Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

I always wonder, amongst Thinkpad drivers and accessibility tools, what is really worth installing. I mean after the necessary drivers were installed.

Owning several Thinkpads from the T4x and X4x series, I observe that the trackpoint is working smoothly on XP pro without installing the "official" trackpoint driver.

Then, I wonder if installing the "official" driver offers benefits, like better control for instance. There is also a "Trackpoint Acessibility driver". What the difference?

On one Thinkpad, I have some special Wireless software installed (probably the Wireless LAN software). As this seems just an overlay software, I wonder if it really offers any benefit compared to the default wireless management by Windows XP ?

Lastly, the battery maximizer (or power manager?) also seeing an overlay software. I like it to finely tune the energy settings. But does it really improve the battery life over years?

So, what according you, should be installed and what is unnecessary?

Thank you.

Well, let's see...

Trackpoint drivers: Sometimes I install them, sometimes I don't. I haven't seen any reall difference in performance for the way I generally use a ThinkPad, but there are probably some options that XP standard driver doesn't offer. I just don't know what it is ATM.

Wireless software, i.e. Access Connections: Offers benefits to the business traveler who need access to several different networks or access points and needs to save setting for all those different networks. I never install it, just because I don't need any of the features and it seems to get in the way for me. YMMV.

I almost always nstall Battery Maximizer. I like having the power management and battery threshold settings it offers. Don't know if it really increases battery life or not, but I feel like it does.

Generally, I leave off most of the ThinkVantage software, but of course other folks will have other viewpoints. This question has been discusses quite often around here in one way or another.

Neil, thank you a lot.
I agree that battery Maximizer offers nice features and I also often install it.

Agree with that, except I don't install Battery Maximizer, but Power Manager (even on machines where it is not officially supported). It works, and its interface is richer and (to me) more convenient. Pre-1.51 versions have the light interface, after that it's heavy.

I always install the TrackPoint driver; otherwise I cannot use the scrolling button feature.