Trackpad questions

Hi,
I bought a HP Envy with Control Zone trackpad a couple months ago and I'm returning the unit
due to this awful trackpad. I've sent the unit in for repair to no avail. Now I'm looking to replace it
with something that has actual click buttons instead of this giant pad. Come to find out that it appears
all laptop makers have now gotten rid of the left and right click buttons altogether. If I'm to be doomed
to use that design, can anyone recommend one that actually works?

Thanks.

 

HP's business line-up has dedicated trackpad buttons.

 

According to the HP rep I've been dealing with, they all use the new Control Zone pad.
If you mean some of the slower processor models, then some are still available.
If that rep is wrong, do you have specific model #'s or a url for any i7's ?
Thanks

 

I am not familiar with the HP range, so I do not know any specific models unfortunately.

But you can go on their website, and refine your search by selecting only i7 models, and there appears to be quite a few with dedicated trackpad buttons.

HP Business Laptops - HP Store UK

 

I got onto the US Business store and you're correct except that the price
point is about double unless I go with a much slower processor.
Thanks for mentioning the possibility though.
So, that leaves me at my original question of whether there is a good "no button"
trackpad out there. My feeling is that it's a bad idea to begin with to click down on an
entire trackpad for a mouse click as the control zone does. It's a very heavy clunk
rather than a click. And since the whole trackpad acts as cursor movement, the cursor
moves when I single or double click. I don't even try double-tap due to all the problems
with this trackpad. Any others work differently and better?

 

Well, their business-class laptop (particularly, their Elitebooks) are more expensive because they have *much* better build quality and aftersales support (better engineering isn't free). You could look in HP's business outlet for OEM-refurbshed laptops to keep the cost down. For example, I bought an Elitebook 8570p with the default i5 CPU, 4G RAM, HDD, and 1080p for $600 + a little extra for a 3yr NBD warranty (total was ~$800) from their outlet. Upgrading the user-replaceable parts (RAM and storage drive) is cheap and easy to do aftermarket (got another 4GB RAM and replaced the HDD with a SSD); Total cost was somewhere around $1000 total, which isn't bad for the specs.

As for trackpads: personally I favor TrackPoint-style inputs over actual touchpads, so my vote would go for the Elitebooks/ZBooks, Lenovo's Thinkpads, and Dell's Latitude/Precision systems for the best mouse input.

 

Anyone operating a no button trackpad that actually works?

 

I have a Asus T100 with such a setup and it works just fine. On the small size, but it's a 10" tablet/netbook.

 

I like trackpoints better too, but I still have to have click buttons. I could even live with a trackpad if it had the left and right click buttons.
Since the non-business models are all going to no button trackpads, I still am hoping someone will tell me that the button click functions
on their trackpad work well. Hoping to find one that has a gentle tap click instead of the entire "control zone" rocking to the left or right, I would feel
much better about it. It seems to me an engineering mistake to expect that 5 or 6" wide giant button to rock to the left or right accurately,
particularly when even the sides where you're most likely to click also work for cursor movement. The whole idea is just contrary to the
very nature of the device. It is extremely senstive to touch, but they also build in this relatively violent action of rocking the entire
device to the left or right on a touch space that also causes cursor movement. It seems an absurd idea to begin with.
I'm not really interesting in refurb or used. I realize than many or most are probably fine, but it's just a thing with me. Thanks for the
suggestion though. When I sent my HP Envy in for service, they didn't replace any parts, so I'm considering asking my case rep if they
might ship my unit in again and actually replace the trackpad...maybe that would help. Seems some people are able to get this thing working,
but many like me are not; no matter what is tried.

 

I took a look at the trackpad. Does that vertical line toward the back middle indicate anything functionally? Is it demarking a left vs right click or something like that?

How does it click anyway? Does the entire pad rock to the left and right like the Control Zone pad?

Thanks for the response.

 

I think that might be a marking for left/right. And yeah, it's a rocker, no separate buttons. But it's still fairly accurate for a small/cheap netbook. As for something bigger and more powerful, I'm not sure what has a decent touchpad w/buttons anymore; I haven't been on the market for a while and I go business-class anyway.

 

Ok, thanks again for your input.

 

Anyone else have a no button trackpad that actually works, particularly the left and right click ?

 

That's what I thought. They all suck.