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Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

forum.notebookreview.com

101–110 of 215 posts

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#101
post #50

So, really, is there anything left to buy except MacBooks anymore? I'm not a big fan of Apple, and would have to go through all sorts of nuisances to install Linux on it anyway, but the longer I search for solid 13" laptop, the more horrified I become. It cannot be that nobody makes nice laptops, can it?

I got a solid Dell, full aluminium, 16GB memory, 1TB SSD, FullHD laptop and all is fine. I never liked Dell laptop because i had some unpleasant experiences years ago with a cheaper model but this one feels great. I used to buy Sony but over they years their quality went down very much (as well as Lenovos/IBM).

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#102
post #81
post #50

So, really, is there anything left to buy except MacBooks anymore? I'm not a big fan of Apple, and would have to go through all sorts of nuisances to install Linux on it anyway, but the longer I search for solid 13" laptop, the more horrified I become. It cannot be that nobody makes nice laptops, can it?

System76 always looks quite good, especially if you don't need windows. https://system76.com/laptops/model/galu1

Has anyone owned one of these and can share their experience?

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#103

In no way am I trying to incite Mac vs. PC, but after years of Apple laptops I grew bored with their aluminum fascism and decided (last year) to buy a top-of-the-line Thinkpad. A couple of months later, taking a huge economic hit, I sold the Thinkpad and returned to Apple. I simply could not handle the trackpad (and I gave up on the weird Thinkpad nubbin back in the early 2000s). I quite literally felt like I had a d…

Ex Mac user and now ThinkPad user here.

The MBP pad makes my fingers sore after a couple of hours as the surface is slightly abrasive. The Apple wireless mouse thing nips my fingers when I press it giving me sore fingers plus it weighs and ton and the gestures make my wrist hurt. The ThinkPad nipple mouse works pretty well as it's in the home row but my hands ache after a couple of hours. The trackpad on the ThinkPad X201 I use is tiny and useless so I turned it off.

Solutions for me:

1. I bought a Logitech M185 wireless mouse for £8. I am happier than I've ever been with this. It's orders of magnitude better than any other mouse I've used.

2. I use Windows and the keyboard where possible. It's really easy to drive windows from the keyboard entirely unlike OSX which requires this dude's hands: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkyZGZRnQb4 ... plus the editing system is inconsistent and wonky in some OSX apps.

Yes forget about the new features. Buy a wireless mouse and use the thinkpad's wonderful keyboard more.

That worked for me and yes I did feel like I had a degenerative neuromuscular disease as well!

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#104
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apart from the things other people here already mentioned. The speakers are the worst i have ever heard. I don't have high demands on laptop speakers to start with but this is way below any standards. Music you can just forget about and even in voip calls it's hard to hear what people are saying. And even when they are off they are bad! They keep sending out a faint white static noise, i first thought it's the fan bu…

I forgot about this! Oh yeah. Their headphone jack is pretty flimsy too, but it seems to be on most laptops. I'm pretty much resigned to using a USB sound card/headphone amp these days.

and on top of that most thinkpads have switched to integrated mic/headphone combo jacks rather than separate ports.

it's old fashioned, but I prefer them to be separated.

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#105

In no way am I trying to incite Mac vs. PC, but after years of Apple laptops I grew bored with their aluminum fascism and decided (last year) to buy a top-of-the-line Thinkpad. A couple of months later, taking a huge economic hit, I sold the Thinkpad and returned to Apple. I simply could not handle the trackpad (and I gave up on the weird Thinkpad nubbin back in the early 2000s). I quite literally felt like I had a d…

For personal use I am apple all the way but I must admit that the HP probook I have at work actually is a quite nice machine. Drivers seem reasonable and the hardware is good too.

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#106
post #100

In no way am I trying to incite Mac vs. PC, but after years of Apple laptops I grew bored with their aluminum fascism and decided (last year) to buy a top-of-the-line Thinkpad. A couple of months later, taking a huge economic hit, I sold the Thinkpad and returned to Apple. I simply could not handle the trackpad (and I gave up on the weird Thinkpad nubbin back in the early 2000s). I quite literally felt like I had a d…

How do you manage to type on Apple laptop keyboards though? For a serious typist, Thinkpad's keyboard feel is just beyond any comparison - especially on the older models.

I had a serious Mac typing problem. I had a T61 and got seduced by a 2011 MBP. Liked it for about 3 months and then realised I couldn't type properly on it and that it was knackering my productivity. Also as I'm in the UK, the keyboard map is totally unlike other UK keyboard which makes it difficult to move to and from other machines and use remote desktop software.

Back on an X201 and life is good.

My wife still uses the 2011 MBP and hates it for typing on as well but she doesn't like black laptops, so her funeral!

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#107
Imagine: A Thinkpad x/t/w with the old non-chiclet Keyboard without their "new" Layout, old-sytle Trackpad/Pointer with physical Buttons, a non-low-voltage Haswell with 2 RAM Slots, capable of containing at least 16 Gigs of Memory, a removable, non-integrated Battery, proper Intel-Chipsets and their LED-backlit Display in the old magesium-style Body with aluminium Hinges and the old mechanical display closing Mechanism. And the old, yellow Powerconnector. And the a Thinklight. And ..

I simply do not get why Lenovo has made these changes. My wildest guess would be that MS & Intel has pushed/forced Vendors into their "Ultrabook"-Model.

And yet, for all these Sonys, Samsungs and HPs, it could be this simple.

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#108
post #11

Ignoring the trackpad angle...the idea of ramping up the CPU on scroll does make some sense. If you think about smartphones...the first place people bitch about lag is scrolling. Thats likely what the engineer was thinking about when they linked trackpad to CPU like that.

Thats mostly because Android used to have a really bad vsync/input synchronization before project butter[1] - the system had anywhere between 0 and 16.7ms to render the entire screen (which means easily No matter how fast the components, scroll input events would often happen 1ms before rendering time and a frame would have to be skipped, causing choppiness.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8m9sHdyXnE

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#109

In no way am I trying to incite Mac vs. PC, but after years of Apple laptops I grew bored with their aluminum fascism and decided (last year) to buy a top-of-the-line Thinkpad. A couple of months later, taking a huge economic hit, I sold the Thinkpad and returned to Apple. I simply could not handle the trackpad (and I gave up on the weird Thinkpad nubbin back in the early 2000s). I quite literally felt like I had a d…

Incidentally, as a lifelong PC user every time I have to use a Mac touchpad (which is quite often since a lot of my colleagues have them) I want to throw the light and shiny piece of junk out the window. I don't understand how you people use those things. As a recent Thinkpad convert I've actually switched exclusively to the Trackpoint too, but the touchpad is perfectly fine to me, I just prefer not moving my hands off the keyboard.

Re: Why Asus trackpad driver sets the CPU speed at maximum during scroll

#110
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a big part of this is just personal preference. I've never used a Mac until a few weeks ago (for work), and I'm dying to return to my X220 or W530 trackpad. The giant glass pad is sticky and hard to use, and the scrolling gestures feel wrong to me. I've solved it by carrying a small external mouse in my laptop bag, and by using my MBP with a mechanical switch keyboard and a Logitech mouse 90% of the day.

The trackpad should never feel sticky. Something is wrong if it does. My MacBook Pro trackpad feels as smooth as my phone (2009)

I think trackpads on new Macbooks tend to be a little sticky until they smooth out over a week or two.
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