Pictures of the ThinkPad X200 surface
By Nilay Patel 
posted Jun 18th 2008 10:47PM
posted Jun 18th 2008 10:47PM
[Thanks, Albert]
posted Jun 18th 2008 10:47PM
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No trackpad is a TOTAL dealbreaker. So close, so close. : (
I like the nub things. I just like them as a trackpad supplement, not a replacement
I used my Lenovo X60 for 2 years without having a trackpad. I NEVER MISSED IT.
Now I have a HP 6835nr...the trackpad is fine, but the thumbpoint is still better.
YOU NEVER MISSED IT?
He didn't miss it. Once you go nub, you never go back.
Should be called the Thinknipple.
I "Thinknipple" at least 2 hours a day.
HA-CHA-CHA-CHA!
another vote for the nup! much faster and more accurate once you master it.
i've got a t61, and i only use the track pad for the corner functions (middle click, maximize, etc.).
another vote for the trackpoint! i first used it on the old toshiba satellite laptops and haven't gone back! much faster, more control and i don't have to lift my hands off the keyboard to get the mouse functionality. though, that's small lie now that i've got my x61 tablet! anyway, i don't even use my trackpad on my work dell laptop.
Trackpoints are so far superior to touchpads that it's not even funny. Most people who actually take any time to learn how to use a Trackpoint will agree. It allows you to keep your hands on the keyboard, and is generally faster and more accurate than a touchpad. I really don't understand why more manufacturers don't offer nipples.
The best thing about it, is the middle mouse button.
You can't middle mouse click with a track pad!
(or at least I have never see one)
but the trackpad is used to scroll web pages and zoom...
you took it out?
so when you wanna scroll, you just.. use the DOWN key, or point the red nub thing towards the side of the windo----------
... *sigh*.... PCs... so quaint...
As a thinkpad user for over 10 years, I've always loved the touchpoint. Besides that, I've also been a Linux user for a long time, an the thinkpads have a proper middle button which is great for X copy/paste. I don't know how windows users get along without automatic copy buffers.
i own two thinkpads. t40 and t61. while i do like the nub, it has a tendency to trail after you let go of it sometimes. it may just be that i'm unlucky and managed to get two computers with this unique problem, which would make sense knowing my luck. but....i think they definitely need to have the trackpad there. i use both on a daily basis. i like the nub better, but i don't like when it trails. in those situations i have to switch over to the trackpad.
The first PC I owned was non GUI with no mouse. My first Windows computer was a notebook with the pointy stick. I had a bit of experience with a mouse in college but we used Macs. I can honestly say that the pointy stick is nice. The worst part about it was wearing out the tip and needing a replacement. But in operation, I liked it. I finally got used to using a trackpad with my newer notebooks but it took me a while. When I finally built a PC I had a helluva time getting used to using a mouse after all that pointy stick experience.
I think modern trackpads are pretty damn good, but I still look fondly upon the pointy stick. In a lot of ways, it's more handy than a trackpad.
Trackpoint FTW. I have *never* used the trackpad on my ThinkPad.
I never use the trackpad on my T61p. Trackpoint it much more accurate.
God damn. I had a really old Thinkpad that I used occasionally with a nub. But it was, well, old. All this love for the nub has me thinking maybe I should give it another solid go.
Also that's what she said.
Before I ever used one I thought wow that little stick thing is dumb who would use that. Bought a thinkpad and after getting used to it I HATE using trackpads over the nipple, I wish these things were standard on all laptops.
I almost forgot where's my mouse when I master that
And It's the best thing on to go
vote for trackpoint.
and to mike ahead, to scroll web page, we can press the "space". To scroll up, yes you learnt, "Shift + space".
TRACKPOINT FOREVER!!!
Soooo accurate compared to the pad.
Mouse > Nipple > Touch
Wow, I didn't think any new lappies came out with a nub since 1998.
You're kinda right: only a small percentage of the best lappies, such as ThinkPads, have nubs.
I kinda feel sorry for the millions of laptop owners who have no choice but to endure trackpads day-in day-out. There should be EU regulations to protect consumers.
LondonConsultant, I'm with you all the way. Yes, the touchpad is getting better for each year but I always feel a bit handicapped without the trackpoint. I truly feel sorry for all the people which will never be given to opportunity "to see the light" and use a trackpoint as compared to the touchpad.
If the loss of a trackpad makes you sad, you aren't a real Thinkpad user.
If you think being a "real Thinkpad user" is cool.....I guess you deserve to use that nipple mouse.
Amen, the loss of the trackpoint is the only reason I passed over the X300... this one on the other hand I might not...
Totally agree. I can't stand trackpads myself, and a major purchase decision for me is whether or not the notebook as a trackpoint device. That limits me to some Fujitsu computers and Thinkpads. This one's beyond sweet. I just hope it's not going to be a gazillion dollars.
when will Lenovo realise that there design is out dated and ugly, sure its good all the right specs but putting a nub on there without a trackpad and making all there laptops look exactly the same WTF!
