Am I the only person who doesn't want a touchscreen on their laptop?

[The_Prycer]

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I don't want a touchscreen on every device. Touchscreens get dirty, touchscreens have to be cleaned more often, touchscreens encourage children to touch your electronics, and touchscreens increase cost. I just want a 1080p screen so I can do work, but apparently if I want decent tech specs I either get a touchscreen, an overpriced "gaming" laptop, or a Macbook Pro.

 

The touchscreen makes sense on a 2-in-1 unit. You flip it over in to tablet mode and BOOM, you have a touchscreen tablet with full laptop OS. You can draw, write, and highlight things with your stylus no problem. But for the regular old laptops? I just don't get it. Why would I need a touchscreen on a screen that can't be folded back or even flat? What purpose, other than novelty or cost increase, does the touchscreen serve on an HP Probook or any other business use laptop? I'm never going to poke an Excel sheet instead of using a mouse or trackpad, so why even bother including the screen except to make the unit more expensive.

 

I feel this all stems from my hatred of Windows 8 and the charms bar.

[Senzelian]

You don't have to understand it. I like to have a tochscreen on a notebook, because it's more ergonomic for scrolling webpages and reading for example.

 

Btw, there are a ton of good laptops out there, that don't have a touchscreen.
Lenovo recently released new ThinkPads with Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 CPUs and they don't have a touchscreen.

[Radium_Angel]

14 minutes ago, The_Prycer said:

I don't want a touchscreen on every device

I can't stand them on anything but cell phones.

[Tsuki]

Just now, Radium_Angel said:

I can't stand them on anything but cell phones.

same. i dont even like the fingerprint smudges on my phone, i certainly dont want them on my computer screen.

[Guest]

For most it's a novelty and they never touch it again after 2 weeks.

Though those I've seen that truly use the feature REALLY use it.

[Guest]

its a nice feature, but I'd hardly use it.  The Touch Bar is a better implementation of touch. 

[Zodiark1593]

If the mousepad is lousy, a touchscreen can help a ton for scrolling through large pages or ebooks/manga/.pdfs. Macs have probably been able to get away with not having the touchscreen due to the superior mousepad.

[FezBoy]

It's useful if you use it, and you can disable it if you don't: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028019/windows-enable-and-disable-your-touchscreen-in-windows-10

[Senzelian]

Oh I completly forgot, you can go back to the previous page on Chrome by simply swiping right on the touchscreen. Much better than having to navigate to the arrow with a trackpad or using a shortcut.

 

[Zando_]

Just now, Tsuki said:

same. i dont even like the fingerprint smudges on my phone, i certainly dont want them on my computer screen.

^^^ It makes sense on something like the Surface Book, that had a very good touchscreen as well. On most cheaper laptops where it's there to check a box, the experience is shit. For the majority of what I do on a computer a mouse/trackpad and keyboard are the best inputs (we don't have Avenger's level gesture based stuff yet, sadly). Always baffles me when people complain about Macs not having touchscreens (OS doesn't support it anyways) when IMO it's a dumb feature on like 95% of laptops.
 

1 minute ago, floofer said:

its a nice feature, but I'd hardly use it.  The Touch Bar is a better implementation of touch. 

To each their own I guess, I hate the touch bar. I greatly prefer my physical buttons always being there, instead of needing to open a context menu on a tiny touchscreen and then tap it to get what I want instead of just slapping a nice physical button. 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Zando Bob said:

Always baffles me when people complain about Macs not having touchscreens (OS doesn't support it anyways) when IMO it's a dumb feature on like 95% of laptops.
 

Mac does support touchscreens FYI. 

1 minute ago, Zando Bob said:

To each their own I guess, I hate the touch bar. I greatly prefer my physical buttons always being there, instead of needing to open a context menu on a tiny touchscreen and then tap it to get what I want instead of just slapping a nice physical button. 

You can turn it off, so its pretty much like having the buttons there, without the physical 'key' aspect. It just means fewer shortcuts, so essentially its hard-coded macros, or an emoji keyboard. Its a nicer use I feel than just a touch screen. I probably wouldn't miss it, but it does make a big difference. 

[Tsuki]

Just now, Zando Bob said:

For the majority of what I do on a computer a mouse/trackpad and keyboard are the best inputs (we don't have Avenger's level gesture based stuff yet, sadly). Always baffles me when people complain about Macs not having touchscreens (OS doesn't support it anyways) when IMO it's a dumb feature on like 95% of laptops.

i use a laptop at work, and am the only person here who doesnt use a docking station with it. everybody looks at me weird for not wanting the extra display or mouse/keyboard.

 

win10 gestures are actually pretty solid. 3 fingers to alt+tab, 4 fingers to switch desktops.   i can manage 4 desktops better and faster than anybody here can manage their 2 displays.

 

ive never once felt like i needed a touch screen to move anything around or click on anything.

[Zando_]

1 minute ago, Tsuki said:

i use a laptop at work, and am the only person here who doesnt use a docking station with it. everybody looks at me weird for not wanting the extra display or mouse/keyboard.

