> The pointing stick is positioned such that the hands do not need to be removed from the home row to manipulate the mouse pointer.
> Some people find them more appealing for mobile gaming than a touchpad, because the trackpoint allows infinite movement without repositioning.
> Some users feel that pointing sticks cause less wrist strain because a user does not need to avoid resting wrists on a touchpad, which are usually located just below the keyboard.
I love the Thinkpads that have both a touchpad and a trackpoint. It gives me an opportunity to use more than one position for mousing. For me all mice and also touchpads are not the most comfortable thing to use, so having more than one option is very important.
I’ve never heard anyone else mention this before, but same here. Incredibly painful. It was 25 years ago and I still wince whenever I see one of those nubs.
There's gen 1, gen 2 and gen 2 low profile, appeared in that order. Gen 2 and later with maximum sensitivity(separate from mouse speed/acceleration) should nearly completely solve that problem, the default is way too heavy.
Yeah same, not quite RSI, but definintively some pain after a while. Just wish they made them more like a game controller joystick instead of a piece of solid plastic with some strain gauges (or whatever they use, almost no travel)
Is there actual pressure? Does the pointstick move at all? Does it matter how hard you press on it? Or is that just psychological - you see the cursor moving and assume you are pushing against something.
See I'm the opposite, despite using primarily IBM / Lenovo laptops since it was first introduced (yes, am old) I never found it quicker or more accurate than a trackpad or mouse. The last few laptops I have had I now disable it and pull the rubber cap off.
That said the choice was always nice for people who liked it so I'm sure they will be disappointed by this decision. I wonder if Lenovo had some metrics behind this decision.
It was more important when the trackpads were small and not so good. For example drag and drop was difficult with small trackpad as you had to move your fingers more often when you hit the sides of pad.
* TrackPoint has infinite range because it controls velocity, not position. What I mean is, if you need to reach an on-screen object far away, on a touchpad you might need to flick your finger multiple times because you can't reach it in one stroke. Same with mice sometimes; you might need to lift the mouse, move back, put down the mouse, and reach again. TrackPoint does not suffer from this.
* To do drag-and-drop on TrackPoint, simply hold the desired mouse button down, do the movement on the pointing stick, then lift the mouse button - naturally just like you'd do with a mouse. Whereas to do a left-click drag-and-drop on a touchpad, you need to first do a quick tap on the touchpad (down and up), followed by a drag (down, move, up) on the touchpad; this feels unnatural and has extra latency. And I'm not even sure how you can do a right-click drag-and-drop on a touchpad without the assistance of the right TrackPoint mouse button. (Btw, Windows File Explorer allows right-drag-and-drop; it pops up a menu on the dragged file when the button is lifted. Some file managers on Linux don't allow right-drag-and-drop. And I also use right-click drag for mouse gestures in Firefox, which I heard is a feature pioneered in Opera.)
Excellent question. The behaviors of a couple of laptops I used is that if you hold down the touchpad button and your finger reaches the edge of the touchpad, then the computer will give you a small pre-defined constant velocity in that direction (e.g. if your finger is at the right edge then there will be a cursor velocity to the right) until either your finger is no longer on an edge of the touchpad or you lift the touchpad button. It's a reasonable solution but feels hacky compared to TrackPoint (infinite range) or trackball (infinite range) or mouse (can lift the mouse (not the button) and do more strokes).
It's a faster, more accurate, and more effective pointing device in a very tiny fraction of the space. Primary downside is that it has a steeper learning curve-- though a couple days of forced usage is enough to overcome it.
Poorly implemented clones of the device have also hurt its reputation somewhat, as a poorly implemented trackpoint is never particularly usable.
Not needing to reposition your hand to switch between typing and operating the mouse makes the TrackPoint super efficient. The difference is even greater in cramped places like airplane seats that don't have enough room to place a separate mouse or comfortably use a touchpad.
It was never very useful. If you are typing and you need to quickly use the mouse and the nub is nearby it can be sometimes convenient. Over time the nubs can wear down and cause your cursor to drift so they have to be disabled in the BIOS or physically disconnected. I have never known anyone who wanted to get the nub repaired. People adore the nub but I don't know anyone who admires it and uses it for anything past a small convenience you wouldn't notice if it were gone.
Hi 76j67kj67k67, I'm matthiaswh. I use the nub every day and admire its ease of use and precision. In fact, I like it so much I went out and bought a separate keyboard with its own nub that I can use when the laptop is docked.
Now you know someone.
P.S. The drift usually happens when you hold the nub in a particular direction for too long, or on occasion if the screen is pressing on it when closed. It's irritating, but can often be addressed (although some models are worse than others).
I've always preferred it to low-quality trackpads that a lot of laptops tend to have. Typically I would use my thumb and wouldn't have to move my hand very much at all.
It's the most divisive part of a Thinkpad. 45% of people will say it's the greatest thing ever and every keyboard should have one. 45% of people will say it's useless and they should remove it. 10% of people don't care.
Then smart sales and marketing should keep that feature. Lenovo can't sell to 100% of the market anyway. 45% who think it's the greatest thing ever is great marketing.
It allows you to move mouse without lifting your hands from the standard position on keyboard. However I developed some strain when using it in my work so had to use mouse later
Agreed. Though 'not precise' is a common complaint from people who haven't overcome the learning curve.
My partner hated using my x61, complaining that it was hard to hit anything accurately. Her laptop had a failed battery and she needed to borrow mine for a few days... a week later she replaced hers with an x61 and some 15 years later has only used a thinkpad, specifically because of the trackpoint.
I've almost always found keys on the keyboards to fail before the trackpoint. The one exception I've had is a bluetooth trackpoint keyboard that someone sat on.
Go check out videos of new computers users from the 90s, mice absolutely have a learning curve. (I say from the 90s because today many people likely grew up with them).
Sure you already know the mouse, so good for you. As a comfortable user of both trackpoint and mice, I'd rather use the trackpoint for almost all uses. The few things I'd prefer a mouse to trackpoint I'd also prefer something else to the mouse (e.g. 3d orientation I prefer use a spaceball like device to mouse, and for drawing I'd prefer a stylus to mouse).
