Mac Book Pro purchase (1 Viewer)

I was at London Drugs this afternoon about to lay down my plastic for a MBP. When I was waiting for some help, I was checking out my new toy and found that I just could NOT get used to that track pad. Not havng a mouse was just too big a change. Of course I can always plug in a mouse, but that sort of defeats the portability of a laptop.

How long did it take you to get used to the trackpad on your first laptop?

I think you might want to get a mini USB wireless mouse, I was never 100% used to the trackpad when I had my HP laptop, and the mouse saved me sometimes. You can slip it easily into your laptop case and they're not bulky at all.

It took me awhile to get used to the trackpad on my first laptop having being used to mice or the 'nub' on IBM laptops...but I love the trackpad on the MacBook Pro. That said unless I'm roaming the house with it I've always got my MX510 plugged into it though there are things the trackpad does better then the mouse and vice versa so even with the mouse plugged in I still find myself using the touch pad occasionally. (two finger scrolling kicks arshe!)

I'm not a trackpad fan either, but if you're buying any laptop these days you're pretty much stuck with them. That said, the trackpad on my MBP is FAR superior to any other I have worked with. Be sure to go into System Preferences-Keyboard & Mouse and experiment with the Trackpad settings. You might find it more comfortable if you adjust the tracking speed. Also, be sure to turn on scrolling and the "two-finger tap for secondary click" option to really get the most out of it.

Despite the MBP trackpad being best-of-breed, I still use a wireless mouse with my machine most of the time. Remember, if you get a Bluetooth mouse you can avoid having to plug in a USB wireless dongle (check for compatability first).

Honestly, the trackpad was the easiest part of the switch for me. I love it. I'm blown away by how natural feeling that Apple trackpad system feels to me.

I'm shopping for a keyboard and mouse, and will switch back when I've found what I'm looking for. But until then, I really like the trackpad on my MBP.

Sorry you're having a tough time with it. Everyone's got their own hangups (I still stumble around in the Finder, trying to remember my alphabet since I can't arrange by File Type anymore.)

I'd say just get a small bluetooth mouse. I hate trackpads too, and I carried a fullsize usb corded mouse with my laptop. The minor inconvenience overcame the hate I had for the trackpad.

CJ

Alright! Today I went back and bought myself a MacBook Pro!! I am LOVING it!!

Along with it, I bought a Logitech Vx Revolution mouse.

This setup is VERY cool.

question though... my wrists are resting on the keyboard beside, and partially on the trackpad. Do you guys use anything to clean or protect the front part of the keyboard?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I think the Mac Mini must go now...

On a side note, this mouse is pretty darn cool. I haven't installed the cd, which no doubt gives functionality to the mouse buttons, but scrolling is super smooth!

Paul,

Congrats on your new purchase! That Macbook Pro is the Rolls-Royce
of notebooks.

I just ordered the VX Revolution for my Macbook Pro and the MX
revolution for my Mac Pro. Both should arrive by Wednesday. From
all the reviews I have read, they are beautiful mice!

Thanks Ron, it's good to get back in the game, and I'm LOVING it thus far!

Question for you all: I normally leave my desktop on all the time. 24/7. I'd never shut it down unless there was a software push.

This MacBook Pro gets hot (yes, I've heard this is common and nothing to worry about)... REALLY hot. So do you folks generally leave your MBP turned on?

Thanks!

Paul,

I turn mine off nightly.

However, when I know I'll need fast access to it the following
morning, I put it in SLEEP mode. Just as good as turning it off.

I leave my MBP on 24/7. It only gets hot when in active use -- it's the CPU usage the generates the heat. It doesn't get hot when idling or sleeping. The energy save is set to sleep the harddrive, dim the display and sleep the computer after certain lengths of inactivity.

Thank you. I did not have 'show details' checked in the energy saver preferences. I see it now.

Likewise. I don't travel on work much, and when I did a few months ago I made it a point to bring a small USB mouse I had bought earlier to use with the MBP when doing work on the road. Oddly I found I hardly ever used the mouse, and recently when I travelled again I didn't even bother to bring it.

Then again, when on the road I rarely have to heavily edit documents as I would in the office, which is where I think having a separate mouse would really help (to drag when highlighting, for cut/paste purposes, which is a bit more difficult using a trackpad than a mouse).

For regular use, which is really just surfing, email, watching videos/DVDs, messing with iTunes, I don't use a mouse at all, and don't miss it -- in fact oddly when I'm using the iMac instead, I sometimes wish I had a trackpad there instead of the Apple mouse...