubber cap off. That said the choice was always nice for people who liked it so I'm sure they will be disappointed by this decision. I wonder if Lenovo had some metrics behind this decision.
- thih9 2y agoYes. > The pointing stick is positioned such that the hands do not need to be removed from the home row to manipulate the mouse pointer. > Some people find them more appealing for mobile gaming than a touchpad, because the trackpoint allows infinite movement without repositioning. > Some users feel that pointing sticks cause less wrist strain because a user does not need to avoid resting wrists on a touchpad, which are usually located just below the keyboard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_stick#Problem_scope https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_stick#Problem_scope
- noveltyaccount 2y agoI loved pointing sticks for years but the backpressure gave me RSI.
- cenamus 2y agoYeah same, not quite RSI, but definintively some pain after a while. Just wish they made them more like a game controller joystick instead of a piece of solid plastic with some strain gauges (or whatever they use, almost no travel)
- jcheng 2y agoI’ve never heard anyone else mention this before, but same here. Incredibly painful. It was 25 years ago and I still wince whenever I see one of those nubs.
- lukeschlather 2y agoI love the Thinkpads that have both a touchpad and a trackpoint. It gives me an opportunity to use more than one position for mousing. For me all mice and also touchpads are not the most comfortable thing to use, so having more than one option is very important.
- numpad0 2y agoThere's gen 1, gen 2 and gen 2 low profile, appeared in that order. Gen 2 and later with maximum sensitivity(separate from mouse speed/acceleration) should nearly completely solve that problem, the default is way too heavy.
- mmooss 2y ago> the backpressure gave me RSI Is there actual pressure? Does the pointstick move at all? Does it matter how hard you press on it? Or is that just psychological - you see the cursor moving and assume you are pushing against something.
- noveltyaccount 2y agoIt's a strain gauge, and you have to push against it to move the cursor. Whether or not it actually moved? I'm not sure.
- lovegrenoble 2y agothank you
- 76j67kj67k67 2y agoIt was never very useful. If you are typing and you need to quickly use the mouse and the nub is nearby it can be sometimes convenient. Over time the nubs can wear down and cause your cursor to drift so they have to be disabled in the BIOS or physically disconnected. I have never known anyone who wanted to get the nub repaired. People adore the nub but I don't know anyone who admires it and uses it for anything past a small convenience you wouldn't notice if it were gone.
- matthiaswh 2y agoHi 76j67kj67k67, I'm matthiaswh. I use the nub every day and admire its ease of use and precision. In fact, I like it so much I went out and bought a separate keyboard with its own nub that I can use when the laptop is docked. Now you know someone. P.S. The drift usually happens when you hold the nub in a particular direction for too long, or on occasion if the screen is pressing on it when closed. It's irritating, but can often be addressed (although some models are worse than others).
- nbf_1995 2y ago>Over time the nubs can wear down and cause your cursor to drift This is simply not true. The trackpoint driver will compensate for trackpoints that no longer point "true" center https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/TrackPoint#Trackpoint_moves_on_its_own https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/TrackPoint#Trackpoint_moves...
- nullc 2y agoIt's a faster, more accurate, and more effective pointing device in a very tiny fraction of the space. Primary downside is that it has a steeper learning curve-- though a couple days of forced usage is enough to overcome it. Poorly implemented clones of the device have also hurt its reputation somewhat, as a poorly implemented trackpoint is never particularly usable.
- agumonkey 2y agoI use it 99% of the time. That said, I use emacs and lisp so ... but to me removing it from the thinkpad line is a mistake the only thing they should have done is fix the drifting bug that happens once every two days
- behnamoh 2y agoNot really, it just helps strengthen your finger muscles, which some people appreciate, if you know what I mean :) A better touchpad is way more convenient.
- papercrane 2y agoI've always preferred it to low-quality trackpads that a lot of laptops tend to have. Typically I would use my thumb and wouldn't have to move my hand very much at all.
- 9283409232 2y agoIt's the most divisive part of a Thinkpad. 45% of people will say it's the greatest thing ever and every keyboard should have one. 45% of people will say it's useless and they should remove it. 10% of people don't care.
