upgrade touchpad? (dell 1720)

I just bought a dell 1720, as i needed better graphics in my laptop. Ive upgraded the ram, cpu, added hdd to use software raid... but now i've started using it i've realised the touchpad was much much better on the hp6715b laptop i had previously... so much so that im not even sure i dont want to switch back.

either the hp one was exceptionally good or the dell one is exceptionally bad. I could easily cover the whole screen with sensitive setting on the hp, and still have good control close up. On the dell the cursor is jumpy and unresponsive. If i make it sensitive then its hard to control up close.

I just want to know if there are any mavericks out that can suggest a solution to somehow upgrade the touchpad? stick and xps one on or something.

cheers,

Liam

 

I'm sure of this much. It won't be easy. I think the 1720 uses an ALPS touchpad, which are generally considered to be worse than Synaptics, the other, and larger, maker. I've actually been meaning to try this for a while on my Latitude which also has ALPS. Just yesterday, I ordered another trackpad, so I'll try this weekend. I'll post a link to my guide here if i'm successful.

 

ace.

where theres a will theres a way.

what touchpad did you buy?

a good touch pad is essential on a laptop for me. Using the one on my hp was way quicker and nicer than using the mouse since theres no need to take hand away from keyboard. some model, like xps come in alps and synaptic flavours from what i can tell which might point to something standardisation we can exploit.

Liam

 

I certainly hope that there's an simple way - I don't plan to cut/soldier, at least on the first try.
I bought a Dell Vostro 1500 palmrest for 2 reasons. 1, it is a Synaptics. 2, it hasba size that is very close to what I have in my Latitude (the closest Dell synaptics I could find).
Hopefully it will come this weekend...

 

good luck.
i had my first look inside mine today while i upgrade my cpu to a t7500. not amazing but better than a t2390

I guess you know this, but on 1720 keyboard and touchpad both connect though a single connector. Keyboard slots into the touchpad which plugs into the mobo. Is this the same on you e6400?

if both connectors are the same then i should also be able to use a 1500 touchpad in mine. I'll have a look through the 1500 service manual

 

had a look at the service manual for the inspiron 1501. The keyboard connects separately to the mobo rather than through the touchpad so i cant use a 1501 touch pad.

hope things work out better for you.

I suppose with some rewiring it might be possible to do something... but i'd have to have aspare 1720 one too just incase i kill it.

 

I think there available touchpads that can replace yours but would require technician support in order to properly attach it to your system.. Otherwise you will have to look for an external component.

 

well im not expert technician but i don't mind a bit of rewiring and soldering... i once managed to solder a new ide connector on to an old hdd, it nearly killed me but it worked for long enough for me to get my data back.

Can you tell me what pad i could use and maybe what might be involved in attaching it. The most difficult part i see is that the keyboard on the 1720 plugs into the touchpad not the main board. I'll have to look and see if its a straight through connection for there.

 

I'm no expert on laptops but from what I've gathered from looking at replacement parts and contemplating my touchpad upgrade (to a larger size, part of a bigger overall case mod project I'll be starting soon) I've noticed that all Synaptics touchpads, and presumably Alps if they are interchangeable with Synaptics, have a simple zif connector on the back which the button board connects to. The button board then connects to the motherboard with its own cable. I'd assume that the models which have keyboards that connect through the touchpad connect with the button assembly as well, and that the touchpad connector remains the same regardless. I can verify my theory on the touchpad connector in a couple of days when my parts come in, but unfortunately I don't have any way to test the keyboard theory.

I hope this information helps some of you and good luck with the upgrades.

 

cheers rsul,

I am still frustrated with my alps touchpad but i haven't gotten round to opening up my 1720 again yet. I just ordered a high res screen for it so when i install that i will investigate the touch pad. If the touch pad and the keyboard connector are separable and it could take a synaptics pad that would be idea.

Does anyone know if all modern synaptics pad are much the same in terms of sensitivity etc?

in that case i guess i get a palm rest from any new dell that has a synaptics pad and try it.

 

quantumleaf,
sorry for not getting back to you earlier. I did attempt the mod, and unfortunately, was not successful in completing it. I ran into several problems. In theory, these could all be prevented with a touchpad that is almost identical to your current one, but with all of the hardware revisions, finding one like that is unlikely. Here's a summary of what happened:

After 30 minutes, I sucessfully pried the touchpad board off the new palmrest. After disconnecting all the cables, I found the following.

