pointing stick covers, the bumpy rubber ones, who has them???

Help!

I'm hunting for some elusive pointstick covers for several D-series latitudes. Specifically, the broad, flat caps that have about two dozen tiny rubber bumps on them. NOT the narrower, domed, classic "cat tongue" caps.

The Dell website lists four possible parts:
Manufacturer Part# 3X705 | Dell Part# 3X705
Manufacturer Part# KH487 | Dell Part# 310-7703
Manufacturer Part# 7X050 | Dell Part# 310-2870
Manufacturer Part# KH487 | Dell Part# 313-4188
...but they all show a picture of the old cat-tongue caps, not the bumpy ones that came stock with the later D-series laptops.

I called Dell parts, but the girl on the other end couldn't find an answer.

I ordered some bumpy caps off ebay that the seller ~said~ were for Dell, but they didn't fit (hole was 4mm, too big). Thinkpad caps are also too big. The Dells have a 3mm pointing stick post.

I also found an aftermarket part, from sofpoint.com, but from what I read they were not a perfect fit, and their site is down anyway.

So...HELP! Does anyone know a part number for these covers, or have some on hand that they would SELL or TRADE?

5/3/09 Update: FOUND!!
I ordered KH487 (313-4188) from Dell, and despite the picture on their website, they ~are~ the bumpy ones.

They cost almost $10 each after shipping...and they still suck compared to my Thinkpads...but they are infinitely better than the scratchy lumps that came with Dx00 and Dx10.

Now I have to try the E-series caps. They look kinda like the Thinkpad soft-rims, which are pretty nice. Does anyone on this lame- laptop marketing forum have a part number?

 

why do i get the strange feeling that dell might say its not a seperate part, and try and get you to buy a whole new keyboard lol...

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3910916&postcount=2



One option might be to wrap some tape arond the stick to fatten it up and then put on a thinkpad cap.

I cant beleive caps arent in supply for the D laptops.

I had a similar issue with HP laptop, but at least there HP was selling a 40 cap bag for $90 or so..

 

that sounds really annoying. not what i expect from a notebook thats popular for corporate deployments. i would have expected IT departments to be ordering bags of replacements.

i wonder why they stopped shipping notebooks with extra "heads". the inspirons and latitudes i had in the past came with 2 spares in the box. my new precision didnt. at least i have several spare keyboards for it lol, which dell threw in.

 

Are you looking for something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-pc-Blue-Trackpoint-Nibble-Cap-for-Dell-HP-Compaq_W0QQitemZ350165113620QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item350165113620&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A0|293%3A1|294%3A50

EDIT: The auction says that the cap is for Dell and HP computers, but the cap from my HP TC4200 doesn't actually work on my D620 (the hole is too big)... so you'll have to ask the seller about it. There's a load of these eBay, by the way. Just search "Dell Trackpoint". They all say like "For Dell, Toshiba, HP", though, so I don't really know what's up with that.

 

I'm guessing those caps wont flit the late D8x series.

These guys have typically all the availabl caps:
http://www.trackcap.com/

And the D8x caps are missing.

 

The entire D-Series uses the same cap attachment. If it'll fit on the D600, it'll fit on the D610, D620, or D630. Or the D800, etc.

EDIT: In fact, even the E-Series may be able to accept the same type of cap; I just tried fitting my E6400 cap onto my D620 and that works too

 

Yup, that is exactly what I got from ebay. From a different vendor, but also from Hong Kong. The barcoded bag in the background is the one the Thinkpad caps come in. At least this vendor gives the dimensions, so you can tell that it will NOT fit the D-latitudes. I dunno if ~any~ Dell laptop has a 4mm stick, or if they just guessed wrong. Anyway, it was dirt cheap and it fits my Thinkpad (finally, something besides RED!!!), so it wasn't worth complianing. I still want them for my D-latitudes though.

$25 bucks for 2 caps??? BWAAAHAHAHAHAHA!! Seriously, Dell charges $11. Anyway, these are the classic cat-tongue caps, not the nubbly rubber ones that I'm looking for.

I know some folks prefer the classic caps--technically they are more sensitive--and some folks don't use the stick at all...so...if anyone wants to SELL their nubbly rubber pointstick caps to me, lemme know. I dunno, $5 each? I can send you a used classic cap to fill the space.

These are all ridiculous prices for a freakin' tiny piece of rubber, but whatever. C'est la vie.

 

Come on, anyone? Someone must know where to get these pointstick covers...please help! I'll pay for them!

 

If the latitudes are under warranty, you could tell Dell to ship you new keyboards if they dont have the covers