 

win10 gestures are actually pretty solid. 3 fingers to alt+tab, 4 fingers to switch desktops.   i can manage 4 desktops better and faster than anybody here can manage their 2 displays.

 

ive never once felt like i needed a touch screen to move anything around or click on anything.

Noice. I'm on macOS ofc so the gestures are solid as well, on a mid-2012 MacBook Pro so the trackpad is a good size and feels excellent. I use that an an MX Master, have a 29" ultrawide since I work with a lot of spreadsheets and such side by side and the lower res 13.3" screen is just oof for that. 

I'd like touchscreens if they were as fast and fluid as a mouse/trackpad, but even then I don't have the ease of slapping a button for my common shortcuts (copy, paste, cut, save, etc). Usually they have some sort of press and hold for pop-up menus an that's pretty meh.  

[steelo]

43 minutes ago, The_Prycer said:

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I don't want a touchscreen on every device. Touchscreens get dirty, touchscreens have to be cleaned more often, touchscreens encourage children to touch your electronics, and touchscreens increase cost. I just want a 1080p screen so I can do work, but apparently if I want decent tech specs I either get a touchscreen, an overpriced "gaming" laptop, or a Macbook Pro.

 

The touchscreen makes sense on a 2-in-1 unit. You flip it over in to tablet mode and BOOM, you have a touchscreen tablet with full laptop OS. You can draw, write, and highlight things with your stylus no problem. But for the regular old laptops? I just don't get it. Why would I need a touchscreen on a screen that can't be folded back or even flat? What purpose, other than novelty or cost increase, does the touchscreen serve on an HP Probook or any other business use laptop? I'm never going to poke an Excel sheet instead of using a mouse or trackpad, so why even bother including the screen except to make the unit more expensive.

 

I feel this all stems from my hatred of Windows 8 and the charms bar.

I completely agree. I'd rather use a keyboard and mouse than wipe smudges off of my screen all day long.

[TomvanWijnen]

I recently got a new laptop for university. The touchscreen x360 model was €110/$120 more. I took the option as I expected to want to use it with the screen flipped (use input director to use it with my desktop), because the touchscreen seemed really cool and possibly useful, because the pen/touchscreen could be useful for my study, and because I'll use the laptop for a really long time and could just as well get this upgrade while I drop a crapton of money on this object.

 

I'm using it more than I expected! I have really "sweaty/wet" fingers so screens I touch get dirty quickly, but on this massive (much bigger area) screen it is much better than I expected, so I don't hesitate to use it whenever convenient (or fun!). Scrolling is nice, clicking on some (big) things, using it with the screen flipped in bed (closer by), all great. Zooming in I do a lot! You can zoom in easily (like on a phone), but the page won't remember it as if you've zoomed with ctrl+scroll, so it isn't permanent. I zoom in all the time and it makes reading things just so much easier. It's also convenient that when I have a notebook on top of my keyboard I can still click on things.

 

I'm probably still missing things, but all in all, I really love the touchscreen and am very happy with my decision to get one. It feels so liberating.

[GoodBytes]

1 hour ago, The_Prycer said:

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I don't want a touchscreen on every device. Touchscreens get dirty, touchscreens have to be cleaned more often,

You don't have to use it, and you can disable it. 

 

1 hour ago, The_Prycer said:

touchscreens encourage children to touch your electronics,

Having babies and young kids, they already tap the TV.  So yes, I agree, and too late.

 

1 hour ago, The_Prycer said:

The touchscreen makes sense on a 2-in-1 unit. You flip it over in to tablet mode and BOOM, you have a touchscreen tablet with full laptop OS. You can draw, write, and highlight things with your stylus no problem. But for the regular old laptops? I just don't get it. Why would I need a touchscreen on a screen that can't be folded back or even flat? What purpose, other than novelty or cost increase, does the touchscreen serve on an HP Probook or any other business use laptop? I'm never going to poke an Excel sheet instead of using a mouse or trackpad, so why even bother including the screen except to make the unit more expensive.

Actually, it helps navigate the OS. Many times I use the touch screen to interact with the device, instead of using the trackpad. While my system is a 2-in-1 (Surface Pro 3), even if I use it in tablet, I use the touch screen. Despite the excellent touchpad that the Surface line has (especially the later ones, which I do have, as the keyboard is replaceable), it is still easier, at times, to use the touch screen. It is not that the touchpad is frustrating to use, it is just faster to directly tap on the location, than to move the cursor across the screen. 

 

1 hour ago, The_Prycer said:

I feel this all stems from my hatred of Windows 8 and the charms bar.

Maybe. But many Windows  laptops didn't have touch screen, which just made the OS experience worse. This is because the technology cost too much. Now it lowered in price to a point that you even start seeing budget system with one.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

2 hours ago, The_Prycer said:

I feel like I'm in the minority here, but I don't want a touchscreen on every device. Touchscreens get dirty, touchscreens have to be cleaned more often, touchscreens encourage children to touch your electronics, and touchscreens increase cost. I just want a 1080p screen so I can do work, but apparently if I want decent tech specs I either get a touchscreen, an overpriced "gaming" laptop, or a Macbook Pro.

