Tech Files
A Few “Pointers” for Your Laptop
When you compare laptop computers with desktop computers, some of the most obvious differences lie in the components that make up the user interface. The screens on laptops are smaller, and they use different technology than bulky CRT monitors. Also, laptop keyboards are smaller, with fewer keys that often do double duty. Most noticeably, though, there’s no mouse!
Instead of a mouse, a laptop uses one of several kinds of built-in pointing devices. These devices do the job of a mouse—enabling you to navigate a pointer around the screen—while taking up less space.
The earliest Windows laptops used trackballs, often plugged in like a mouse and clipped to the side of the case. Other models with trackballs place them in front of the keyboard at edge of the case nearest the user, or behind the keyboard at the edge nearest the screen.
The next wave to hit the laptop market was IBM’s TrackPoint device, a pencil eraser-sized joystick situated in the center of the keyboard.
The TrackPoint enables you to move the pointer around without taking your fingers
away from the “home” typing position. You use a forefinger to
push the joystick around, and click or alternate-click using two buttons
below the spacebar. This type of pointing device has since been licensed
for use by other manufacturers, and it continues to appear on laptops today.
But by far the most common laptop pointing device found today is the touchpad—a flat, touch-sensitive pad just in front of the keyboard.
To operate a touchpad, you simply glide your finger across its surface to move the pointer, and tap the surface once or twice to single- or double-click. You can also click using buttons just below the pad.
Most people get the hang of this technique after just a few minutes of practice. The main advantage of the touchpad over previous laptop pointing devices is that it uses no moving parts—a fact that can really extend the life of a hard-working laptop.
Some modern laptops actually provide both a TrackPoint-type device and a touchpad, to give the user a choice. In the photo below, the joystick is blue; note also that there are two sets of buttons, one for the joystick and one for the touchpad.
If you’re looking into getting a laptop and you’re faced with lots of choices, by all means try out the various manufacturers’ pointing devices before you buy. You may find that the pointing devices on certain models are good enough (or bad enough) to influence your decision. If, on the other hand, you don’t have a lot of choice—say you’re using an old laptop that belongs to your employer, or your budget dictates that you buy a secondhand model—remember that if all else fails, you can always hook up a traditional mouse.