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system76 / laptop-suggestions

Repo to collect laptop design suggestions and feedback as issues.
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Thinkpad style trackpoint #25

Open rik-shaw opened 4 years ago

rik-shaw commented 4 years ago

Description of the feature

A good trackpad is valuable, but many prefer the thinkpad-style "trackpoint" ("joystick" between the ghb keys plus physical buttons below the spacebar). Don't follow the apple way of only having a "magic trackpad". Lenovo briefly followed the "no real buttons" path on their t#40 series, but corrected their ways starting again with the t#50 series and onward.

mtkunkel commented 4 years ago

Yasss!!! No idea what is patented / tied up from an IP standpoint. It is much preferred to avoid using the mouse at all (keyboard nav) but when necessary, it's the trackpoint and 3 buttons under the space-bar. Middle-click is best click!

Kokokokoka commented 4 years ago

Also it would be great if it had thinklight/backlit keyboard too.

styr0 commented 4 years ago

To my knowledge, no other System76 laptop has this yet. While I prefer to use keyboard only and no pointing device, I do not always have that luxury when I need to access remote Windows boxes/VMs, etc., to use proprietary GUI software that actively thwarts accessibility.

Thus, lack of a pointing stick is my main dealbreaker. If System76 came out with ThinkPad-style TrackPoint on the new laptops, or any of most existing models, that would put such laptops at the top of my list for new purchases. I would even settle for another type of pointing stick if necessary.

This should at least be an option (possibly along with a miniature trackball!). Bonus points if there is a completely trackpad-less option :)

mntwinsfan commented 4 years ago

I would also love to see the trackpoint added (just like Lenovo). This is the biggest thing holding me back from buying System76. I can't use the trackpad and won't buy anything without.

fanhir commented 4 years ago

I would also very seriously consider a System76 laptop if a trackpoint is available.

zearen commented 4 years ago

I have a Wild Dog and a Galago Pro, and am very happy with them. I've been on the fence about replacing my old Galago Pro with one that supports USB charging, but a System76 laptop with a track point would push me over the edge and I'd buy it immediately, and maybe another for my girlfriend, too ^.^

emanuelserpa commented 4 years ago

system76 is losing money for not having a laptop with trackpoint.

Many thinkpad enthusiasts would love that.

GustafNilstadius commented 4 years ago

system76 is losing money for not having a laptop with trackpoint.

Many thinkpad enthusiasts would love that.

I'm currently looking to replace my old Thinkpad and want to like the Syste76 laptops, but trackpoint is a requirement as I'm a long time Thinkpad user. I hope to see a trackpoint System76 laptop in the future.

pedrib commented 4 years ago

+1

achkasov commented 3 years ago

Yasss!!! No idea what is patented / tied up from an IP standpoint. It is much preferred to avoid using the mouse at all (keyboard nav) but when necessary, it's the trackpoint and 3 buttons under the space-bar. Middle-click is best click!

The trackpoint patent has expired in 2017: Google Patents: Trackpoint device - Lenovo PC International Ltd

andreigatea commented 3 years ago

I think this should be a consideration especially now that System76 will build their laptops in-house instead of basing them on Clevo designs. I would certainly buy one in a heartbeat!

parcelcat commented 3 years ago

Yes, please include a pointing stick on the keyboard, along with three physical buttons (left, middle, and right) directly under the spacebar. A keyboard equipped with a pointing stick is the most efficient tool for handling tasks that combine mouse and keyboard input.

morganchristiansson commented 3 years ago

image

deepfire commented 3 years ago

Any official response at all? : -)

leviport commented 3 years ago

Any official response at all? : -)

There won't be official responses to these suggestions, but they are all seen and appreciated.

Yethal commented 3 years ago

Literally the only reason I haven't switched over from a ThinkPad yet is the lack of trackpoint and mouse keys on S76 machines

asitha-sena commented 3 years ago

Lack of a track pointer is the only reason I'm not switching from a ThinkPad. Hope it gets added eventually.

eckelj commented 2 years ago

I need a trackpoint, it's THE one condition that I have for laptops. have been using them since my first TP and besides... the nice stuff you have, the only aspect that prevents me from placing the order.

ghost commented 1 year ago

I can only really be happy with a touchpad for casual use. When it comes to productivity tasks like video/image/audio editing, word processing, and writing code, I can't imagine not having a trackpoint. God knows how much more life I can squeeze out of my beloved Dell D620. It's been an awesome nerds laptop and daily driver for such a long time. But I'm starting to desire a laptop that I can just buy, use, and not worry about. And it must respect the user which rules out Windows, Mac, and ChromeOS laptops. System76 is perfect because they make both the hardware and software... well, would be perfect if there was an offering with a trackpoint.

jebotz commented 1 year ago

Upvote from me. It's the main reason I still stick to Thinkpads. Although Apple's trackpad comes cose to converting me, I still prefer to keep my hands on the home keys, and in any case I'm a Linux guy and MacOS leaves me meh.

Other key issues for me are keyboard quality (Thinkpads' has been going downhill, but even so is still better than most) and easy availability of replacement parts (keyboard and battery mostly).

parcelcat commented 1 year ago

The HP Dev One laptop that System76 collaborated on was good in a lot of ways. Including a pointing stick made the laptop more useful. On the other hand, the HP Dev One only had 2 mouse buttons directly underneath the spacebar instead of 3, which meant that there was no easy way to scroll the screen by moving the pointing stick while holding down the (nonexistent) middle mouse button.

If System76 includes a pointing stick in its in-house laptop, that pointing stick should come with 3 physical mouse buttons (left, middle, and right) to accommodate the scrolling feature.

happy-dude commented 1 year ago

Seeing the following tweets

https://twitter.com/carlrichell/status/1662112169360773121 https://twitter.com/jeremy_soller/status/1662552408906694657

makes me think the System76 team is taking a trackpoint/pointing-stick keyboard seriously for Virgo.

I have an idea for the color: "stardust" When I imagine it, its some mix of grey-gold-brown. The System76 brand/logo already uses Pantone 137 (#FFA300), which seems perfect and fits with the established brand identity.

EDIT: the colors used for the team robots, also make for a unique set of trackpoint colors -- purple and blue!

mkelly1993 commented 1 year ago

I'm in the market for a new laptop and very much want go System76, but the lack of a TrackPoint prevents me from making the jump from Lenovo.

While still hopeful, I'm dubious we (TrackPoint aficionados) are a large enough market to justify the cost of engineering a new laptop design (and possibly covering licensing fees or whatever--not sure what the patent/IP situation is with the TrackPoint tech currently). I wait with bated breath...

benkay86 commented 11 months ago

+1 for trackpoint, recently tried a laptop with trackpad only and hated it. All of my future laptops will have trackpoints.

oldlaptop commented 8 months ago

I have no clue what the "Virgo" is or is meant to be, beyond this photo: https://fosstodon.org/@carlrichell/110571781656976874

If it is indeed a laptop, and ships with that (assuming reasonably good TrackPoint hardware behind it), you won't be able to take my money fast enough.

wdbm commented 2 months ago

Three buttons and a pointing stick.