# How does my laptop finger pad mouse thingy work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-my-laptop-finger-pad-mouse-thingy-work/406147>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 31, 2007, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-my-laptop-finger-pad-mouse-thingy-work/406147 "2007-05-31T01:31:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-my-laptop-finger-pad-mouse-thingy-work/406147/21 "2011-05-05T19:59:15Z")

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> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> But your overall goal of using the trackpad as a tablet will disappoint you. Tablets provide absolute positioning of the cursor - when you put the pen in the exact middle of the tablet, the cursor will always move to the exact middle of the screen.

I realize this is old, but since the thread is open and it’s bugging me…

You can set a tablet to have relative positioning (I think Wacom calls it mouse mode, although since I’m not at home I can’t check). I use it that way because the other way throws me off.

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**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\
**Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-my-laptop-finger-pad-mouse-thingy-work/406147/22 "2011-05-05T20:41:56Z")

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> [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](#):
>
> You stroke it. And then someplace there’ll be buttons that equal right click and left click. Their location varies per laptop.

[Most guys can’t even FIND the loading slot!](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6PsVdg4TG8)

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**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\
**Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-my-laptop-finger-pad-mouse-thingy-work/406147/23 "2011-05-06T18:39:46Z")

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For winters, you can get [glove pins.](http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/cellphone/e76e/) It snaps through the tip of the glove, letting you still use a touchscreen.

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