I bought this delightful slice 'o technology on Craigslist. It worked. I paid. Within a few days ( and already on the road ) I realized that something was amiss. While typing, the cursor would randomly be moved to another place in the document. Sometimes it would be moved OFF of the document.
This is unpredictable. Might happen 3 times in 100 words typed, might not happen for quite a while. It is, of course, insanely vexing. A few things about this. It almost NEVER if ever occurs while using AIM or any other messaging software.
It happens while using MS Word, or while writing posts on the Dope.
Now some new twist has been brought to the mix. I move the cursor to the bar at the top of a window and then holding down the bar, try to drag a window to another place in the laptop. When I released the bar, the window jumped back where it had been instead of staying put. ( While writing the word " another" just now, the cursor leapt up into the middle of the word “days” in the first graph… )
Is it zombies? Should I hurl this Macintosh PowerBook G4 Aluminum with IBM processor into the river? Or, well… I’m guessing the trackpad itself, or the trackpad driver, is wonky.
I’ll offer two things I’ve discovered with my Dell Latitude trackpad:
They do go bad and my mouse did mysteriously drift over the screen. Mine tended to go to the upper right corner. The trackpad had to be replaced.
It’s amazing how easy it is to drag (or tap) a thumb over the trackpad while simply typing and I do it all the time. Not a zombie trackpad but more a zombie thumb. Check for this before you resort to laptop surgery.
Yeah, I frequently bump the heel of my hand against the touchpad whenever I try to type on my laptop. It blops the cursor all over creation, so arch those fingers like a pianist!
My work laptop used to do this. New Toshiba Techra M3 and I had it docked, so the trackpad wasn’t in use. Still, it would drift to the left. Putting a finger on the touchpad would stop it, and then I could use the regular mouse just fine. It didn’t happen all the time, just periodically.
Trackpads are the work of the devil. I use my trackball mouse (doesn’t need to move) and turn the damn thing off. There is no way I can work with it on and not have the cursor skittering hither and yon.
Hmmmmm. The last few posts made me think about what I am doing right now. I’m on a plug- in keyboard and plug- in trackball. I believe, most surely, that this symptom does NOT arise when using this office set-up.
Only when flying on the laptop alone. Harrumph !! I’m-a gonna tape a sheet of paper over the laptop trackpad. In that manner, I can tell if it’s randomly re-placing the cursor because no peripherals are plugged in, or if somehow my meathooks are brushing against the üuber-sensitive trackpad.
If it IS that, I wonder what I can do. I use a Podium Pad that allows my hands to rest at an ergonomically-pleasing angle as I work. It also allows my hands not to fully rest upon the surface of the laptop as I tap away at the keys. Dunno that this hurts, but I use it all the time, and this symptom occurs.
Hmmmm.
Voyager, I do actually have an adorable little portable mouse that I use when traveling. Sometimes I use the machine ON my lap, and then the trackpad is vital. But frequently I am at a desk in a hotel, and use the mini-mouse. Still, my hands may brush the trackpad. NEAT idea- can I disable the trackpad?? Lemme look.
I cannot turn it off totally. I did just turn it off when a mouse is present. That should help a LOT.
Trackball user here, too (don’t need a surface!) and I HATE trackpads. The heels of my hands brush them when I type and move the cursor around and it drives me into a rage. I had a laptop that the trackpad couldn’t be disabled (even in the bios) and I ended up taping cardboard over it. I never, ever, ever, ever (did I mention ever?) use the trackpad. They’re evil.
Edited: I just finished reading the last couple of posts: paper is not enough. It has to be something thick. Cardboard works well.