Do you prefer using the trackpad or a connected mouse?

I generally prefer a mouse. I guess its only really disadvantage is that it's a bit annoying to carry around. Obviously in games it's preferable to a trackpad but I find that I prefer using it for almost everything else as well.

 

Only recently, starting with the Apple ones on the MacBook have trackpack started to become useful for any kind of semi serious work, namely because of hand gestures like pinching and so on which is something very hard if not downright impossible to duplicate with a mouse, but I use a connected mouse anyway as soon as I have to do something more complicated that simply browsing YouTube to watch videos. Actually, I combine both and use them at the same time. When I travel with a laptop I pack a small mouse too almost every time.

 

Yeah the Macbook trackpads are definitely better than most other ones. The feeling when you press down on them is something that I find really satisfying for some reason. But yeah, even I tend to use both of them, sometimes when you want to move the mouse just a little bit it's easier to just use your thumb on the trackpad.

 

As someone who enjoys the occasional bit of gaming I have always invested in a USB plug n play mouse with all laptops, it might be my big clunky hands but I could seriously never get used to using a trackpad.

 

The track ball or track pad is a deterrent to my efficiency. When I was issued the official laptop, I had a hard time using it because the track pad was alien to me. It was a good thing that one colleague told me that I could attach a mouse for my convenience. Now that mouse is part of my laptop and it has a reserved pocket in the laptop's bag. I am very efficient using the mouse so why make it hard for myself in using the track pad?

 

I generally prefer using the track-pad over the mouse. I've been using the track-pad for many years now any I think it's just because of the overall convenience that I would prefer the track-pad over the mouse. Whenever I go on my laptop, I'm never actually at a desk but rather sitting somewhere more comfortable like a couch or my bed. So I can't really imagine myself using a mouse anymore since the last time was years ago when I still had a pc. After it broke, I never used the mouse again.

 

Well, for casual browsing I don't mind using the trackpad even though when I first got my laptop it took me a while to get used to it. Now it's broken on my laptop so I'm forced to use my mouse at any time, but I have a small, wireless one from Microsoft that isn't hard to carry around and I can use it on my laptop surface.

 

Yeah I have a plug and play mouse too. It's not just you, playing games on laptops is incredibly frustrating if you're just using the trackpad. I lost my mouse for a few days a while back and trying to play games without it was the worst. Some games like League of Legends are basically impossible to play with a trackpad.

 

I've gotten too used to the trackpad, to the point where normal mouses feel weird to me. If I had a PC I'd obviously use one, but I feel awkward using a mouse with a laptop, it's just too far away. The trackpad is exactly in the middle of the laptop and it feels perfect. What I hate is that they still haven't found a good way to add the scrolling button! How hard is it, really? Sucks to zoom in/zoom out in games. But anyways, my answer is: mouses are perfect for PC, trackpads are perfect for laptops.

 

I normally hook up a mouse to my laptop when I'm just at home browsing the internet or doing computer works but when I take my laptop outside, i obviously use the trackpad because using a mouse, even the wireless ones seems like a lot of hassle.

 

Yes, using a mouse is much better. Other devices like trackpads and touchpads get tiring after a while. And when it comes to playing games, a mouse is a must.

 

Some laptops may have issues with the connectivity between the motherboard and the trackpad itself, making the user experience unfriendly and really, a pain in the ass.
I prefer to use a mouse as sometimes I do the gaming and other tasks that require more than the touch of the finger.

 

I'm glad you mentioned it. I had a connected mouse with my first laptop and it was really nice. I had forgotten about it. I should get one. It is much less bother. I think I would get good use out of it.

 

Well, yeah, the feeling and overall size, sensitivity and quality of the track pads on Apple Products make them usable, but I was talking more about the software aspect of it, not the hardware, I am talking about how you can control the operating system using finger gestures and using mission control in general, I know this is now commonplace but OSX really pioneered this, at least when it comes to 3 or 2 fingers gestures, pinching for zoom and all that stuff. That's why some people even attach a trackpad to their desktop computers running the OSX, because it works as a great complement to the mouse, not as a replacement.

 

I am using a wireless mouse which is a lot more convenient that a USB mouse. I rarely use the trackpad because it's quite difficult to use when I'm doing a lot of copy pasting work. I am, in fact, so helpless in using the trackpad that I need to use both hands which is a real bother when I'm doing a lot of typing.