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Why does Apple still have the best trackpad in notebooks?
- Thread starter longdi
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frankie_baby
Member
my aunty has a macbook, cant stand the trackpad
Zoramon089
Banned
No buttons to "bump into"... Do you lack the motor control to keep your hand one pad?
GTP_Daverytimes
Member
longdi said:Why do Windows notebooks not design their pads like a MBP?
Large surface area, no buttons to bump into, multi-touch works as it should.
I can work without a mouse on a MBP in office, but at home my own Dell notebook, have to connect a usb mouse. sheesh.
Because Apple will sue them, am amazed that they haven't even sued them for the shape of their trackpads.
Adam Scott Aukerman
Member
I absolutely loath the trackpads in current Apple laptops. I'm hanging onto my 2008 MBP for dear life.
Seda said:
...it has a button. I hate tap-to-click too, I turn it off always. On the mac, the entire trackpad clicks, so I just press down in the bottom half with my thumb. Leave one finger on the trackpad and click = right click.
I don't think its the clicky part thats the killer, its the size. Other windows laptops try and do the 'two finger scroll' but the pad is so small its cramped and difficult to pull off.
A while ago I thought that OSX was the reason I keep buying macs. Then with windows 7 I thought 'hey this isn't so bad, maybe I don't need OSX'. Now I realise the trackpad is a big part of it too.
thesoapster
Member
rogue_pigeon said:I absolutely loath the trackpads in current Apple laptops. I'm hanging onto my 2008 MBP for dear life.
Just pretend the button is still there. Works the same (I had a plastic MacBook for over four years...don't miss the button after using my unibody MBP).
Most non-Apple laptops have horrid trackpads but every once in a while I run across some that are actually pretty damn good. Not necessarily with multitouch or anything, but for just general mousing around they do good. Although it certainly is easier to label PC laptops based on the majority, which do have shitty ass trackpads.
edit: And tap to click is the spawn of satan.
JJDinomite
Banned
My MacBook's trackpad is amazing. Better than a mouse. I even play first person shooters on this thing.
forknknife
Banned
EviLore said:
same, got an air since christmas and I think I will buy another one once this one gets too old, it's the best thing ever.
On the other side, my Vaio's trackpad is the worst piece of shit ever. A 17 inch screen and the track pad is less than half the side of that of the Macbook Air. If you want to get anything done you have always to pump up speed of the trackpad up so you can move across the screen at all (and windows doesn't have an option to save the presets so I have to do it every fucking time). Argh, I hate it!
Not enabled by default though.
longdi
Banned
Zoramon089 said:
Most Windows trackpad have 3 buttons on top another 3 buttons below and the pad area is so cramp, cannot blame me man. Apple pad is great pad. The closest Windows pad is from Thinkpad W510 notebook, it can pick up my swipe much better than other notebooks, it "works" as it "should" and that is about it, stilll not as functional as MBP pad.
I've yet to see a decent trackpad in a PC laptop. Not kidding. I'm definately a PC guy, but I would never get a laptop that wasn't a macbook.
My gf bought a new HP laptop and the pad was hilariously bad. Like borderline unusable because of the buttons are too stiff for normal use. It's very small too.
My gf bought a new HP laptop and the pad was hilariously bad. Like borderline unusable because of the buttons are too stiff for normal use. It's very small too.
Adam Scott Aukerman
Member
thesoapster said:
Really doesn't. The current trackpad is far too stiff (oddly something that seems to be inherited from windows laptops - they always have overly stiff trackpad buttons), whereas I can just rest my thumb on the old track pad button and gently press (quietly) with much less pressure.
GTP_Daverytimes
Member
bytesized said:
The Vaio Z has a track pad that is closest to the MBA (It has a fingerprint reader in the middle in case you are wondering what that white thing in the middle is)
If you are talking about the computer itself the Z destroys every laptop on the market (But it carries a premium price)
lunarworks
Member
I love the trackpad on my MBP. It's one of the best features.
I had to set up a new Toshiba laptop for someone yesterday, and they designed the trackpad on it so it's seamless with the body of the machine itself, with very little tactile difference. It was so awful. My finger was constantly going off of it. That, and the scrolling "regions". Your finger goes into the region, and everything moves. So annoying.
I had to set up a new Toshiba laptop for someone yesterday, and they designed the trackpad on it so it's seamless with the body of the machine itself, with very little tactile difference. It was so awful. My finger was constantly going off of it. That, and the scrolling "regions". Your finger goes into the region, and everything moves. So annoying.
Always-honest
Banned
Because they think about their shit.
Angelus Errare
Banned
1. Because Apple will probably sue
2. Because Apple's pads are designed to work with OSX and other pads are designed to work with any operating system that recognizes them
3. Apple spends a bit more on the pad itself.
2. Because Apple's pads are designed to work with OSX and other pads are designed to work with any operating system that recognizes them
3. Apple spends a bit more on the pad itself.
Cereal KiIIer
Member
The only trackpad on PC that are good are those on Sony's laptop.
BladeoftheImmortal
Member
I've heard Vaios were awesome at this...but I don't have the money for vaio.
Apple outSonying Sony again!Tracking is really nice but I hate the super-stiff button and find it craps out on some of the more complex gesture a lot of the time.
Also, being the best trackpad is a bit like winning the Special Olympics I suppose, even if it's the best available it's still the best in a category of universally garbage input devices.
Also, being the best trackpad is a bit like winning the Special Olympics I suppose, even if it's the best available it's still the best in a category of universally garbage input devices.
thesoapster
Member
Cereal KiIIer said:
I used an older Korean Samsung laptop several years ago that had an amazing trackpad.
Cereal KiIIer
Member
Real men use this:
Chuck (Old)
Banned
Once you go Mac, you never go back.
entremet
Member
I'm not sure they patented the glass trackpad, but I do believe the gestural stuff is patented. So PC makers can build a similar trackpad, but the PC makers have eschewed high end hardware for notebooks. Sony is an outlier in this regard, but they're still made of plastic. Dell had Adamo, which was their MBP style PC notebook, but it was discontinued.JGS said:
I can understand, but you need a self contained input method for notebooks.DeathNote said:
.
forknknife
Banned
GTP_Daverytimes said:The Vaio Z has a track pad that is closest to the MBA (It has a fingerprint reader in the middle in case you are wondering what that white thing in the middle is)
If you are talking about the computer itself the Z destroys every laptop on the market (But it carries a premium price)
Heard very good things about the Z series. Mine is an AW series and, although I'm in general happy with it, the trackpad is completely useless. Nice to know they are making better ones now, but I am sure they are still not as good as apple's just because they have to deal with shitty windows.
The Technomancer
card-carrying scientician
Macbooks are overpriced, but goddamn if that trackpad doesn't make it all almost worth it. I love that thing.
It takes getting used to. I can't use it in Ubuntu because I get a ridiculous number of false positives that screw everything over, but in OSX I've become used to it and now I manage to make tap-to-click work without any issues.entrement said:
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