iBook and Powerbook users do you use the trackpad as a mouse button?

[TheMonarch]

Turning this feature on was THE FIRST THING I did when I got my PB. Then the desktop picture etc...


I could not live without this. It feels so, so... Weird without it. Dragging something along the desktop feels strange after a couple of seconds using the button, but so natural with the trackpad...

 

[Demon Hunter]

Tap-click has been around since the PowerBook 520... which was the first laptop ever with a touchpad. So two innovations for Apple.

The delay of the tap-click is what keeps the button useful.

And the scrolling trackpad rocks my world.

I get so used to it I expect it to work on other laptops, only to be disappointed.

 

[BiikeMike]

I'm not talking about a ball mouse, I'm talking about a Trackball. I use an optical Logitech Trackball on my Desktop, and have no problems with lint. It has a plasic ball, not a rubber one....

I find optical trackballs way more precise than optical mice, and trackballs for laptops WAY more useful than mice for laptops. For a trackball, you can set it on you leg, on the couch, wherever you want to, and have full functionability. Not true with a mouse.

 

[After G]

iScroll 2 is great.
One finger + mouse button = left-click
Two fingers + mouse button = right-click
Trackpad click = third button
Two finger drag = vertical scroll

Don't need a mouse anymore

 

[MrSugar]

I am with the people from the beginning of the thread.

I never use this "feature" it frustrates me to no end. I strictly stick to using the mouse button. However, a program such as side track for scrolling is quite useful.

 

[mad jew]

I don't use any scrolling on the trackpad and I have it set to recognise a tap as a mouse click. I'm used to it so it's easier for me, plus it's quieter for when I'm in public places.

 

[yamabushi]

I use a USB mouse with my iBook more often than I use the trackpad. I like the tap-to-click and scroll pad features when I use the trackpad.

I just don't work efficiently without a right click button. I am a single button mouse and trackpad hater. If it works for you, great. I would use the trackpad more often if there was a second button.

 

[devilot]

iScroll 2 is great.

Yes but if you have Tiger then those features are built in (please correct me if I'm wrong). Or maybe... it's a new thing w/ the newer lappies. My 1.33GHz PB didn't have the built-in capabilities so I used iScroll, but my new iBook has it all built in.

 

[mad jew]

Yes but if you have Tiger then those features are built in (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I don't think it's Tiger per se, but rather the newer 'Books that have inbuilt scrolling. My original iBook G4 running Tiger doesn't seem to have any scrolling trackpad features.

 

[kretzy]

I love the tap to click feature. In fact, when I first got my powerbook, it was not turned on and I was worried it wasn't available (then I found the system pref). I find it really convenient, having to press the button seems to take longer. But the thing I really love is two-finger scrolling!!!!! It's the best feature I've ever seen on a trackpad.

 

[kasei]

I rarely use the button. I always use the trackpad. I also use Sidetrack so all of the corners of my trackpad have functions.

 

[Palad1]

Finger tapping became a second habit, I need a PC keyboard with a trackpad now

 

[Whistleway]

I hate this clicking thingy on trackpad. It annoys me as hell, but, I am keeping it on, hoping that I learn it eventually.

But this trackpad must be the ****** design apple ever made or something like that. It hurts my wrists like crazy. Maybe i am using it the wrong way? Is there a guide on how to place my wrists while using this trackpad?

Thanks.

 

[mkrishnan]

But this trackpad must be the ****** design apple ever made or something like that. It hurts my wrists like crazy. Maybe i am using it the wrong way? Is there a guide on how to place my wrists while using this trackpad?

Apple has an ergonomics website, which I actually did not find super informative.

Here are some suggestions that I found helpful...but they're not expert advice, so if someone who does ergonomics can chime in....

1) Look at your wrists when you are typing and when you are using the trackpad. if you draw a straight line along your forearm, does your hand continue along this line (i.e. is your wrist straight), or is there an angle between hand and arm (usually, you will be bending your hands to the outside of your body, that is, so that your forearms are converging, but your hands are parallel at the keyboard/trackpad).

