Fingerprint Reader Reliability?

[tjsalo]

I love my T42's fingerprint reader, when it works. Which, unfortunately, is only some of the time.

I accept that the reader won't work for at least half an hour after I take a shower. I have really dry skin, so even the rub-your-forehead trick doesn't work after a shower.

I have three fingers registered. Sometimes, the reader accepts my fingerprint on the first, second or third try. Sometimes, after a few failures, I rub my forehead, and things work. Other time, I swipe my finger a few dozen times, with intervening forehead wipes, with no luck.

First, how does my experience compare with others? How many people are having a first-time, every-time (or even first-three or first-ten) experience?

Second, what can I do to make things work better?

Finally, are there any statistics or diagnostics available for the fingerprint reader? It would be nice to know how many successes and failures I have had. It would also be nice to know how close my finger print was to being matched, or even why it couldn't be matched.

Thanks,
-tjs

[vliou]

Ahh...well i had a similar problem....

and YES, I was SOOO frustrated. Now, I know the problem...

When I have my T42 docked in...(i have an external keyboard attached). When I do this, it never works...however, when I just have the laptop (no ext keyboard plugged in), then it works fine...

Still, I have to register every one of my [censored] fingers for it to work..but now it does, so i'm happy...

[copland007]

I just got my T42 a few days ago (and loving it!). I found the key to getting my fingerprint reader to work on first/second try is the angle of my finger to the laptop. I've found it is very sensitive to that.

If I record a finger with a very flat angle (basically whole finger resting on laptop while swiping it) then that's the only angle it will recognize, if I lift the back end of my finger off the laptop while swiping it won't recognize it. I was going crazy trying to figure out why it wasn't working just like you.

This does kind of stink when you are in a different physical setup from place to place, you might not have the same setup as when you initially recorded your finger print, such as sitting in front of your desk versus sitting in front of the TV with the laptop in your lap.

[Doltan]

Solution:
Thumb for flat
Forefinger for 5deg tilt
Middle finger for 10deg tilt

[Thinker]

I have to admit I have never been a big fan (there's that word again ) of the Fingerprint Reader. In my opinion, it can cause more trouble than anything else. The more elements you introduce into a system, the more chances that something will go wrong.

What are the main benefits of it, just to avoid having to remember passwords? And, what if somebody steals your computer? It would just take for them to run your computer for fingerprints and then build a model of your finger (Ok, maybe it's not as easy, but still, if you are going to be paranoid you might as well take it to the extreme )

Maybe I can be convinced to get a Thinkpad with a Fingerprint reader, but it will take a lot of work (However, good luck trying to convince me to buy any other laptop but a Thinkpad).

Ruben

[copland007]

Good idea Doltan, didn't even think to do that

Thinker: I also don't think of the fingerprint reader as holding any weight in my decision of which thinkpad to get, it just happened to come with the model that had the other specs I was looking for. I think of it more as a 'oh that's nice' kinda toy. Especially since it doesn't work with Firefox I barely use it as is.

[baraider]

my fingerprint reader never failed me......

i swipe the finger pretty fast and it still recognize it...the only times they fail are when i'm lazy, did not align my finger correctly in the center of the optical..


i'm still amazed at how well this thing works, I have everyone try to swipe their fingers....they shook their heads....gave up....