I've become addicted to having this little mouse button. I also like having the mouse buttons right there at the space bar and right beside each other. I have a different model than the one displayed, but something like that would work for me. The problem is I'm having trouble finding many laptops that offer this trackpoint button. Does anyone know of any current laptop models still in production that have this? My current computer is dying, and out of warranty, so I'm ready to get a new laptop, but I don't want to give up this type of mouse control. It seems silly to care much about something so insignificant, but I'll be using this every time I use the computer so I want the mouse interface that I most enjoy using.

Any advice on laptops in general and getting the mouse specifically?

6/23/2008 2:11:55 PM

i have a dell d620 that has one. i think there's a newer model out now (630 or something maybe) but it's a good laptop

[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 2:13 PM. Reason : it's the 630]

6/23/2008 2:13:01 PM

I believe all the new Dell Small Business laptops have them.

6/23/2008 2:16:47 PM

I think its pretty common on most business laptops.

Dell latitudes/precisions. IBMs. My work laptop is a HP 8510p and it has that.

6/23/2008 2:16:47 PM

lenovo/IBM has had one for years as well and I much prefer it to the dell version.

6/23/2008 2:18:36 PM

what country is that keyboard from?

6/23/2008 2:25:27 PM

Okay, I'm looking at the Dell Latitude D830 right now and checking on some HP ones too. Apparently they call it a pointstick.

6/23/2008 2:32:08 PM

these are MUCH better than those stupid touch pads.

6/23/2008 2:34:23 PM

touchpads are way better than the nipple. I can double click, click and drag, and scroll all on the pad with one finger.

6/23/2008 2:36:26 PM

I like being able to rest my hands on the computer and never leave the typing position to operate the mouse. To each their own though. But for me its a make or break deal which knocked mac out of the running.

6/23/2008 2:58:14 PM

^^ and then your hand is coming off its normal position on the keyboard every time to do that. I can keep my hands in place on the keyboard and use the lenovo little track thing and can double click with my thumbs without taking my fingers away from a typing position

6/23/2008 3:03:18 PM

I play first person shooters with the Trackpoint on my ThinkPad.

[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 3:40 PM. Reason : ]

6/23/2008 3:38:25 PM

i dont use the keyboard when im using the mouse on my laptop so its not a problem for me.

[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 3:51 PM. Reason : i mean you take your hand off your mouse to type with a desktop.]

6/23/2008 3:51:13 PM

i used to love the trackpoint but i got a laptop with the touchpad and its pretty easy to get accustomed to as well...and at work i have a ms mouse with scrollwheel that i use anyway

6/23/2008 4:01:09 PM

How are HP's these days? I see that they have a few business laptop options with the type of the mouse I want, but all my experience with the HP company and products has been horrible. This is all from years ago. My brother has an HP and says they are good these days, but I don't really know.

I'm going through various company sites and building the laptops with the specifications I want to see the final prices and HP's site has been nothing but trouble. Almost every option says invalid option, it has an * w/ a statement at the bottom that HP isn't responsible for giving you an incorrect price.

Ultimately I want the best laptop I can get, with the mouse set up that I'm looking for, for $2,000 or less with a decent amount of memory, a solid graphics card that will keep up with me for the life of the computer, and that runs fairly fast and smoothly. And I'm fully open to any recommendations towards making that happen.

6/23/2008 4:07:40 PM

I was a track point addict as well, and hated everything else. I picked up a power book around 5 years ago as a second laptop, and I am on a new Apple laptop as my only computer at the moment. The track pad on Apples are quite good, and a worthy substitute thanks to gestures and double finger scrolling (up/down side to side, etc.). I suggest you give it a shot.

6/23/2008 4:20:15 PM

hp/compaq home user laptops are garbage. Their business line has been pretty good. Where I work we have this sweet leasing program and we get 8510p's for $300/year with full support + replacement after 3 years. The model we have retails for something like 1800 so its a deal.

I've had mine for the past 2 months and its really nice. Solid so far. We also have some old model compaq business line laptops that still work fine for the most part. Definitely stay away from the home user crap though.

Their website is pretty bad.



[Edited on June 23, 2008 at 5:02 PM. Reason : .]

6/23/2008 5:01:31 PM

get a lenovo thinkpad...

/thread

6/23/2008 6:00:25 PM

Quote :

"what country is that keyboard from?"

im guessing german because of the umlats and the ß

6/23/2008 6:09:23 PM

Thinkpad T61p

Quote :

" * Intel Core 2 Duo processor T8300 (2.4 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 3MB L2) * 3 GB RAM (3072 MB) DDR2 667 MHz * 15.4" WSXGA+ Widescreen Display o Resolution: 1680 x 1050 * 250 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive * DVD Recordable 8x Max Dual Layer * NVIDIA Quadro FX 570M (256 MB VRAM) * Gigabit Ethernet * Integrated WiFi (802.11 a/b/g/n) * Integrated Bluetooth * Weighs 6.0 lbs. * Battery life of up to 6.0 hrs * Windows Vista Enterprise Edition * Microsoft Office 2007 Professional Edition "

This is what I'm leaning towards with 3 years of warranty/protection for about $2k. Does that sound reasonable, or is there something better out there for that price range with the point stick mouse?

6/25/2008 5:24:04 PM

thinkpads are great if you like horrible bundled shitware on hardware that will start failing after 6 months

6/25/2008 5:41:15 PM