Ask HN: Touchscreen Laptops, yay or nay?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7681020

by classicsnoot • 12 years ago

10 8 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Are touchscreen laptops a new direction in user/computer interaction or a fad spawned by the prevalence of cheap technology and excess capital?

currently saddled with an Acer Aspire. thus far, ubuntu 12.04 is the only one that can keep it together, sort of. On xfce now, and Mint 16 was a nightmare. The touchscreen seems to throw Linux builds for a loop...

bhartzer• 12 years ago

I think it depends on your usage of it. If you're going to be coding mostly, then you'll really only be using the keyboard... so a touchscreen may not be needed.

crystalmace• 12 years ago

I would agree with that; my sister has a nice touchscreen laptop (~$1000) and she uses it for watching movies, tv shows, etc; mostly media based uses. She loves it and uses it all the time, so I would agree with you that it does depend on what the user will be using it for. Myself, as a programmer, and programming being what I primarily use my laptop for, I would find it unnecessary and I wouldn't pay extra to have it.

DanBC• 12 years ago

I would hate touchscreen laptop.

I find it weird to be poking something that I am also expected to read. My fingers obscure the screen, and there is increased screen cleaning.

logn• 12 years ago

I have a touchscreen laptop but almost never use the feature. On Xubuntu it seems to work without any issues though.

I suspect it's just a fad because the tech is cheap (my laptop was < $400). I think the movement is unnatural. I'd rather see companies focus on innovation in the trackpad.

hashtag• 12 years ago

I think it's a cool option to have but not something I'd require

matmann2001• 12 years ago

I bought an HP laptop with a touchscreen around 2010. I still use it today, but I've never used the touchscreen aside from showing off.

MatthiasP• 12 years ago

It is a fad, one that has already been rejected on the market. See www.digitimes.com/news/a20131211PD217.html

My personal experience with a touchscreen laptop running Windows 8 was that once the novelty wears of, it feels unnatural to reach beyond your touchpad to the touchscreen for input. The touchpad is closer to the user's hands and therefore faster to access and that beats everything a touchscreen could offer.

rm445• 12 years ago

I'm not enamoured of them, but it's quite possible that they will be popular with the world at large. One factor is that so many laptops have frankly bad touchpads, that people may see the touchscreen as an improvement. People seem to like touchscreens, have got very used to them, and there may be a perception that modern devices get touchscreens.

Overheard in the wild: "I'd like to buy a Macbook, but it seems so weird that they don't have touchscreens yet. I'm holding off buying one in case the next one has a touchscreen."

Ask HN: Touchscreen Laptops, yay or nay?

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