On Thu, Sep 10, 2009 at 10:29:25AM +0200, Polytropon wrote: > On Wed, 9 Sep 2009 14:08:36 -0700, Gary Kline <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I'm looking for a small computer, 7-10" screen that has a ThinkPad-like > > stick > > to act as the mouse. > > This "stick" is called a TrackPoint, as far as I remember. It has been > common in portable computers built by IB and Toshiba.
I assume that IB was meant to be IBM. Lenovo bought IBM's PC division a few years ago, and now produces ThinkPads -- which come with trackpoints. > > > Pref'ly, no touch-pad. > > Sadly, you will find mostly that (crap) in "modern" devices... I just turn off the touchpad in my ThinkPad's BIOS/CMOS settings. That's pretty much the *first* thing I do with a new ThinkPad, before I even install a halfway decent operating system on it. I have a tendency to accidentaly move the mouse around while typing, otherwise. > > > The ASUS and just about every other > > notebook-size device has this kind of scratch-n-sniff pad; [...] > > Nice name. Other names: Fingerprint sensor and coffee cup warmer. :-) Yeah . . . how warm the touchpad gets is a pretty good heuristic measure of how hot the laptop is running, at least on my ThinkPad. > > > Any clues? > > Look for IBM / Lenovo, maybe they still employ this fantastic and > easy to use pointing device. Allthough it would completely make sense > to use a Trackpoint for netbook class computers (litte real estate > consumption, minimal moving from "hand in typing position" to "hand > in pointing position"), it seems that the worst solution always > prevails. I haven't seen Trackpoints on "modern" stuff yet, and I'm > quite about thinking that it doesn't exist anymore. Unfortunately, the OP was asking about netbook-sized computers, and last I checked the only netbooks offered by Lenovo are IdeaPads -- which are exactly like ThinkPads, except the construction is a little cheaper and the pointing device is always a touchpad. Otherwise, however, I second the motion: ThinkPads are generally held to a higher standard of quality than the rest of the laptops in the PC world, tend to be well-supported by open source operating systems, and come with trackpoints. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] Quoth Philip Machanick: "caution: if you write code like this, immediately after you are fired the person assigned to maintaining your code after you leave will resign"
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