ThinkPads and mouse input

[mtbc]

Thinking back over the laptop computers that I have owned, the easy favorite remains my IBM ThinkPad R-series. It was built well, even with steel hinges, it had a no-button touchpad with two buttons below and three above, plus the increasingly popular trackpoint. The UltraBay allowed me to easily swap the DVD drive for a second battery.

The button issue matters greatly to me, I make plenty of use of the middle button and I hate the built-into-touchpad buttons that are now so popular, I want to click exactly the correct^* button without affecting pointing. My Lenovo ThinkPad E-series has a two-button touchpad with three above, perhaps like the Dell Latitude E-series, in contrast with the HP EliteBook having a three-button touchpad with two above. My Lenovo has decent keyboard and speakers but the camera is shockingly bad.

I was surprised to see current HPs and Lenovos with an off-center touchpad, offset toward the left. Does this not help me as a left-hander more than the majority?

^*One of the increasingly many annoyances with Firefox is that a middle-button click on a tab now closes it. For some years, and in so many ways, for me Firefox's user interface has worsened.

Comments

[wpadmirer]

I work with an external mouse. I hate touchpads primarily because they seem to be to not have the fine control that I want.

[mtbc]

I find the trackpoint more usable than the touchpad in a moving vehicle.

In any kind of desktop situation I use a Kensington Expert Mouse, specifically the K64325 trackball, because conventional mice give me RSI.

[wpadmirer]

I have the opposite problem. Trackballs really aggravate my arthritis. I'm not sure why, but maybe because they tend to be a little larger mouse. My hands are small.

[mtbc]

Aha, I think I am generally average-sized for a guy, but here in the US I have to buy shirts and gloves in a small size, to my surprise, making me wonder what actually small people buy, perhaps they're off to the kids' section.