I hate touchpads. Unfortunately, they seem to be on every single notebook PC produced these days except IBM Thinkpads. And even IBM is starting to integrate them.

I hate touchpads because I am a touch typist, and often look away from the screen when I'm writing. If I inadvertently make contact with the damn touchpad, it moves my cursor, and I can type several pages without realizing I'm inserting text in the middle of my document. Sometimes, this happens more than once, really screwing things up.

Normally, I use a USB mouse and disable the touchpad. But there are times when I can't hook up the mouse, and then I have to enable the touchpad again. Depending on which notebook I'm using, this involves either rebooting the machine, or manipulating windows without a mouse, both of which are a real PITA.

What I want is a simple cover for the touchpad--one that will stick on top of it without damaging it or interfering with closing the lid.

Admittedly, I've half-baked these, myself, using old credit cards cut to size, held in place with that rubbery adhesive sometimes found holding inserts in magazines and such, but they don't stay sticky for long, and they look rather crude stuck to a sleek, stylish machine. Also, they have my credit card numbers on them, and if they fall off somewhere, I've got to change the number. A few well-placed Post-It notes have also done the job before, but again, there's the style issue, and I don't always have them handy.

No, I think a professionally designed and implemented product would be better. Find a better adhesive, and manufacture well-fitting covers, and you've got a product that you can sell at a profit, not unlike those "Write Right" plastic sheets that some people buy to protect their PDA screens. As an added bonus, companies could print their logos on these and pass them out at conventions or in direct-mail advertising.
-- Guncrazy, Aug 25 2002

Virtual Touchpad Cover http://tygi.cjb.net
Manders's linky [sycorob24, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 05 2004]

A piece of plastic with some sort of low profile suction cup?
-- half, Aug 25 2002


An on-off switch would be nice for touchpads. Maybe you could just use some of that clear 2" wide shipping/sealing tape. Stuff peels off pretty easily.
-- bristolz, Aug 25 2002


Simple, but: “Tpad Lock” key?

I have wondered about the pitfalls of the "keyboard dead-center" mouse button that IBM is featuring. Now, does it work? Is it pathetic looking? Should I run like hell?
-- reensure, Aug 25 2002


I've seen HP laptops with Synaptics touchpads with a lockout button for exactly this purpose.
-- yamahito, Oct 05 2003


I'm not a big fan of touchpads for the reasons indicated, but I did find a nice program that eliminates these headaches for me -- Virtual Touchpad Cover. go figure. http://tygi.cjb.net :)
-- manders, Dec 16 2003


how's this different (better) from disabling the driver?
-- neilp, Dec 16 2003


We use Lotus Notes - if you hit the "Reply" button, your cursor ends up hovering over the "Send" button in the new message. You are now one careless glance of the touchpad away from sending a half finished email to your boss. Argh! So, I usually have it disabled.
-- sycorob24, Dec 16 2003


Synaptics baked an electronic version
-- -----, Nov 04 2004


reensure: I, for one, abhor the touchpads, and love the little trackpoint on IBMs. You never bump into it while typing, and if you did, it wouldn't click and move where you are typing. Too bad no one but IBM is using them anymore. Every company is switching to the touchpads because users are too lazy to learn something a teeny bit more complicated. Probably the same reason we are losing mouse buttons. It's an outrage!!!
-- omegatron, Nov 20 2004



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