Touchpad sometimes moves mouse; sometimes vertical scrolls.

[Muse]

I certainly don't mind scrolling web pages by moving my finger up/down the touchpad. Thing is I haven't figured out why it works sometimes and not otherwise. What's the trick? TIA.

[gator]

There is no "trick" - it just takes some time to get used to. I used the touchpad for a couple of weeks and then shifted back to the trackpoint. I personally prefer using the trackpoint and the middle button for the scroll, makes life far easier. I love the idea of varying the pressure to increase or decrease the rate of scroll using the trackpoint. Sure , this can be done using the touchpad scroll feature too, but I don't find it comfortable (have nails on my right hand for guitar).

It would be fantasic if Lenovo gives an option not to have the touchpad at all (I know it will increase the cost to have a seperate production line for this, but the trackpoint is the best pointing device on a thinkpad imho)

[Muse]

Yours is at least the 2nd post with a strong recommendation for the trackpoint that I've read, and I was aware long before buying a Thinkpad that many think very highly of this feature. I'm new and not used to it but will definitely give it a chance to be my favorite mouse control feature on the laptop.

As far as scrolling with the touchpad goes - I just don't understand how to turn it on and off. Does anyone have a clue? So far it seems to have a mind of its own. Granted, some fancy stuff has been programmed into the Thinkpad and funny stuff seems to go on and I have to assume that most if not all of it is features_not_bugs, but I do wonder somtimes.

[benplaut]

The far right side of the touchpad scrolls, afaik.

[claudeo]

You can disable the touchpad off easily in ThinkPad Configuration. I found that the TrackPoint is much easier to use if you use your middle finger and you keep all your fingers bent, with your hand half-closed, so there is no stress. That allows your thumb to fall naturally on the primary button, while the curved middle finger applies just enough pressure to make pushing the stick around. Also, if you keep your wrist straight and use your whole arm to push against the stick, rather than trying to use the muscles in your finger, you won't get tired.

[Muse]

The far right side of the touchpad scrolls, afaik.

Thanks, Ben. At the risk of appearing the idiot I probably am, may I ask how you found that out? That's actually a very nice feature once you understand it!!!

[Muse]

You can disable the touchpad off easily in ThinkPad Configuration. I found that the TrackPoint is much easier to use if you use your middle finger and you keep all your fingers bent, with your hand half-closed, so there is no stress. That allows your thumb to fall naturally on the primary button, while the curved middle finger applies just enough pressure to make pushing the stick around. Also, if you keep your wrist straight and use your whole arm to push against the stick, rather than trying to use the muscles in your finger, you won't get tired.

Thanks for this great information! I've been trying to figure out how to operate the mouse buttons while using the trackpoint.

Ben, thanks for the demystification of the touchpad. May I ask how you found out about the right-side scrolling? Where is that documented? Is it in any of the supplied printed material or is it in some electronic documentation I haven't discovered yet? Please be patient with a newbie.

There's some other weird stuff going on there that I don't understand, quite possibly features, not bugs (or hardware glitches). I need to find out where that information is documented (touchpad features, etc.)

[benplaut]

I dunno if that's documented anywhere, but it's pretty universal for laptops.

[gator]

You can find explanation for this in the mouse settings: Start-->Setting-->control Panel-->mouse-->ultranav-->touchpad settings ... there is a lot of information about the various touchpad feathures there.