 

The touchscreen makes sense on a 2-in-1 unit. You flip it over in to tablet mode and BOOM, you have a touchscreen tablet with full laptop OS. You can draw, write, and highlight things with your stylus no problem. But for the regular old laptops? I just don't get it. Why would I need a touchscreen on a screen that can't be folded back or even flat? What purpose, other than novelty or cost increase, does the touchscreen serve on an HP Probook or any other business use laptop? I'm never going to poke an Excel sheet instead of using a mouse or trackpad, so why even bother including the screen except to make the unit more expensive.

 

I feel this all stems from my hatred of Windows 8 and the charms bar.

You aren't the only one who hates the abominations (I also detest touch pads!). For some odd reason, the blasted things seem to hate me because they do not always respond to my touch in the same way, if at all. I find the misbegotten things a royal pain in the a...neck. I avoid anything that has the stupid things whenever I can, which is one of several reasons why I don't have a "smart" phone.

 

I'm stuck with a stupid Kindle that has a touch screen and I'm constantly swearing at the piece of crap because the idiot touch screen rarely does what I'm trying to get it to do. My old five button Kindle worked fine for years until it died bt it had been discontinued and I was forced to get the abomnination I'm cursed with now (thank you for that, Amazon, may you roast!).

[jiyeon]

I wouldn't want a touchscreen, but it would be nice to have and I wouldn't complain about it, as long as the addition of a touchscreen doesn't hike the price of the laptop in an extortionate way, as well as not conusming a significant amount of battery.

There are some times when I get tired of using the trackpads in times where I don't have a mouse available, and in those times, having a touchscreen would be nice.

 

I keep all my touchscreen devices clean of fingerprints and grease - I'm a clean freak - so I would have no issue with keeping the screen clean in my case.

[Tamesh16]

i mean, i prefer not to have a touch screen, but i understand why other users would, so i dont mind it just once there is options for both

[Gegger]

I don't need a touchscreen, but it's nice to have if I need it. If I don't need it I'd just disable it.

[HCHAD]

I am with you The_Prycer, I have no desire for touchscreens on my notebook. Yes I can agree they have benefits and can be great on the odd occasion, however I would find myself endlessly clean fingerprints off my screen which would send me mad.

 

It is getting harder to find devices without them, this is manly due to lower costs of touch screen tech and them been the current technology tend. Just like phones not having 3.5mm jacks is a trend I dislike but apparently is here to stay. Not because it better but because companies like Apple tell the general population what is the future and what is on trend.

 

As far as touch screens if I can choose not to have it I do, if I can't and I am not paying super premium for it, oh well I just don't use it. 

[Donut417]

7 hours ago, The_Prycer said:

but I don't want a touchscreen on every device.

Ill be honest. Ive never owned one with a touch screen. To be honest, I wouldnt care if my laptop had a touch screen, but I wouldn't care if it didnt. 

[The_Prycer]

19 hours ago, Senzelian said:

Oh I completly forgot, you can go back to the previous page on Chrome by simply swiping right on the touchscreen. Much better than having to navigate to the arrow with a trackpad or using a shortcut.

 

I prefer keyboard shortcuts. My professional life is defined by keyboard shortcuts.

 

18 hours ago, GoodBytes said:

 

Actually, it helps navigate the OS. Many times I use the touch screen to interact with the device, instead of using the trackpad. While my system is a 2-in-1 (Surface Pro 3), even if I use it in tablet, I use the touch screen. Despite the excellent touchpad that the Surface line has (especially the later ones, which I do have, as the keyboard is replaceable), it is still easier, at times, to use the touch screen. It is not that the touchpad is frustrating to use, it is just faster to directly tap on the location, than to move the cursor across the screen. 

 

Maybe. But many Windows  laptops didn't have touch screen, which just made the OS experience worse. This is because the technology cost too much. Now it lowered in price to a point that you even start seeing budget system with one.

Maybe I'm just old, but I'd rather take a second to move my hand on the touchpad or nipple versus moving away from the keyboard to poke my screen.

 

You are correct though, my first Windows 8 laptop was not a touchscreen and it was infuriating to use. It was also my last Windows 8 laptop after I chucked it in to a pillar at the school library for constantly activating the charms bar when I was trying to type an essay. I converted to Mac shortly afterwards.

[NeuesTestament]

I also don't see the point of touchscreens. I haven't found a way in which they would speed up my personal workflow but I can see them being nice in some scenarios.

[Donut417]

2 hours ago, NeuesTestament said:

I also don't see the point of touchscreens. I haven't found a way in which they would speed up my personal workflow but I can see them being nice in some scenarios.

Most people use them as like a mouse replacement. My sister used hers to scroll thru pages and shit. Used to screw her up when she had to use my none touch screen laptop.