Today I tested a Packard Bell Easy Note BG45-U-300. After the smaller models in the Panasonic Toughbook series this is the only other laptop I know of that has a touchpad in the shape of a circle.
What are they thinking???!!!
In case it has escaped someone, the shape of a computer screen is rectangular. If you rarely move the mouse outside of the center of the screen - let’s say you never use the mouse to open the “File” menu in a desktop application - there isn’t really a problem. But don’t all of us move the mouse pointer to the corners of the screen every now and then? I know I do, and I did with the Easy Note I tested today and since I didn’t really look at where my finger was going, I inevitably pulled it outside of the “ring”. Annoying.
A circle shape is really not the best way of using the surface space, they could easily have fitted a bigger pad. The useful area becomes much smaller than if the touchpad was rectangular so you have to use more strokes to get get the mouse pointer where you want it . Annoying.
The only reason I can think of why they thought this was a good idea is that it looks better. But does it? And who cares? It’s a touchpad. The only thing we should care about is its functionality.