Cable to mobo changed - was previously 15 pin, is now 16 pin. I'm not sure what the extra pin is for.
Buttons for touchpad use same cable. However, the connector may be differently placed and the cable may not reach/be too long.
Both touchpads had 43 keyboard contacts. Mine had a black plastic assembly, but I think that if I soldered wires to each lead on the keyboard and the touchpad, it would work. Of course, I'd have to connect the board to the mobo first...

Conclusion: Very difficult, if possible at all. If you do suceed, please post a guide!

 

My larger touchpad mod failed as well. I had it working for a while, but those FFC cables are a pain. I've confirmed that the switch is possible, as I had it working for a while until the cable failed, but it is not that practical to replace the touchpad on the PS2 interface. The touchpads for the most part seem to have the same connector, but the way they are connected on the mobo is always different. So if your touchpad has a different connector orientation than the original you'll run into problems as I did, which will ultimately break the FFC cable. Right now I'm working without a touchpad, but I have a new fix in the works, using a USB touchpad that should be coming to me soon. I'll keep you posted if its successful.

 

had another closer look at the touchpad whilst attempting a screen upgrade. the lack of an inverter bracket meant that i can't install the new screen yet.

looking at the touchpad it looks like the connector for the keyboard is soldered to the board. I think i'll abandon this for now. I can get around the screen with the alps pad, not quite as fast as with a synaptics, but i've found settings that work a bit better.

 

sorry to both of you. Somehow when i made the last post i didnt see the previous two posts.

so i looks like possible solutions would involve cutting/soldering.
I would be game for that but would like to have a better picture of what was going... i was so busy with my failed screen upgrade i forgot to take some good picture of the connector and cables under the palmrest... oh well when i get the bracket and install wuxga screen ill take some.

if we had an engineering diagram of the dell pins i think we could figure out whether it's possible (my guess is likely 65%...).

Since we don't, the only option is some kind of amateur reverse enginneering... If the alps/synapics pads have a common interface then simply rewiring the synaptics pad onto the mobo cable will work... but do they?

I don't have an synaptics unit yet so i can't confirm anything.

Wierdo#, can you confirm what you found with number of pins on the connectors with:

model #pins #cables

when open again i will describes the pins to the mobo and the colours of the relevant cables.

 

ps: the usb touchpad solution sounds interesting. I'm going to have a look and see if there are any multi-touch usb pad available.

 

The USB touchpad solution seems interesting, and I would be willing to give up 1 of my 4 USB ports for multitouch. I could remove the smartcard reader from underneath the palmrest, so I have room. Someone needs to try that.

As for the internal touchpad, I can give you a nice pic and some info.
Red Boxes: These are connectors for the keyboard. All have 43 pins. The problem is that my old ALPS board has that black plastic thingy that the keyboard holds in, while the Synaptics doesn't. The orange box indicates the approximate size of the old Vostro keyboard cable that was taped to the contacts. I expect that with some soldiering (43 wires - i don't even want to think about it), this may work.
Blue Boxes: These connect the touchpad buttons and are the same. The one problem is that they are set at different spots. the Vostro buttons has a sideways "S" like arrangement ('---,) if you get my artistic abilities. The Latitude had a simple straight connector, so there is a problem. The cable doesn't reach the Synaptics pad's connector.
Purple Boxes: These pose a problem. The upper ALPS board has 16 pins. The lower Synaptics board has 15 pins. The mobo connectors are completely different, but the cables can always be switched, so that's no big issue. The real problem is what is that extra pin there for?

I guess that this would be possible, but you'd need to have laptops that very closely matched each other in parts and configuration.

 

sorry for taking so long on following this one up wierdo.

the extra wire seems to be the biggest problem... did you manage to get any shots of the wires to see if the colours are the same. I was so involved with screen upgrade (ended up having to solder the ground connection to the inverter) i forgot to take some of my touchpad connectors...

thinking i might leave this project on the back burner for now.

 

I did get some shots. The Latitude had 4 each of orange, red, brown, and black wires. The Vostro was a mess - each of the 15 cables had a different color.

 

hmm... sounding pretty hard.
I think i'm learning to live with an alps touch pad. Maybe a multi touch is the way to go.

 

The Alps pad doesn't bother me as much as the lack of multitouch features does. The pad should support it - it's just a matter of good drivers. Would pinch to zoom, 3 finger swipe (for back/forward in internet), and rotation be that hard to implement? Synaptics pads seem to be farther along with this than Alps pads. I'm going to take a look at a trackpad from a Mac and see what I can find.

 

Multi-touch would be great. But i'm not sure the hardware on a standard touchpad can support it... it would be nice to be wrong