- mmooss 2y agoThen smart sales and marketing should keep that feature. Lenovo can't sell to 100% of the market anyway. 45% who think it's the greatest thing ever is great marketing.
- cf100clunk 2y agoWere those numbers from a survey?
- ahoka 2y agoIt’s from the Open Project’s Annual Statistic Survey, I believe. /s
- INTPenis 2y agoI never liked it, it's too difficult to use precisely. So I'm happy it's gone.
- badgersnake 2y agoI don’t use it therefore nobody else should have it, even if they like it. Right.
- andrewshadura 2y agoOn the opposite, it allows pixel-perfect precision, something you simply cannot have with a trackpad.
- nullc 2y agoAgreed. Though 'not precise' is a common complaint from people who haven't overcome the learning curve. My partner hated using my x61, complaining that it was hard to hit anything accurately. Her laptop had a failed battery and she needed to borrow mine for a few days... a week later she replaced hers with an x61 and some 15 years later has only used a thinkpad, specifically because of the trackpoint.
- INTPenis 2y agoLol you're crazy. Learning curve for something that is built into your keyboard, that once it breaks you have to replace the keyboard for. While I have a regular BT travel mouse that requires NO learning curve and can easily be replaced by any other mouse.
- nullc 2y agoI've almost always found keys on the keyboards to fail before the trackpoint. The one exception I've had is a bluetooth trackpoint keyboard that someone sat on. Go check out videos of new computers users from the 90s, mice absolutely have a learning curve. (I say from the 90s because today many people likely grew up with them). Sure you already know the mouse, so good for you. As a comfortable user of both trackpoint and mice, I'd rather use the trackpoint for almost all uses. The few things I'd prefer a mouse to trackpoint I'd also prefer something else to the mouse (e.g. 3d orientation I prefer use a spaceball like device to mouse, and for drawing I'd prefer a stylus to mouse).
- commoner 2y agoNot needing to reposition your hand to switch between typing and operating the mouse makes the TrackPoint super efficient. The difference is even greater in cramped places like airplane seats that don't have enough room to place a separate mouse or comfortably use a touchpad.
- p0w3n3d 2y agoIt allows you to move mouse without lifting your hands from the standard position on keyboard. However I developed some strain when using it in my work so had to use mouse later
- nayuki 2y ago> Is [TrackPoint] really useful and handy? Two points that other people have not mentioned: * TrackPoint has infinite range because it controls velocity, not position. What I mean is, if you need to reach an on-screen object far away, on a touchpad you might need to flick your finger multiple times because you can't reach it in one stroke. Same with mice sometimes; you might need to lift the mouse, move back, put down the mouse, and reach again. TrackPoint does not suffer from this. * To do drag-and-drop on TrackPoint, simply hold the desired mouse button down, do the movement on the pointing stick, then lift the mouse button - naturally just like you'd do with a mouse. Whereas to do a left-click drag-and-drop on a touchpad, you need to first do a quick tap on the touchpad (down and up), followed by a drag (down, move, up) on the touchpad; this feels unnatural and has extra latency. And I'm not even sure how you can do a right-click drag-and-drop on a touchpad without the assistance of the right TrackPoint mouse button. (Btw, Windows File Explorer allows right-drag-and-drop; it pops up a menu on the dragged file when the button is lifted. Some file managers on Linux don't allow right-drag-and-drop. And I also use right-click drag for mouse gestures in Firefox, which I heard is a feature pioneered in Opera.)
- jitl 2y agoThe laptop I use is just one-finger click-down->drag->up to left mouse drag, and two finger click-down->drag->up to right mouse drag.
- mmooss 2y agoWhat if you reach the edge of the trackpad before the mouse reaches its destination?
- nayuki 2y agoExcellent question. The behaviors of a couple of laptops I used is that if you hold down the touchpad button and your finger reaches the edge of the touchpad, then the computer will give you a small pre-defined constant velocity in that direction (e.g. if your finger is at the right edge then there will be a cursor velocity to the right) until either your finger is no longer on an edge of the touchpad or you lift the touchpad button. It's a reasonable solution but feels hacky compared to TrackPoint (infinite range) or trackball (infinite range) or mouse (can lift the mouse (not the button) and do more strokes).