Thinkpads Forum

My sister, who is otherwise fairly intelligent, is stubborn and stupid about computers. She received a T42, her first laptop ever for Christmas (she's a writer), but keeps procrastinating using it because she doesn't know to use a touchpad or trackpoint (the T42 has both). She cuts and pastes a lot when writing and editing, and when I tried to show her how to do it on the thinkpad she freaked out after just a few minutes. Are there any online or software resources that she could use to help walk her through how to use the trackpoint or touchpad? And is there a consensus on which of the two is easier to use for a beginner?

Why bother - a lot of Thinkpad owners use mice, there's no law against it (yet) so why not simply encourage her to use a mouse. This, if anything, will make her feel obliged to use the touchpad all on her own...

I agree with Ian. In addition, I would disable the touchpad if the trackpoint is to be enabled. The reason is that (for me) it is too easy to activate the touchpad while reaching for the trackpoint. If your sister starts with a mouse, she may, at some point, want or need that trackpoint. ... JD Hurst

Thanks for the replies. She's going to be using her thinkpad all over the house, including in bed occasionally I think, so I think ultimately it would be so much better for her to just get used to either the trackpoint or the touchpad.

And of the two, which do you guys think is easier for a novice? I tried coming up with an answer to that question myself but really couldn't because all I've ever used was a touchpad and so couldn't comment on the trackpoint.

Whether to use Touchpad or Trackpoint is personal preference. I use the Trackpoint because, for me, it is instinctive. I have difficulty with Touchpads, so I disable that feature on my ThinkPad. ... JD Hurst

What JD said.

montclair1 wrote:And of the two, which do you guys think is easier for a novice? I tried coming up with an answer to that question myself but really couldn't.

In or out of bed?

montclair1 wrote:Thanks for the replies. She's going to be using her thinkpad all over the house, including in bed occasionally I think, so I think ultimately it would be so much better for her to just get used to either the trackpoint or the touchpad.

And of the two, which do you guys think is easier for a novice? I tried coming up with an answer to that question myself but really couldn't because all I've ever used was a touchpad and so couldn't comment on the trackpoint.

If your sister is going to do that with any laptop, she had better get used to one of the built-in pointing devices. IBM is relatively unique with the Trackpoint. Everybody provides a Touchpad. Personally, I hate touchpads, but that's because I got used to the Trackpoint. I even use one on my desktop.

There was a time when ALPS offered a Touchpad pointing device (replaced the mouse). Maybe they have some instructions on their Web site. Or check out H-P and Dell. They have been offering laptops with touchpads for a long time and they may have something.

For the Trackpoint, isn't there something in your manual explaining how it works?

My sister's thinkpad's "manuals" are all on the hard drive. I looked through them and really couldn't find anything great on the trackpoint or touchpad other than how to enable or disable them. I was hoping to find some sort of interactive tutorial that has you go through the motions of typical tasks like cutting and pasting. Will check out some of the sites mentioned.

Search engines are wonderful things.

http://wwwcssrv.almaden.ibm.com/trackpoint/how_to.html

i bought my first notebook only few days ago, its t40 and i dont know how to disable the touchpad.

Monty,

Disable the Trackpad and get her to use the Trackpoint. As a writer, she will eventually thank you, especially if she's a touch typist.

Regards,

James

seven wrote:i bought my first notebook only few days ago, its t40 and i dont know how to disable the touchpad.

In the BIOS: http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.ws ... &loc=en_US

Config> Keyboard/Mouse> Touchpad - Disabled.

Regards,

James