Kamika007z Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 Calling all Dell i8200'ers: What are your thoughts about the Alps touchpads on the Inspiron 8200? Voice your opinions and thoughts here. Dell just released new touchpad drivers about a month ago and it fixes A LOT of issues, however it's not as great as the Synaptics touchpads if you ever used an i8000 or i8100. What do you guys think? ftp://ftp.us.dell.com/input/R86229.EXE John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 I don't have a i8200 but do have a Synaptics Touch pad with scroll buttons (simply the best) Synaptics update their drivers all the time, and I have had no problems what so ever with mine. It's had a hard life these last 2.5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted October 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 I've been wanting to modify and swap the system with a synaptics touchpad. Here's the problem though: I can sucessfully (and easily) put a synaptics tp. However, the keyboard trackpoint (eraserhead mouse) won't work. Any ideas on how to make it work? I can get the i8000 and i8100's keyboard to work and have everything working perfectly, but the keyboard for the i8200 is better because Dell added the cushony feel to the keypress, thus being a far better keyboard. So any thoughts on getting the trackpoint to work? I really could use the help. I tried taking the i8100 and i8200 keyboards apart, but they have a different housing for the trackpoint so I can't swap them easily. I know that the trackpoint has it's own connector and they keyboard itself has it's own connector, both which are connected to the adapter that goes into the motherboard. I need to try and switch the wires and see if it works... the only problem is: once you open the i8100 keyboard, you cannot put it back together. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neato Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 I also got a Synaptics Touch thingie. Works fine to me. Btw:YOU LIKE MY NEW SIGNATURE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted October 22, 2004 Report Share Posted October 22, 2004 :) Really nice, neato :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted October 23, 2004 Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 John, who would ever use a trackpoint if you also have a touchpad I can't stand them, so to me if it doesn't work and your touch pad does, NO LOSS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted October 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 I wanted to know if anyone has any ideas on how to get this modification up and running? Does anyone know of a way to get this work? How do these two devices work together? Any ideas? Is there a common frequency that the two share? Any information would be great. Thanks all. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted October 23, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 John, who would ever use a trackpoint if you also have a touchpad I can't stand them, so to me if it doesn't work and your touch pad does, NO LOSS. mobilenvidia, I agree with you, however, I don't like the fact that half of the computer's function is being limited. I sometimes do use the trackpoint, so it would be nice if I got it working... Thanks, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted October 23, 2004 Report Share Posted October 23, 2004 If you would just get this it would solve all your problems. http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products...,CONTENTID=9043 I have an MX700 and it pwns. They say this new one is really nice. MX Mouse > Mouse > laptop touchpad/stick I can whoop so many people in UT2004 thanks to my nice mouse. Bill Edit: Your sig is really cool neato. Once I get everything installled again I will redo mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted October 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 Noooo :) I want to be able to have a GOOD touchpad on my laptop ready, whenever I'm on the go and don't have the option of taking a mouse around with me. When I have it on my desk I use the regual MS Intellipoint and it's great. Thanks, John PS - I just ordered a i8100 keyboard, I'm going to run some tests with it. Wish me luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted October 24, 2004 Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 What is wrong with the I8200's default keyboard and touchpad? Mine works great for me, exept when I play FPS games, then my $70 8 button mouse and $50 Belkin Nostromo Speedpad N52 (with 104 programeable functions) come into play. I kick butt at UT2004 LANs. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted October 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2004 That's what the post is about... the quality to the Alps touchpad is extremely low, while the Synaptics touchpad can be used easier than the Alps to navigate the mouse around. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted October 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Just letting you all know, that my theory that once failed (due to a defective part) worked! I ordered a new i8100 keyboard, pulled the trackstick out and put it into my i8200's keyboard, then tried it on my i8100 and it worked! I now have to custom modify it in order to get the housing and fit it into the i8200's keyboard in order for it to sit in place... need a dremel for that one :) I'll keep you all updated on it's progress... Thanks, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobilenvidia Posted October 25, 2004 Report Share Posted October 25, 2004 Good on yah John, perserverance paid off. :) We expect a thesis with pictures on how it was achieved for others to follow suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted October 28, 2004 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2004 Work still in a slow process.. Thanks Pieter!! :) John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted November 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 Just to let you all know that my modification of the i8200 keyboard has been a sucess!!! I will try to get my friend's digital camera and post some pictures... everything works just as I want it. I installed the drivers with no problems as well. WHOO HOO!!! A problem I've been trying to solve with 1 year in the making... thanks to everyone for the positive thought! Now it's time for a signature change :) Thanks! John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®®® Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 So i figure that now you have a 8200 with a 8100 keyboard, which means a Synaptics mousepad?! Or just the trackstick? I would be more enlightened if i see a pic :) A tutorial for other DELL owners to do the same would be great. Next thing is to fix the quadroGL :) . Have success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamika007z Posted November 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 (edited) The Inspiron 8000 and 8100 have a MUCH different keyboard "feel" than the 8200's. That's where the "modding" took place. I *almost* literally ripped out the Inspiron 8100's trackstick because putting back the keyboard is irreversable while with the Inspiron 8200 you can put it back together if you are careful to begin with (it's screwed down, instead of soldered down like the 8000/8100's). I couldn't leave the trackstick alone on the i8200's kb and just use that becuase once I put in a touchpad the trackstick would render itself useless and nothing would happen. So for the longest time I was thinking it could be just swapped. Another problem was getting it to fit properly because Dell had changed the housing to it entirely. The old trackstick (synaptics) didn't sit on the bottom of the i8200's keyboard exactly the same. I will be posting some pictures once I get my friend's digital camera. I am also trying to find a better way to come up with the "housing" situation. I must be honest, there is some electrical tape required. I am going to have to try and minimize that. :) Thanks for the Quadro4 700 support too! Thanks, John EDIT: I refined the integration process a little more by reducing the amount of electrical tape needed. Edited November 6, 2004 by Kamika007z Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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