Trackpad sensitivity problems

Count me in on the freezing trackpad.

(The explanation is very good & "mmm"...scientific & all..... but this doesn't happen & my ibook... so there it goes...

Also count me in as well. I called Apple Care about this problem with a frozen/stuck cursor, and they ran a test on my MPB using Text Edit trying to determine if it was a hardware or software poblem. Of course, the cursor moved back and forth perfectly - cutting and pasting - in the text edit doc.

I immediately went to my FTP files in Transmit as well as the MIVA Shopping Cart that I load items for sale for my webstore, and the cursor started sticking and disappering once again.

All Apple Care could tell me was it was an intermittent problem - yeah, right! Come on Apple...

And I've also been extremely disappointed with the over-the-top sensitivity that my trackpad has with my tapping. The cursor just moves waaaaayyyyy too much off target to have an effective, consistent use whatsoever.If I'm not tapping at a snails pace, I end up with a cursor with a life of its own. And on my PBG4 and my Compaq laptop (i.e. the nx9010), the tapping feature is ROCK SOLID as the cursor doesn't move off the target spot at all.

Is this a faulty trackpad? Should I contact Apple Care once again? Any help/suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

I was going to post this exact question. I try to "find" the cursor on the screen and it nots there until I swirl a couple times. Iratating. I will try the suggestions.

Sometimes I have looked down and discovered that the reason the cursor is frozen is that my fingers have strayed outside the trackpad! One almost could wish that it were possible for the trackpad to have some sort of distinctive surface; it can be hard to tell at times. Another thing that has happened is that my left hand stays close to the middle of the MBP, right where the trackpad is. If the thumb gets close enogh or actually touches the pad, the cursor doesn't respond to a single-finger swipe.

I just got the mbp and am having trackpad troubles. The bar I hold down to select (called?) takes a much too heavy hand. My thumb is getting tired from the amount of pressure I have to keep on it, especially when I am trying to scroll down a page. If I let up the slightest bit, then the cursor moves off the open window and starts inscribing boxes on the desk top. Any suggestions?

most of you appear to not realize that two fingers or two contacts on the trackpad create the scrolling effect not the moving the cursor affect. Two finger scroll means that two contacts on the trackpad scrolls the window. Very handy is the two finger scroll. Scrolling via the trackpad is more efficient than a mouse.

Any two contacts will halt the moving cursor and start the scroll. To move the cursor on the newer PBs and the MBP, you use one finger or contact. To use the trackpad for clicking and dragging, go to the prefpane and enable all of the clicking and dragging options and uncheck "ignor".

Scrolling trackpads originated with late model PB4s.

Using your trackpad rather than a separate mouse is not only more efficient but renders you less likely for RSIs.

i also found it awkward & uncomfortable to scroll while holding down the button with my thumb, until i discovered a cool trick. just use two fingers to scroll on the trackpad. you don't need to hold the button down & the curser doesn't need to be on the scroll bar/arrows.

Hi,

As Rhyd and GoldenGateCreek mentioned, the two-finger trackpad scrolling is fantastic. I just wanted to add that it works horizontally as well as verticall, when you're in an application that supports (or requires, as the case may be) horizontal scrolling.

I've also discovered that one of the two fingers can be stationary while the other does the scrolling, so you can effect a two-handed version of the two-finger scroll, as well.

Randall Schul

Hello all,

I'm also having trackpad issues (trackpad freezing every now and then) - it's very annoying.
Did anybody gert the problem solved, e.g. the MacBook replaced by Apple?
I purchased through Student Developer discount, i.e. by telephone. Can I bring the MacBook to a store or do I have necessarily to call Apple and ask?

thanks in advance!
.nesco.

Don't forget that many people have fond that checking "Ignore Accidental Trackpad Input" in the trackpad preferences improves the trackpad experience. It's not a significant feature and may do more annoyance than good.

Yes Rich88,

I read this, i haven't actually checked whether this improves my situation, cause I find it a stupid solution (nothing personal 😉
I spent about 2000 EUR for this machine and it should work properly, I find.

I'm currently trying whether the firmware update improves things.

So did anybody get it replaced by Apple?

best
.nesco.

I'm not understanding the "work properly" part. What about it do you think is NOT working properly, i.e. as designed to work or as advertised to work? It's one thing for the machine to fail in what it is supposed to be able to do, but another for it not to meet what may be errant or unreasonable expectations of the owner (possibly without regard to the machine's design or stated functionality).

If you are trying to move the cursor and no hand is touching the trackpad except for the one finger, then there may be a problem.

I'm not painting you either way just yet, I just don't grasp the exact nature of your complaint. I scrolled back to read your message and what I saw often is solved by the tip I gave about accidental trackpad input. Also, I learned early on that the manner in which my left hand tended to hang near the trackpad often caused the thumb inadvertently (and unkowingly to me) to touch the pad, thus rendering the cursor motionless because if the right hand also touhed it, i.e. tried to move the cursor, all that would happen is the page would attempt to scroll one way or another.

If you are trying to move the cursor and no hand is
touching the trackpad except for the one finger, then
there may be a problem.

This is exactly what happens (every now and then).

And as kida pointed out earlier in this topis:

but obviously, you shouldn't have to do that. i mean, it's
not like it's accidental trackpad input...it's plain usage.

Sorry but that's how I also see it.

.nesco.

Not splitting hairs but the accidental brushing of a finger or thumb across the pad is what that feature was intended to account for. That is NOT "usage," because usage is by definition intentional. As I said earlier, if all other things are normal and equal and you are experiencing intermittent failue of the cursor to move, there may be a problem and it could be worth talking to Apple about.

If you were not a Mac user until now, don't second-guess your choice, You will come to appreciate it as a fun and elegant computer that lets you get good work done.

I have a 15 inch macbook pro too and the trackpad problem is significant. It happens in all applications however it is worse in safari and Entourage. Entourage is almost unusable— the cursor jumps not only to different sections of the text field but also to different field altogether. None of the trackpad options have the desired affect of fixing this issue. It's a REAL problem that Apple is going to have to sort out.