are there any notebooks with mouse-sticks?

[Gary Kline]

On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 10:51:29AM -0600, Chad Perrin wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 10:29:25AM +0200, Polytropon wrote:
> > On Wed, 9 Sep 2009 14:08:36 -0700, Gary Kline <kline at thought.org> wrote:
> > > 
> > > I'm looking for a small computer, 7-10" screen that has a ThinkPad-like stick
> > > to act as the mouse. 
> > 
> > This "stick" is called a TrackPoint, as far as I remember. It has been
> > common in portable computers built by IB and Toshiba.
> 
> I assume that IB was meant to be IBM.  Lenovo bought IBM's PC division a
> few years ago, and now produces ThinkPads -- which come with trackpoints.
> 


	super! 
> 
> > 
> > > Pref'ly, no touch-pad. 
> > 
> > Sadly, you will find mostly that (crap) in "modern" devices...
> 
> I just turn off the touchpad in my ThinkPad's BIOS/CMOS settings.  That's
> pretty much the *first* thing I do with a new ThinkPad, before I even
> install a halfway decent operating system on it.  I have a tendency to
> accidentaly move the mouse around while typing, otherwise.
> 


	BIOS.  That's what i couldn't remember.  so you still *can*
	toggle the laptop pointer on/off.  in my long-defunt 600E 
	i could plug in an external mouse and off the t'point.  good to
	know you can turn off the pad and still use the other pointing 
	device.  

	:-D


> 
> > 
> > > The ASUS and just about every other
> > > notebook-size device has this kind of scratch-n-sniff pad; [...]
> > 
> > Nice name. Other names: Fingerprint sensor and coffee cup warmer. :-)
> 
> Yeah . . . how warm the touchpad gets is a pretty good heuristic measure
> of how hot the laptop is running, at least on my ThinkPad.
> 
> 
> > 
> > > Any clues?
> > 
> > Look for IBM / Lenovo, maybe they still employ this fantastic and
> > easy to use pointing device. Allthough it would completely make sense
> > to use a Trackpoint for netbook class computers (litte real estate
> > consumption, minimal moving from "hand in typing position" to "hand
> > in pointing position"), it seems that the worst solution always
> > prevails. I haven't seen Trackpoints on "modern" stuff yet, and I'm
> > quite about thinking that it doesn't exist anymore.
> 
> Unfortunately, the OP was asking about netbook-sized computers, and last
> I checked the only netbooks offered by Lenovo are IdeaPads -- which are
> exactly like ThinkPads, except the construction is a little cheaper and
> the pointing device is always a touchpad.


	hm.  if i can go into the bios of this ideapad and disable the
	t'pad; then use a wireless mouse, that would work.  my plans are
	to build a text-to-speech computer.  kde has a bunch of tools
	that are very useable.  vi has -- or used to have -- the ability 
	to store abbrv that would expand as typed.  you type "tht"; vi 
	outputs "that"

	gary


> 
> Otherwise, however, I second the motion: ThinkPads are generally held to
> a higher standard of quality than the rest of the laptops in the PC
> world, tend to be well-supported by open source operating systems, and
> come with trackpoints.
> 
> -- 
> Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
> Quoth Philip Machanick: "caution: if you write code like this,
> immediately after you are fired the person assigned to maintaining your
> code after you leave will resign"



-- 
 Gary Kline  kline at thought.org  http://www.thought.org  Public Service Unix
        http://jottings.thought.org   http://transfinite.thought.org
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