External Mousepad/Trackpad - USB or Wireless - Recommendations?

[britechguy]

My partner is, shall we say, not gentle in his approach to mousepad buttons and, as per usual, has managed to make the left mousepad button on his laptop "go wonky." It's an HP machine both of a certain age (about 5) and where the keyboard and mousepad are a single top unit. The keyboard remains fine.

We both still do a lot of ripping of CDs we find on thrift shop visits to MP3, so having an optical drive is pretty much a requirement. Finding new laptops that still have optical drives is just getting more and more difficult.

I have seen external mousepad units such as:

Amazon.com: Perixx PERIPAD-704 Wireless Touchpad, Portable Track Pad for Desktop and Laptop User, Large Size 4.72x3.54x0.74 inches (Wireless), Black : Electronics
(which I think is too thick to use as a "stick on" replacement)

and

Amazon.com: Keymecher Mano Wired+Wireless Trackpad Compatible with Windows, Multi-Gesture Bluetooth Touchpad Mouse for Computer, Notebook, PC, and Laptop (Rechargeable, Bluetooth for Win 10, USB for Win 7/10) : Electronics

and any number of others.

Does anyone have experience with these, particularly as a "tape over" replacement for a native mousepad/touchpad? If one uses the setting to turn off the native mousepad when an external pointing device is connected, it should become primary.

I'll probably end up biting the bullet and trying to find a new laptop with an optical drive, but thought I'd ask in case anyone has experience and opinions on these devices.

 

[seashore]

I'll probably end up biting the bullet and trying to find a new laptop with an optical drive

Or you could get any laptop plus a USB optical drive.

 

[britechguy]

Well, I already have an external optical drive.

Even I find it a PITA to fish out when compared to having one built-in. And I know how my partner will complain about the lack of a built-in, though we may still end up going in the direction you suggest.

 

[Markverhyden]

Is he really going to use all the added features that the second one has? It's my experience that when a user is presented with a device with significant extra, but never previously used, functionality they rarely start using them just because they are there. Personally I don't have any using a touch pad for a mouse but I still prefer a "standard" mouse if I'm using a "desktop" type setup, same with KB. Which means both are USB attached.

 

[britechguy]

@Markverhyden

You misunderstand. This is on a laptop where the trackpad that's built in to the top unit has gone wonky, but the remaining functionality of the machine, including the keyboard, is unaffected.

All I'm looking at potentially doing is putting a replacement trackpad right over top of the one built in to the top unit, and using the built in Windows (or it may be actually the Synaptics driver) function to disable the built in trackpad when an external pointing device is plugged in.

I'm doing that at the moment with an external "mini mouse" but would like to try a replacement external trackpad, but I have zero experience with those. It's not that I don't understand how they're supposed to work, but supposed to and actually do are sometimes two separate things.

 

[mikeroq]

Why not just replace the palm rest? Seems like the best option. No janky external touchpad taped to the laptop which will come off at some point, not flush with the rest, etc.

I don't know what model it is but I'm guessing it's one with a touchpad with integrated buttons. If the buttons are separate you should be able to just get the button board and swap it out.

 

[britechguy]

Why not just replace the palm rest?

Now that I've been able to find both the whole palm rest (which HP service manuals call the top cover/keyboard) that's an option.

I also had not realized (and I should have consulted the HP Service & Maintenance Guide first) that the touchpad button board is actually replaceable as an independent part, and that's where the issue seems to lie.

I've ordered one and will do that fix, first.

Thanks to all for your input.

(P.S. The spec sheet for the machine under discussion is attached for reference)

 

[Markverhyden]

@Markverhyden

You misunderstand. This is on a laptop where the trackpad that's built in to the top unit has gone wonky, but the remaining functionality of the machine, including the keyboard, is unaffected.

All I'm looking at potentially doing is putting a replacement trackpad right over top of the one built in to the top unit, and using the built in Windows (or it may be actually the Synaptics driver) function to disable the built in trackpad when an external pointing device is plugged in.

I'm doing that at the moment with an external "mini mouse" but would like to try a replacement external trackpad, but I have zero experience with those. It's not that I don't understand how they're supposed to work, but supposed to and actually do are sometimes two separate things.

I understood it was a laptop. Many users, when chained to a desk, will setup a separate kb, mouse, and monitor since using the builtins can be awkward. I’ve never seen a mouse pad solution that you just lay on top of the old one. Having wireless means he‘ll have to remember to charge. Either way it’ll mean another cable

One of my all time favorite mice it the inverted track ball like Logitech used to make.

Be aware that sometimes the touchpad board does not include the buttons.

 

[britechguy]

Be aware that sometimes the touchpad board does not include the buttons.

And that's definitely the case with the HP touchpad button board, but it's not the physical buttons, per se, that I think are the problem. It's the years of abuse that the button board that's currently in the computer has taken. I've got a replacement on the way and should have it in a couple of days to install. In the meantime I've got him using a conventional mouse with the laptop on a lap desk to give working surface for the mouse.

I'm also planning on ordering a full palmrest/top cover-keyboard unit as my own "secondary computer" is one of these and I did a job of replacing the keyboard that I'm not happy with the result. I'll hold on to it to determine whether the button board transplant works and, if it doesn't, do the full replacement on the partner's machine instead.