Finger Print Reader - How important?

Message

zahir · #1 Post by **zahir** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:30 am

I have to go collect my new t60 tomorrow but my vendor called me today saying he'd goofed up and the piece he ordered doesnt have a biometric reader... Im pretty bummed abt it but honestly, the config is great so I don't know whether i should just let go of the reader instead of having to wait a month for a not as good config but with the fingerprint reader....

Does the reader really make a difference? or is it just a silly gimmick u get tired of after the 1st month?

dr_st · #2 Post by **dr_st** » Wed May 02, 2007 1:00 pm

To some it's a crucial security feature.

To others it's a matter of convenience.

Yet to others it's a silly gimmick that they get tired of after the first month.

To me it's been a nice but totally useless feature that I haven't used even once and never felt like I'm missing on anything.

pianowizard · #3 Post by **pianowizard** » Wed May 02, 2007 1:02 pm

I've never used it once. It's not worth the wait. Try to see if you can get a small refund.

#4 Post by **gator** » Wed May 02, 2007 1:14 pm

Don't wait for the fingerprint reader. I own a T60 and I don't use it at all, except maybe to login when the system boots to windows. It has a great 'oooh!' value though

... if can get a refund, you will not miss anything. Infact, the palmrest will feel a little stiffer without it

And hey, I am from India too (though am at the US doing my PhD here at UF). Chalo India!

zahir · #5 Post by **zahir** » Wed May 02, 2007 1:45 pm

@ dr_st nicely put!
@ pianowizard - u said just wat i needed to hear man

@ gator - wow first indian ive come across on the forum... nice!

Yeah i think im gonna try n get over it but u know how it is, till i didnt know it was coming with the laptop, i dint care, then when i found it was, i was completely 'wow hey check it out!' and now that i know its not on the final piece, im just bummed out.... i'll get over it hopefully tho

Thanks guys....
ps. refund it is!

#6 Post by **Kyocera** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:03 pm

Just my $.02, never used it, uninstalled the software for it first day, it is useless as far as i'm concerned. Just something else that could cause a problem.
It may be somthing to boast about if you were to ever resell the machine down the road though.

zahir · #7 Post by **zahir** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:09 pm

hehe funny.... thanks k

gt5l · #8 Post by **gt5l** » Wed May 02, 2007 7:59 pm

I for one use it for log in and I use the thinkvantage password manager so it asks me to swipe my finger at first use. I think it is pretty good, an added measure of security and I would definitely get it in my next laptop

#9 Post by **ryengineer** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:24 pm

I'm old school guy and am don't even fully familiar with it's functionality. I saw your deal in other thread of yours, it's very sweet, don't let it go.

w0qj · #10 Post by **w0qj** » Wed May 02, 2007 11:11 pm

I bought my T42s (2373-K5H) with fingerprint reader, only because this was the first one with 100% guarantee it has Win'XP-Pro SP2 factory pre-installed (including Product Recovery).

Never used the fingerprint reader, and i've disabled it from starting up upon bootup.

zahir · #11 Post by **zahir** » Thu May 03, 2007 3:42 am

@ ryengineer - yeah, u know how it gets, u find out ur getting something and the questions just flow.

Thanks guys, i just called the dealer, he said the piece should be here in 2 hrs. cant wait... will prolly post pictures

later

Xavier · #12 Post by **Xavier** » Thu May 03, 2007 7:26 am

Just to counter balance a bit...

I used to have a T43 with fingerprint reader.
I have a X60 with fingerprint reader.
At my work, I have just been given a T60 without fingerprint reader. What a shock ! I keep slipping my finger on the bezel any time I go to a wab site where I must login.

I think it is just a matter of habit, but now that I have tasted it, I find it very difficult to live without it.

JHEM · #13 Post by **JHEM** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:17 am

Xavier wrote:I think it is just a matter of habit, but now that I have tasted it, I find it very difficult to live without it.

I use it constantly on my T60P, to the point that I find myself attempting to scan my finger on the bare palmrest of my T41P or X31.

James

JHEM · #14 Post by **JHEM** » Thu May 03, 2007 12:47 pm

zahir wrote:Thanks guys, i just called the dealer, he said the piece should be here in 2 hrs. cant wait... will prolly post pictures

Hopefully the dealer isn't in Chembur!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm

James

zahir · #15 Post by **zahir** » Thu May 03, 2007 4:22 pm

JHEM wrote:Hopefully the dealer isn't in Chembur!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6620461.stm

James

haha how funny is that? no well he isn't in chembur.... and i went ahead and got it without the fignerprint scanner thingamajig

USSS · #16 Post by **USSS** » Fri May 04, 2007 6:33 am

JHEM wrote:
Xavier wrote:I think it is just a matter of habit, but now that I have tasted it, I find it very difficult to live without it.
I use it constantly on my T60P, to the point that I find myself attempting to scan my finger on the bare palmrest of my T41P or X31.

