Confirmed bug found in touchpads on Sony F series laptops

I have had a Vaio F12 for a few months now and have found and verified a bug in the Alps touchpad. This bug has also been confirmed by Sony.

I prefer to use my touchpad as a simple pointing device and disable all the special features except for the scrolling functions. I've turned off all tapping functions and all multitouch gestures.

Even though all special features are turned off, the touchpad often selects menu items as I scroll though them without a mouse button click. Programs occasionally open as I scroll the start menu, selections are made when I scroll application menus, even icons are occasionally selected as I move the pointer around the screen.

I've personally verified this problem occurs on three different F12's. In addition, I went to the local Sony store and the Sony tech verified that it occurs on the in-store F12 and the other laptop with an Alps touchpad (I think it was an E Series.) He escalated the issue to his support team. This problem does not affect Synaptics touchpads.

Unfortunately Sony provides no way to track the bug, and no way for another user to register that they are also experiencing same problem without going through the entire troubleshooting process. If I didn't have a local Sony store I would have had to reload Windows, then have the touchpad replaced, and then send the machine in for evaluation to prove that this is a problem.

If you are also having this problem a call to Sony Tech Support might be in order, that is if you have a high tolerance for frustration.

 

The main bug here is you don't know how to use a touchpad.
99% of the planet leaves that turned on with no worry about things "accidentally" running.

 

So this post doesn't even apply to you, but you feel compelled to post an insulting reply. News Flash: There are other people in the world and we all have the right to our own preferences, even if you don't agree with them. Notebook Deity is NOT a literal title despite what you may think.

 

Wow! I'm a deity? cool. I never noticed it before, but now that you mention it I feel like that commercial "...Are you really a surgeon? No but I did stay at the Holiday Inn Express last night..."

Now, I'm not trying to be insulting. I'm just pointing out that if you know how to use a touchpad, it's not a problem.

 

What raincity is trying to point is is NOT that he doesn't know how to use a touchpad, because he does. He tried to spread information for those people who do not like to use the tapping feature to let them know that there's a known issue with it.

Not everyone had to like tapping. Just like I don't have to like Apple products, no matter how good they are for me "once I learn how to use them".

 

There is an enormous amount of information that is NOT posted here because of the crappy attitude of those that consider themselves "deities" and everyone else idiots. Most IT experts are not arrogant jerks, and those that aren't often don't share their knowledge on these sites. Why bother doing so when it means dealing with the trolls who frequent the sites, think they know everything, and are here primarily looking for ways to pump up their own sorry egos.

It's really too bad because there is a lot of accurate information that isn't being shared. That information could save hundreds or thousands of hours of work by others dealing with problems that have already been resolved and/or identified.

 

I apologize if my comments were insulting to you. No insult was intended.

 

So does this affect the F13 too?

 

I was wondering the same thing. Last week I was unable to find an F13 hardware spec on Sony's site that included ANY information about the touchpad. Perhaps the proud owner of a shiny new F13 will let is know. Someone did mention that the driver version's the same though.

 

The bug does affect the F13. I was able to reproduce it at a local Staples store within 30 seconds, but I've also found a fix.

It looks like the problem is a Sony specific issue and isn't a generic problem with Alps touchpads. Downloading and installing an Alps driver from another manufacturer (Acer) pretty much resolved it for me. The problem still happens very occasionally, but with the Acer driver it is difficult to reproduce and no longer an annoyance of any consequence.

A warning is generated while installing saying the same version of an existing driver is being installed. I ignored it and installed anyway. I also reinstalled using recommended settings when Windows prompted me to. All touchpad user settings revert to defaults after installation. I haven't found any problems caused by the Acer driver yet.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...r-touchpad-alps-drivers-without-dell-gui.html