For shame! I was comparing Thinkpads the other night when I noticed that the new Lenovo systems seemed to be missing the much-beloved and very useful TrackPoint from their 3000 Family of laptops.
A little more digging tonight through Lenovo's Design Matters blog, and I discovered that not only is it conspicuously absent from all 3000 laptops, but it's an intentional design/marketing choice, not some accidental oversight!
We intentionally did not include a TrackPoint because notebooks within this price category tend to use pads. If you really want a TrackPoint I suggest you buy a ThinkPad. [1]
If you've never used a TrackPoint, it can be a bit odd to first get used to it, but once you're accustomed to using the rubber-tipped, 3-button "keyboard nipple", it's much more efficient than a run-of-the-mill grease-prone two-button touchpad, because unlike a touchpad, it responds to directional pressure like a mouse or trackball rather than making you pretend your finger is a stylus to 'draw' your cursor around the screen.
Luckily, you can still get a TrackPoint on Lenovo's Thinkpads. I wonder how much longer they'll be available?
One final note: this poll suggests I'm not the only vocal TrackPoint fan out there, and also that my cap of choice is the most popular. Woohoo! Maybe there's hope for the future of the TrackPoint.
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