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

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

#71

Post by Encosia »

quinndupont wrote: post #52

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…

It really depends on the hardware you choose. I switched from a MacBook Air to a Samsung ATIV Book Plus (what a name...) and can't say that I've noticed a difference between the trackpads.

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

#72

Post by RandallBrown »

overgard wrote: post #68
quinndupont wrote: post #52

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…

I don't know that apple gets this right either. (I have a macbook). The actual tracking feels fantastic and precise, and it has a nice texture, but I /hate/ how they refuse to put real buttons below it. Things like "right mouse drag" which I use all the time become a nightmare, and the whole "no buttons" thing just seems like it's putting aesthetics over functionality.

I love the lack of buttons. It makes it much much easier to click on things since I don't have to precisely hit a button. I don't think I've ever used a right click drag for anything, but it seems easy enough to do on my macbook pro. Just click with two fingers and drag.

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

#73

Post by quinndupont »

aftbit wrote: post #64
quinndupont wrote: post #52

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…

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.

I said the same thing at the start too, and after months of use I never managed to re-train myself (although, maybe those habits run deep!)

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

#74

Post by cturner »

krick wrote: 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?

New thinkpads from the older lines are good. The original x1 carbon is glorious if you can find them still. But all the latest thinkpad models are junk - awful trackpad, bizarre keyboard design decisions. Yeah macs don't work too well for me either. I will try to ride my x1 forward and hopefully in a couple of years the google Chromebooks will be strong Linux options.

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

#75

Post by tomaskafka »

ceejayoz wrote: post #62
krick wrote: 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?

No idea how solid it is, but there's always the truly hilariously named HP Envy 14" if you want something that looks like a Macbook with a Windows button. http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/us/en/mdp/Lapt...

No. I don't know about Envy, but I made a mistake of buying Samsung's MBP13 clone (np700z3a) once.

It had awesome specs on paper (same CPU, GPU, RAM, larger HDD, 14" 1600x900 LCD instead of 13" 1280x800 in a same body size, 2/3 price of MBP), but in reality, I'd be better off buying used MBP. Or used Dell Latitude/top line IBM.

Drivers. They suck, and never got updated. Wobbly plastic body that cracked in a few places during normal laptop use. Keyboard backlight that is awesome unless the system doesn't toss a coin on resume from sleep and decide that this time you'll have to type blind. Battery life between 2-3 hrs instead of promised-on-the-box 4-5 hours. Broadcom wifi adapter that slows to crawl on Windows 8.1+, with no fix from the manufacturer (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows8_1-...).

And I must't leave out the cooling that is significantly louder than on any MBP I used.

Ugh...

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

#76

Post by IBM »

krick wrote: 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?

Of course it's possible that no one makes good laptops anymore. All you have to do is take a look at the economics of the business. It's low margin and the PC business isn't growing like it used to. OEMs are rightfully looking at smartphones and tablets to allocate their capital to. Lots of OEMs have exited or are in the process of exiting the PC business (Sony, Toshiba, Samsung, HP).

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/06/sony-vaio-...

http://www.crn.com/news/mobility/300074158/samsung-to-exit-e...

http://online.wsj.com/articles/hewlett-packard-plans-to-brea...

http://www.toshiba.co.jp/about/press/2014_09/pr1801.htm

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

#77

Post by tkmcc »

gioele wrote: post #56
krick wrote: 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?

Samsung Series 9, now ATIV. No longer sold in EU.

Apparently Samsung's leaving the non-Chromebook laptop market worldwide in 2015. My ATIV Book 9 Plus has been awesome (besides the horrible bundled drivers and software) but I'm not sure what I could happily replace it with at this point besides a Surface Pro.

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

#78

Post by joelhaasnoot »

tomaskafka wrote: post #75
ceejayoz wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No idea how solid it is, but there's always the truly hilariously named HP Envy 14" if you want something that looks like a Macbook with a Windows button. http://store.hp.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/us/en/mdp/Lapt...

No. I don't know about Envy, but I made a mistake of buying Samsung's MBP13 clone (np700z3a) once. It had awesome specs on paper (same CPU, GPU, RAM, larger HDD, 14" 1600x900 LCD instead of 13" 1280x800 in a same body size, 2/3 price of MBP), but in reality, I'd be better off buying used MBP. Or used Dell Latitude/top line IBM. Drivers. They suck, and never got updated. Wobbly plastic body that cracked in a few place…

Don't worry - atleast in Europe, Samsung got out of the laptop business, except for models with their own ARM or x86 clone hardware

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

#79

Post by wtallis »

dagw wrote: post #49
Swizec wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For $3500 why not just buy a Mac?

One reason is that Apple doesn't sell laptops with decent graphics cards. Apple also maxes out at 16 GB of RAM. Another reason is that some people like larger screens and Apple has stopped offering that.

On the other hand, all of those features tend to result in machines that stretch the definition of laptop and usually land themselves into what used to be called "luggables". Even Apple's 17" MacBook Pro was 6.6 pounds and 15.5 inches wide, and if you triple the TDP of the GPU, double the number of memory slots, and increase the battery and cooling proportionately you've got something that can only be transported with special purpose luggage.

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

#80

Post by buro9 »

krick wrote: 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've been a Linux user for as long as I remember, and most of that has been on a Thinkpad.

However I've just joined CloudFlare and they asked the simple question of whether I wanted a Lenovo or something Apple.

Having looked, I cannot think of a reason I should carry on with Thinkpads. They're just not what they used to be with trackpads which are unsatisfying, battery life that isn't as long as the Apples, non-Retina displays, and so on.

I chose a MacBook Pro, my first ever Apple computer. I picked it up on Friday, and I'm blown away. It's just awesome in every way.

If I can get used to the weird and subtle ways that the keyboard shortcuts and keyboard layout is different I may even be a permanent convert.

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