Trackpoints - how to tell genuine from fake?

[bugmn]

I bought some caps from eBay, the listing claims they are genuine but his feedback has quite a few people saying his stuff is not genuine like stated (even though he's still 99+% positive feedback). I browsed through his listings and he has an Apple laptop keyboard replacement that he says is genuine but clearly is not according to his pictures so now I'm worried.

Is there a way to tell? I read that there should be an "I" under the cap and I saw this on my X220, but on my X61s keyboard it has black plastic under the cap

[emeraldgirl08]

I'm not too sure but I had placed an order for a 3-pack of my fave cats tongue and received some strange slippery and brighter than usual red cats tongue from an ebay seller. I am not too happy with these and have resorted to putting the old dingy cats tongue back on. The slippery bright red one is terrible! My finger slips off constantly so they are clearly not genuine!!!



You may want to enter "trackpoint caps" into the forums search engine and see what results you get. I know I've seen a couple of threads regarding TP caps but do not recall the exact content of the posts.

If you want to PM me the ebay sellers name I will check and see if our sellers are the same.

Edit: its late and my brain is ready for a "crescent moon" I believe the trackpoint is called the cats tongue not the cats paws Zzzzzzz

[bugmn]

Here is how to tell if a cap is fake or not:



I just got a set of 3 replacement TrackPoint caps, each is of the different kind. I also have my original Soft Dome. They were ordered from eBay.



Out of the three, I immediately noticed the soft dome is fake. How do I know? Because I have my original soft dome as I mentioned earlier. The fake is a darker shade of red and is slightly more slippery. The edges are rougher, a sign that production isn't as good. Lastly, all original trackpoint caps have the letter "I" if you flip them upside down. The fake one didn't.



Oddly enough the other two caps he provided are genuine. They look good, have the proper shade of red, and have the imprinted "I" on the flip side. So that is odd. They came in the same package (a little baggy that says Made in Japan with some numbers on it).

[dr_st]

I have plenty of original caps (came with Thinkpads) of all kinds, and other than a couple of soft domes, none of them have an imprinted I on the back side. Not sure if it's a reliable sign. Maybe it's something they added on newer models? The trackpoint design itself is different too on newer Thinkpads, as was mentioned.

[rkawakami]

Here's a collection from an Amazon seller with suitable pictures: http://www.amazon.com/Thinkpad-Trackpoi ... B000MQHHHQ

Under the main picture at the top left of the page, the first (leftmost) thumbnail is all three styles. The second (moving right) is the "soft rim", the third the "soft dome" and the last photo is the "cat's tongue". Note that the cat's tongue can eventually end up with a hard, smooth, slippery surface after many years of usage.

[dr_st]

They all get worn out with age. The soft dome loses the texture and becomes stiff. The soft rim becomes flattens out a bit (though not completely) and also loses a lot of the texture, becoming somewhat slippery. Of all I still think the soft rim is the most resilient to wear, since its traction depends more on the shape and less on the texture.

[bugmn]

I have plenty of original caps (came with Thinkpads) of all kinds, and other than a couple of soft domes, none of them have an imprinted I on the back side. Not sure if it's a reliable sign. Maybe it's something they added on newer models? The trackpoint design itself is different too on newer Thinkpads, as was mentioned.

Interesting information. Thanks for correcting.

Then it appears it is a newer feature. Perhaps IBM didn't imprint the I and Lenovo is?

Either way, if you've ever seen a TrackPoint in real life before, it is rather easy to tell the fake is of slightly lower quality and is shaded differently. I will try to post a few pictures comparing them next weekend

[spuddog]

Hi,
As a former tool and die maker maybe I can shed some light as to why there is an i or l on the back of the cap. When dealing with dies that are identical or with multiple cavities (makes more than 1 part at a time), it is common to put an identifying letter or number somewhere that is not visible to identify which mold or cavity the part came from. When the part has roughness or flash around the edge (parting line) the die is either worn or not closing fully. As to whether it is fake or not its quite possible that the parts are made by multiple vendors who don't always have exactly the same plastic mixture (regrind to virgin). It's common to grind up substandard parts and add them to the new plastic, which can change the texture or the color slightly.

That's the short lesson in plastic injection molding for the day. I know it only clouds the matter.

Scott

[cadillacmike68]

There is an FRU for these things, I just forget what it is. There are 3 in the package if i remember correctly..