Touchpad Gestures

What is it with touchpad gestures that is such a big deal. Pinch to zoom, rotate, I find these useful in cell phones but as there are more and more laptops coming out with them I wonder if having these gestures is hurting the actual point and click performance of the touchpad. I wonder how many people actually use gestures all that often on their laptop and what gestures never get used. I just don't see why the fuss for these on laptops. Perhaps it's because I use the mouse more than the touchpad, I don't know. Anyway, what think ye?

 

Well, i refuse to use a touchpad since i use the TrackPoint on my ThinkPad all the time, it even works pretty good in gaming.

 

Yeah, touchpads are a poor man's/women's TrackPoint.

Not only is it right where you want/need it (if you're a touch typist), but it is also the most responsive, natural and accurate pointing device I've ever used - notebook or not.

 

Matter of opinion... I prefer a good touchpad over trackpoint anyday. Gestures only streamline my work process, and makes work go by quicker. (For me anyway)

 

Well, these opinions outweigh yours:

See:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=33211


Sticking with the gestures part of this thread, I find that moving/lifting my hands/fingers from the home positions greatly decrease my productivity in not only 'office' type apps, but also any app which has great CTRL/SHFT/ALT key shortcuts too.

Gestures seem 'easier', I'll agree - but they are not faster, overall.

 

So what gesture is it that actually makes your work quicker. I'm trying to figure out why a zoom gesture benefits my work? Perhaps there are newer gestures out there I am unaware of, but right now they all seem a bit gimmicky.

 

Not everyone has a use for every single gesture, but they sure as hell don't hurt anything. I personally find the two-finger scroll and pinch zoom gestures, along with the tap zone button emulation, to be very useful. They do not hurt the "point and click performance" of the touchpad, as you say; you can disable all gestures if you like, and pointing and clicking remains identical to the way it's always been.

 

I fully agree with most of your statement but it seems in the last year or so since gestures have been coming out a lot of the reviews on this website have bashed the basic performance of the touchpad.

To ask you an honest question, why do you like the two finger scroll versus the single finger scroll zone that has been on touchpads for many years. I find myself having to lift and scroll way too much with two fingers where with the 1 finger scroll zone I could scroll without lifting a finger.