I still use a mouse with my laptops. The button-less track pads are junk. Most programs are not optimized for touchscreen use and I don’t want fingerprints all over my screen anyways. The Thinkpad trackpoints are OK, but they are not usable in CAD software that needs 3 buttons and a scroll wheel to navigate.
I use a MacBook Pro at work, and supposedly it has a fantastic touchpad, yet I use a mouse when I can. I don’t even do CAD, I just don’t like trackpads. I use a Logitech Master MX 3 at work, which has two scroll wheels, back/forward buttons, and a thumb button, and it works well. At home, I have the Triathlon, which I actually prefer because I seem to constantly hit the side scroll wheel on accident.
I love my personal ThinkPad with a TrackPoint though. It’s great for pretty much everything except CAD. There are three buttons, so it can scroll, it’s just awkward to switch between scrolling and rotating. When I mess with modeling, it’s on my desktop with a proper mouse anyway.
The Apple trackpad has remained in my opinion the best one ever developed and continues to improve generation to generation. They lost the script on keyboards for a hot minute there, and their mice have always been horrible to the point of deliberate non-functionality, but those trackpads are amazing. Their external trackpad has also come a long way in the past few years.
I still use a mouse with my laptops. The button-less track pads are junk. Most programs are not optimized for touchscreen use and I don’t want fingerprints all over my screen anyways. The Thinkpad trackpoints are OK, but they are not usable in CAD software that needs 3 buttons and a scroll wheel to navigate.
I use a MacBook Pro at work, and supposedly it has a fantastic touchpad, yet I use a mouse when I can. I don’t even do CAD, I just don’t like trackpads. I use a Logitech Master MX 3 at work, which has two scroll wheels, back/forward buttons, and a thumb button, and it works well. At home, I have the Triathlon, which I actually prefer because I seem to constantly hit the side scroll wheel on accident.
I love my personal ThinkPad with a TrackPoint though. It’s great for pretty much everything except CAD. There are three buttons, so it can scroll, it’s just awkward to switch between scrolling and rotating. When I mess with modeling, it’s on my desktop with a proper mouse anyway.
FreeCAD has a navigation method specifically for trackpads
The Apple trackpad has remained in my opinion the best one ever developed and continues to improve generation to generation. They lost the script on keyboards for a hot minute there, and their mice have always been horrible to the point of deliberate non-functionality, but those trackpads are amazing. Their external trackpad has also come a long way in the past few years.