I actually stopped using mine a long time ago, and every time I get a new laptop, I remove it. Not because I hate it, but because I like it. Even after modifying the acceleration settings to where I like them though, the repeated stress of pushing on the nub eventually start to develop dendonitis in my finger.
After I’ve trained myself to only use the trackpad I put the nub back on. Partly because it’s so iconic it just looks wrong without it, and partly because I want to avoid conversations with guest about my growing clit graveyard (although I guess I could just not leave them in a cup on the coffee table where everyone can see)
I prefer it over trackpad, honestly. Just adjust the acceleration.
Edit: looks like they remove it only from Aura line. Please stub your toe somewhere, author.
“Can’t find the clit-mouse. Damn.”
Engage giant-marble-headstone
R I P
It’s super handy on my X1c 6thgen when my trackpad randomly freezes about once a month and I need to shut everything down and reboot. Bah.
Open to tips for fixing the trackpad if anyone has that on their radar!
me on a date
removing the nub from ThinkPad is like removing cheese from a cheeseburger.
it’ll still be a laptop, but a nubless ThinkPad will always look wrong.
Next thing you know they’ll put the Ctrl back in the right place.
Control back in the right place… where you can press it with your left pinkie without taking your fingers off the home keys? Rather than where useless caps lock is just wasting space?
this is actually wonderful ive been debating what to do with my caps lock thank you
Escape next to 1 is also underappreciated. It’s how vi was meant to be used.
Thankfully it can be swapped in bios
Just learning this now, I’m not sure if I should cry.
I almost didn’t buy a ThinkPad back in the day before I leaned that you can swap it. Such a stupid design
I also randomly saw today that framework has the opposite option in BIOS. For the people that migrate over
Those who don’t use it are only mildly annoyed by it, but those who use it will raise holy hell now that it’s gone.
Is it actually usable? I never owned one
Used one for a few years and I loved it:
- it’s precise, you can really aim small UI elements
- It is paired with actual buttons, index on the nub and thumb on the buttons, so no weird gestures to right click
- It is very quick to switch from keyboard to mouse, your hands nearly don’t move
But, there’s no mouse wheel or scroll gesture and maintaining pressure on the nub is maybe more tiring than a trackpad.
It’s also very chill to do things 1-handed with (no euphemism).
I use a mechanical keyboard with one on my desktop, I actually use it quite a lot.
That sounds awesome! Is it a Unicomp EnduraPro or is there some other option?
TEX out of Taiwan makes a few.
I think it works fantastically well. I personally like it much better than a touchpad. It lets me move the pointer without taking my hands away from typing home position.
It’s not just for decoration. You can use it as a legitimate pointing device. Nudging it will move the mouse cursor and tapping it with your fingernail is clicking.
It takes some getting used to but you can definitely use it for normal office tasks if you wanted to. That being said, I still personally prefer a mouse. But I have known some people who like using the nipple.
It’s fine. Takes some time to get used to. Some people really love it, but I don’t think it’s that great.
I can never get mine to go where I want first try, and sometimes the pointer drifts on its own after I take my finger off.
It feels a lot like using a game controller to control your mouse, if you’ve ever used Joy2Key or similar programs.
Dunno. I have one on my semifake E580 and I just used it to check if it works. It’s a bit awkward for me.
Oh yeah.
It isn’t a dealbreaker for me, but it really is nice. It takes getting used to, but it cuts down on the need to move to the touchpad or mouse. If you’re working in tight quarters, or have mobility issues, or hand issues, it can end up being a major improvement. It’s a ymmv thing of course, but I end up using it more than I thought I would when writing.
i don’t care about the nub on mine, but i do care a lot about the left/right click buttons that take up so much of the trackpad area. just gimme a bigass trackpad.
Now put the clit mouse into a framework chassis (the relevant patents are now expired)
Put it on a handheld PC plz
about a million years ago I had an HTC phone that had a trackball mouse thingy. that was cool. i think it was HTC desire, not sure.
My work laptop is not Lenovo but has a nub. It’s works great when I have work gloves on, since the touchpad doesn’t respond well with those.
Who has still with nub?
me too my Thinkpad E14 gen 2 is very tough and that trackpoint helps me a lot.
I just give my trackpad the tip. works pretty well. keep some ChapStick around though.
The new ones were garbage anyways. Mine is stuck at a polling rate of 10hz, and the acceleration is god awful
No more laptop clit
Is nothing sacred anymore‽
Now it looks like…every other generic laptop.
I’m not a huge fan of the nub, I personally have always found it in the middle of the way. I do understand it’s use, though.
A few years ago, Lenovo released some Thinkpads without the three buttons above the touchpad. After a lot of pushback, they stopped making those. They also tried using Linux-hostile components for a while. My impression is that Lenovo is on an inexorable enshittification trajectory, but backs off a bit when pressured, only to make some other stupid decision next time.
I use the “control nipple” occasionally, but I use the physical mouse buttons every day always.
Even though they’re slightly oddly positioned to use with the touchpad, they’re a million times better than not having any buttons at all.