James

Ditto.

Now if they (Lenovo) can get the latest Fingerprint Software (FS 5.6.1) to function properly so that I don't have to scan my fingerprint twice to log onto Web sites and Web-based e-mail. (Believe me, I've tried every possible combination of settings in FS, Password Manager 2.1.0 and CSS 8 to resolve this issue. Sigh...)

zahir · #17 Post by **zahir** » Fri May 04, 2007 3:53 pm

is css8 easier on the boot time or does it cause just the same amount of lag?

sinden · #18 Post by **sinden** » Fri May 04, 2007 4:39 pm

Can't live without the fingerprint reader... I usually forget passwords if I don't use them day in/out so this has been an invaluable convenience. FYI, I use about 10 or so different passwords for all my mail, bank, ebay, etc. accounts, never can be too secure.

USSS · #19 Post by **USSS** » Fri May 04, 2007 7:51 pm

zahir wrote:is css8 easier on the boot time or does it cause just the same amount of lag?

I've not actually measured the boot time for my T43 under CSS8, but it IS shorter.
However, whatever time I am saving at boot time is quickly eroded throughout the day by having to swipe my finger twice at password-protected Web sites. Oddly, the double-swipe isn't required ALL of the time, just ~85% of the time. That's pretty bad.

JHEM · #20 Post by **JHEM** » Sat May 05, 2007 6:52 am

It's been my experience that moistening your finger lightly before swiping it increases the success rate to 90% or greater.

James

USSS · #21 Post by **USSS** » Sat May 05, 2007 7:12 am

JHEM wrote:It's been my experience that moistening your finger lightly before swiping it increases the success rate to 90% or greater.

James

Ah, OK...what I should have also mentioned, James, is that each swipe is "Successful". After the first swipe succeeds, a second "Swipe Finger" box pops up, and the Web site opens only after the second successful swipe. This is occurring under IE6, as I have no compelling reason yet to upgrade to IE7.

I've experienced a successful swipe rate of greater than 98%, even with the "Biometry" setting at its highest (most secure) level.

Earlier combination of FS, CSS7 and Password Manager did not exhibit this irritating behavior. I would like to revert back to earlier versions of those programs, but I understand it is very difficult to do so, especially in the case of CSS.

Thanks for the tip, though.

davidspalding · #22 Post by **davidspalding** » Sun May 13, 2007 10:50 am

JHEM wrote:It's been my experience that moistening your finger lightly before swiping it increases the success rate to 90% or greater.

I could say something here ... but won't.

I couldn't help but chuckle out loud at all the folks who claim to have never used it, uninstalled the software, and feel authoritative enough to claim it's useless. Defies logic, it does. I myself thought it was a needless extra, but the model I wanted (with DVD multiburner) came with it, so I gave it a chance. I use it for power-on password, which the CSS software will also use for logging in, so one swipe at power on boots my system all the way to the desktop. Better than using TweakUI or other 3rd party utilities.

I use the swiper regularly for saved passwords (both Web and documents), and now that I've been using a Preferred Pro USB keyboard, I'm looking at getting a USB keyboard with the FPR (73P4730). THAT'S how useful it is. Your mlieage will vary.

USSS · #23 Post by **USSS** » Sun May 13, 2007 11:08 am

davidspalding wrote:
JHEM wrote:It's been my experience that moistening your finger lightly before swiping it increases the success rate to 90% or greater.
I could say something here ... but won't.

I admire your restraint, especially on Mother's Day here in the U.S., LOL.

I've still not determined the cause of this apparent bug that requires two swipes of my finger to open a password-protected Web page. Guess I will fire off a query to Lenovo tomorrow and see if there have been any other reports of it and whether a fix might be in the works.

Like you, I feel like the FPR ranks up there with sliced bread and DSL.

Rolloclan · #24 Post by **Rolloclan** » Tue May 22, 2007 5:57 pm

I use the finger print software at work all the time. It is a great product. Since my company requires that I change my password every 90 days it is sometimes hard to remember what password I am using. Using the fingerprint reader solves the problem for me.
If you think that you might want to try the fingerprint reader later you might try getting the reader from Lenovo as an add on. It hooks right up to the USB port so it is an easy fix in that regard.

nauht · #25 Post by **nauht** » Wed Jun 06, 2007 5:41 pm

Does anyone know if theres an API or SDK for using the biometric/fingerprint reader on Thinkpads? I'm not particular keen on using Lenovo's Password Manager but it would be nice to be able to create a plugin for KeePass that uses the finger print reader.

Finger Print Reader - How important?

Finger Print Reader - How important?

Finger print swipe

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