2) If this is the case with both keyboard and trackpad, try moving the whole computer farther away from you on the table. This will tend to straighten your wrists. You may find it much more comfortable to have the keyboard much farther from you than is commonly seen, especially if you have long arms.

3) If it only happens with the trackpad, try holding your arm in such a way that your elbow is out away from your centerline, your hand is at roughly a 45 degree angle to the horizontal or vertical direction on the trackpad, your wrist is straight, and neither your hand nor your wrist are resting on anything. It may be awkward at first because your hand's will be tilted on the trackpad, but once you get used to it, it should not be onerous....

 

[wide]

i like it, but it's not really faster for me because it does not work 100 percent of the time like the actual button does and also b/c i always keep my thumb on the button when working without an external mouse. i love the two-finger scrolling though, use that all the time.

 

[Whistleway]

Thanks mkrishnan for your help. , I will try to follow it.

 

[iEdd]

I don't think it's Tiger per se, but rather the newer 'Books that have inbuilt scrolling. My original iBook G4 running Tiger doesn't seem to have any scrolling trackpad features.

I'm pretty sure you can add it to any white ibook. All G4s, anyway. Search for sidetrack and iScroll2

 

[GilGrissom]

I'm pretty sure you can add it to any white ibook. All G4s, anyway. Search for sidetrack and iScroll2

Yes, but the new models come with it hardwired in as default fully intergrated into the system, no need for extra downloads. Not sure if this makes it any better than the programs you suggested though! No doubt they're just as good! And mean you don't have to buy a new iBook/PowerBook!! (if you need an excuse not too that is! hehe! I'd always say yes to new Apple hardware! )

 

[mkrishnan]

Yes, but the new models come with it hardwired in as default fully intergrated into the system, no need for extra downloads. Not sure if this makes it any better than the programs you suggested though! No doubt they're just as good! And mean you don't have to buy a new iBook/PowerBook!! (if you need an excuse not too that is! hehe! I'd always say yes to new Apple hardware! )

Sidetrack offers a different system, much more like what is used in Windows...so you can get two-directional scrolling via edges (it doesn't do two-finger scrolling). It also allows for corner taps to be programmed to keys or alternate mouse buttons. I really like it a lot.

As for iScroll 2, I also believe it offers some options that are not included in the Apple system along the lines of right clicking with two fingers (which sounds like a real nicety).

But having it integrated is nice.

The circular scroll is a neat idea. It'd also be neat if there was a mode where putting two fingers down on the trackpad acted like the grab hand tool or the Mighty Mouse scroll ball and scrolled in arbitrary directions.

 

[cal6n]

Sidetrack rocks. I have it on both my PBs, using it in preference to the 2 finger scrolling built in to my 1.67. I really dislike using the trackpad to mouse click but the corner taps in sidetrack are great. I have the top 2 set up for previous and next in safari and the bottom crners set for exposé and ctrl-click.

 

[OutThere]

I hated that feature with a passion until I turned it on for a few days...now I never use the button. It takes a little finessing to get your technique of moving the mouse without clicking and clicking without moving the mouse down, but it's worth it in the end.

On the subject of trackballs, they're also my favorite thing, I use a Kensington optical orbit when I'm at my desk.

 

[GilGrissom]

Sidetrack offers a different system, much more like what is used in Windows...so you can get two-directional scrolling via edges (it doesn't do two-finger scrolling). It also allows for corner taps to be programmed to keys or alternate mouse buttons. I really like it a lot.

As for iScroll 2, I also believe it offers some options that are not included in the Apple system along the lines of right clicking with two fingers (which sounds like a real nicety).

But having it integrated is nice.

The circular scroll is a neat idea. It'd also be neat if there was a mode where putting two fingers down on the trackpad acted like the grab hand tool or the Mighty Mouse scroll ball and scrolled in arbitrary directions.

Ah right...cool! Thanks for the info! May have to look into these extra programs for the extra things! I love the 2 finger scrolling on my PB, it works a charm!