Opinions: Long-term use/value of touchscreens

I've recently recieved a T400s with the touchscreen display. Of course this is at a time when the new Thinkpads are being released. I will likely return the T400s in favor of the new T410s, or even the W510 with the touchscreen.

However, I'm concerned with the touchscreen's long term value. So far, I've liked the touch features, but I'm just not sure I'll use it long term.

This is a general use machine for me; email, movies, light VMWare usage, web browsing, Photoshop, etc.

My questions are for people who have been using a touchscreen for an extended period. Input from tablet users is also appreciated.

• Do you still use it? Daily? How?
• How often do you clean the screen to keep it from randomly clicking/selecting? I've had to recallibrate once a day so far.
• Any long term usage problems?
• Would you purchase it again?

With Lenovo's return policy, I need to make a decision soon so any nuggets of wisdom would be appreciated.

One thing is clear, I will be buying another Thinkpad. The industrial build is simply incredible.

 

I feel touchscreens that aren't in a tablet PC are kind of gimicky, and at the moment do not have much practical use. Sure, it's cool to move things around by touching the screen, but I doubt you will use it much after the novelty factor wears off.

The price premium you pay for a touchscreen display over a regular display will also probably not be recouped if you resell your machine, as few people will pay more for such a feature.

Personally, I hate touching my screens, so I would never get a touchscreen... but I'm OCD like that

 

I don't see the value in using a touchscreen for every day use. Partially the reason why I didn't opt for one. The additional thickness being the other reason.

 

I cannot agree more: for everyday use, no. But I like it and actually I want a powerful tablet workstation, so when I connect my notebook to my test device, I can just touch the button instead of moving a mouse.

 

They get used a lot by the emergency services in Australia and in the mining and processing industry they get used a lot too, hence many of these fully rugged laptops can be optioned with it. But whether the T400s/T410s needs them for the consumer base they attract is arguable.

 

Thanks for the input.

Any touchscreen owners want to sound off?

 

The touchscreen makes the laptop thicker?

 

In cases such as field work where its more convenient I could see the need but not in an office/university environment. It's just part of the Apple iPhone "fad". Keyboard will always be dominant. Plus, the screen needs to be self-cleaning for health reasons if shared in a public usage environment. Maybe when they install winshield washers and defoggers people will consider it more seriously.

 

unless you have special softwares that benefits from touch screen, then don't waste your money on it. In many cases where touchscreen are used, there are special softwares optimized to be used through touchscreen mode, if you don't have that, then using touchscreen is extremely tedious for general navigation where there is small icons.

 

Just want to say that the screen is not even fingerprint resistant, so expect multiple smudges on the screen which will reduce visibility if you want to use touchscreen function. Plus the fact that you have to pay an extra of $400 to get this touchscreen, it absolutely does not worth it in my opinion.
On another note, you can use it to play some of Microsoft multitouch-enabled games in the Windows 7 Touchpack:
http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/wi...g-the-microsoft-touch-pack-for-windows-7.aspx
They're neat, but is not very productive, more for recreation I think.

 

Keyboards are extremely dirty and prone to spreading germs so that point doesn't really matter .

That being said I really do not like touch interfaces for phones and I wish the andriod phones had more keyboards and better ones (Droid :|).