Because bling doesn't help your laptop survive a 6 foot drop or make it more comfortable to use the keyboard.
Thinkpads are and always have been about function and comfort over styling. Which to someone like me who actually uses their computer for hours on end each day for actual work, there are no two more important factors.
People always gave IBM and now Lenovo a lot of shit over the beveled edges without realizing their purpose. When the computer is closed the lid is locked down in every direction, not just up and down like a lot of other manufacturers, so that if the laptop is dropped and lands on one of the upper corners, the entire machine receives and distributes the shock, and not just the screen, preventing it from breaking clean off which I have seen happen to a number of other brands of computers. Not to mention the beveled edges make using the computer comfortable by providing a soft edge to rest your wrists on unlike say the MacBook which has a practically razor sharp edge along the front of the computer.
Um, yea, I wish Lenovo would let die the old IBM idea of "a little clitoris in the middle of the keyboard is all you need". Well, I guess at least it will encourage me to use an external mouse, and save my wrists from carpal tunnel.
I didn't know you could neuter a laptop.
What a waste!
I might be one of the few but I hate touchpads to the point were I just plug in a USB mouse. I used an old IBM Thinkpad with one of these little rubber pointer things and I loved it. Touchpads are so overrated.
I won't lie though - if other companies mastered things like the two fingered scroll/two finger double click, these things would be far more useful across the board. I have a Macbook and have issues whenever I use standard PC trackpads because they are so cut-down in usability compared to their Mac brethren. However, I prefer the nipple to both.
I love the trackpoint over the pad. The trackpoint keeps your fingers on keyboard, its the perfect pointing device for ultraportables.
And yet business folk still need a towel and a new pair of pants after seeing new ThinkPad models. Aesthetics don't matter for shit, in this arena. They're the best machines for working on-the-go, period. And who the fuck is gonna be looking at my laptop? I'm one fine piece of man-ass, the chicks stare at me and not my computer.
I personally don't like using the IBM clitoris on my ThinkPad but if I used it more often and acclimated to it, I'm sure I'd get pro at it.
All the people who bash the nub obviously don't know how to use it. It's awesome.
Agreed 100%
It is the most ergonomic way to move the cursor around, your fingers dont leave home row..... it makes so much sense.
That and they give you multiple tips so that its nice and comfy for just about any finger style.
PS
Clack is an idiot. This is function over form.
Ive done the water bottle pour test, the drop test (oops), and certainly the battery life test. These things just work. And they do it with no fuss and the best ergonomics of any computer out there.
Those of us that need productivity apps dont care about your apple fan-boy crap... and I use a mac for photo editing.. you give people who like to use OSX a bad name.
Of course......that *MUST* be it!
Believe it or not, some people just don't like the nipple mouse. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with "not knowing how to use it" because let's face it, even John Graziano could use one at this point.
No kidding. I borrowed a nub-only ThinkPad from school, and once I got the hang of it, I loved it. It's so much easier to interface with a variety of programs using the nub than the trackpad method. Really, it isn't even close.
My next laptop will be a Lenovo, and the nub is a big reason why.
damn...i got my hopes up that u and ur ridiculous apple-fanboyism left engadget....
Does the "" logo have to be so prominent on the lid of the laptop and it even lights up?
Yeah that thinkpad logo is nearly as bad as having it smack in the middle and glowing,,,
I was lucky enough to use a laptop back in middle school. All of them were cheap, but servicable IBM Thinkpads. They all had trackpoint and touchpads, but I have to say, the trackpoint was definitely awesome.
A lot better than fiddling with the stupid touchpad.
It's a brand, and a product line. Don't pretend like Apple doesn't pull this shit. Prominent backlit Apple logo to broadcast how much of a fuck other people should give about the machine you're using? Mac Book X [where "X"= (null), Pro, Air] printed on the machine? OS X in a business environment makes me want to break out in all caps LULZ. ThinkPads aren't targeted at the "I blog at the Coffee Bean on my Mac Book whilst rocking my 'Castro hat and American Apparel attire"-crowd. ThinkPad users be raking in the $$$$$$ hand-over-fist whilst the hipsters are one latte short of overdrafting their checking accounts.
Come on, scro'. The conversation was going well enough. No need to stick out the bait to purposely garner Low Rank votes.
I have a Compaq Evo with one of those nipple/nub/clit/point-ers and I detest the day I have to finally let it go and get a new laptop with a touchpad. Maybe all hope is not lost after all... What's the video out on this?
All thinkpads have the awesome thinkpoint.
Damn. I misread the title.
I was hoping for it to be the "ThinkPad X200 Surface" with a multitouch screen. To be used for chatting up girls in bars and ordering them drinks.
You now what's interesting? The contrasting attitudes towards trolls at different sites. Over at Jizzmodo, the banhammer was dropped for a troll merely baiting the question "LULWUTSAZUNE?" No warning, just did it. Banhammered like a bitch.
People can choose how to react to bait, I'll concede that point, but absolutely no effort is being made at THIS site to preempt the disintegration of civility.
"Trolls? Fuck it." --- Engadget