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What is the thing on a common laptop called that replaces a mouse?

Question #113062. Asked by rfcneil.
Last updated Jul 17 2021.

serpa
Answer has 5 votes
Currently Best Answer
serpa
16 year member
2369 replies

Answer has 5 votes.

Currently voted the best answer.
A touchpad (also trackpad) is a pointing device consisting of specialized surface that can translate the motion and position of a user's fingers to a relative position on screen. They are a common feature of laptop computers and also used as a substitute for a computer mouse where desk space is scarce.

link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchpad

Feb 23 2010, 3:14 PM
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Juggernaut314 star
Answer has 3 votes
Juggernaut314 star
15 year member
98 replies avatar

Answer has 3 votes.
While I would agree that touchpad seem to be becoming more prevalent, there's still quite a few out there using what is called a pointing stick.

From link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pointing_stick:

"The pointing stick (trademarked by IBM as the TrackPoint & by Synaptics as the Touchstyk) is an isometric joystick used as a pointing device (compare especially touchpad and trackball). It was invented by research scientist Ted Selker. It is present on many brands of laptops, including IBM's line of ThinkPad laptops (now made by Lenovo), Toshiba Tecra laptops, HP business notebooks and on Dell Latitudes under the name of Track Stick."

Feb 23 2010, 4:57 PM
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looney_tunes star
Answer has 5 votes
looney_tunes star
18 year member
3287 replies avatar

Answer has 5 votes.
My latest laptop has no touchpad (thank goodness, I hated it and disabled it instantly on getting a laptop), just the TrackPoint device (commonly referred to as a joystick), which is fantastic - right in the middle of the keyboard, so you can use a finger of either hand to control it, a thumb of either the same or the opposite hand to hit the 'button', and don't have to lift your hand out of typing position to do so! Note the red button in the keyboard on this picture

link https://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/lenovo-thinkpad-x61s


Response last updated by gtho4 on Jul 17 2021.
Feb 23 2010, 8:40 PM
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