Cool Stuff to do with a Synaptics Touchpad

While doing my random internet browsing, I came across these cool things you can do with the synaptics touchpads that are on the dv**** series laptops

First, Update your drivers: http://www.synaptics.com/support/drive.cfm

The HP Laptops have vertical scrolling enabled by default, but horizontal scrolling is not enabled..
To enable horizontal scrolling, right click on the synaptics icon in the taskbar and click "Pointing Device Properties". In pointing device properties, go to the device settings tab. Select the touchpad and click the 'settings' button. Next, click virtual scrolling in the tree. On the right hand side, check the 'enable horizontal scrolling' option, and there you go! You now have horizontal scrolling enabled. You can test it out on a web page. I find it quite cool

Also, you can get cool apps from synaptics that they call 'utilities'. Check it out here: http://www.synaptics.com/support/utili.cfm
I especially like the drumpad app

Anyway that was my quick random tip of the day

 

Good way to speed things up, but you can't beat a mouse.

 

And, if you have trouble scrolling through certain areas that you want to scroll through, you may want to go into "Virtual Scrolling" and expand the tree, but this time, select "Scrolling Selection" on the expanded tree. The default on my nw8440 is "Scroll Selected item". You may want to experiment with the other option, "Scroll item under pointer", if you have trouble with trying to scroll through certain items.

 

I turned off the scrolling features, both vertical and horizontal due to it makes the touch pad too sensitive. Even tweaking it to less sensitive setting it's still is. I just use the dedicated pg up/down home/end key to scroll.

 

I wish instead of spending time making the touchpad be usage as a drum pad, they'd just make it so that clicking both left and right simultaneously did a middle click like Alps touchpads.

 

For middle button I configure top right "tap zone" to act as middle button.

 

I never install the synaptics drivers so you get the whole touchpad to use.

I find the scroller part of the pad annoying thats why i dont install it, i put the drivers in the bloatware folder

 

well not to go off subject or anything but, have you guys seen what that one apple computer can do with it's touchpad. That thing would really make it fast and efficient.

 

synaptics said at CES that they will release similar gestures with a software update

@flipfire...
you can disable the features in the control area of the synaptics touchpad

 

That is a really good piece of information. Will it be compatible with present laptops? I hope and presume it would be as it would be a software update(Just want to confirm that there is no special hardware for the same).

 

You can always disable the scrolling stuff through touchpad driver settings...