Thinkpads Forum

I have found a very perfect solution for the ones that do not like the touchpads on newer Thinkpads. On my Thinkpad T400s i just peeled of the old surface, which is just a sticker, cleaned of the glue by rubbbing it off with my finger, and then put on a new smooth touchpadsurface from the company skinstyler: http://www.skinstyler.com/pc/black-for- ... p-281.html

Measure your touchpad, and they will send you stickers in exact your size. You might want to cut a very little off the corners to round them, and take care to apply the sticker from one end with for example a creditcard, so that no bubbles of air gets caught under the sticker.

This solution has cost me 10 dollars, and now my touchpad feels exactly like the surface on my old T60. It looks as nice as the old solution, if you take care in applying the sticker, no difference here. The sensitivity is exellent, even better than the original textured surface I think, because scrolling and zoom are now much more smooth and easy to execute. The new surface is also much easier on the fingers.

Here is an image of the result:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/83 ... de0143.jpg

Nice! Good to know that it can be modded as simply as replacing stickers. I personally don't use the touchpad myself, but among those who do there are plenty who don't like the gritty surface.

An interesting question for the sake of those who actually prefer the textured touchpad - is there a sticker that can be placed on top of the old smooth ones to make it textured?

I have not heard of any textured or gritty stickers to place on top of smooth ones, but have not been loking for them either.

Wonder if 3500 grit adhesive backed sandpaper would work... 3500 grit would feel like dried toothpaste.

Have just replaced the gritty touchpad on a T410 now also for a friend as described in this thread. The solution also works flawless on a T410, I can report. I guess it works on all newer thinkpads with this horrible unresponsive knobby touchpad. Strongly recommened tweak

What's the size that you guys have ordered?

I'd also like to know what size I need to order for a T410 - my textured touchpad is wearing away and it really annoys me....

you just measure your pad and order the size, Its as easy as that.

Just placed an order for one of these for my T410, can't wait for it to get here. I didn't realize how much I hated the textured surface until I used my T60 for work again.

So annoying!

Thanks for the heads up!

Well, they finally arrived. Sent 4 of them even though I ordered 2.

However, unfortunately the adhesive isn't strong enough to keep the sticker on. Probably due to the reduced surface area and those little pimples on the touchpad.

So, the pads just curl up on all the edges - this is after trying 2 pads.

if anybody has suggestions for a little extra adhesive to keep the sticker on, i'd appreciate it.

otherwise, I wouldn't waste my money. i did notify the SkinStyler folks and they did promptly refund my money.

@vipstjert - question, you said you "peeled" off the sticker? You mean the little dimples were just a simple layer ontop of something else? And you were able to get rid of those dimples and then have a smooth flat surface (after cleaning glue off) to place the sticker?

cicorias wrote:@vipstjert - question, you said you "peeled" off the sticker? You mean the little dimples were just a simple layer ontop of something else? And you were able to get rid of those dimples and then have a smooth flat surface (after cleaning glue off) to place the sticker?

The dimple texture is just a sticker over top of the touchpad. I haven't removed mine yet, waiting for the new stickers to arrive before I rip into it.

Let us know how it goes mate!

My colleague wore off the grit in six months of "normal" use..

I see it happen on a lot of T410 in our corporate fleet. Really looks tacky.

cicorias wrote:Well, they finally arrived. Sent 4 of them even though I ordered 2.

However, unfortunately the adhesive isn't strong enough to keep the sticker on. Probably due to the reduced surface area and those little pimples on the touchpad.

So, the pads just curl up on all the edges - this is after trying 2 pads.

if anybody has suggestions for a little extra adhesive to keep the sticker on, i'd appreciate it.

otherwise, I wouldn't waste my money. i did notify the SkinStyler folks and they did promptly refund my money.

Hello, as i tell in my description, you have to completely remove the old sticker with the 'pimples' and the old adhesive before applying the new one, then it works perfectly. Mine is sitting here on the 6th month without coming off at all. Good luck.

has anyone ever tried the touchpad after removing the rough sticker but before replacing it? does it work? IOW, what if i just pull the sticker...does what's underneath work just as well?

forgetcolor wrote:has anyone ever tried the touchpad after removing the rough sticker but before replacing it? does it work? IOW, what if i just pull the sticker...does what's underneath work just as well?

Yes. It works.

forgetcolor wrote:has anyone ever tried the touchpad after removing the rough sticker but before replacing it? does it work? IOW, what if i just pull the sticker...does what's underneath work just as well?

Yes, it works, but it works very bad, as the plain plastic surface does not let your finger glide smoothly as a new surface will.

vipstjert wrote: Yes, it works, but it works very bad, as the plain plastic surface does not let your finger glide smoothly as a new surface will.

Actually, it slides around great on my T420.

It is *very* smooth though, so you'll want your fingers to be both clean and dry.

Mine finally came in and I replaced mine with the new pieces. But for the love of god, make sure you order a spare if not good at cutting. I buggered mine up really badly

Used a paper cutter and everything and it still came out crooked on the bottom

Does work a heck of a lot better though!

The link on the SkinStyler page has changed. I am only able to find products for apple computers on their website now. Does anyone know if this company still offers cut-to-fit touchpad covers any more? I have a couple that I need to replace.


UPDATE: The company has moved all non-apple products to the tecty.com domain. So the new URL to order these TouchPad skins is the following:
http://www.tecty.com/black-for-pc-touch ... p-281.html

Yes @jayton4 is correct, we have separated Apple computer and PC notebook to 2 different domain for better buyer experience.

You can now get all the PC laptop touchpad skin on http://www.tecty.com

If you own a MacBook, you can get trackpad and wrist rest skin from our Apple site at http://www.skinstyler.com

We also thank you @vipstjert for introducing us to forum users. Sincerely appreciated for your recommendation.

We would like to give out a coupon code for thinkpads forum user. Please kindly key in "thinkpads" when during checkout and you will receive 10% off for your purchase.

I just got mine installed on my T410s. It looks great!

I decided to peel the awful pimple touchpad off to measure before I ordered. I used the touchpad with no sticker on there at all for a couple weeks while I waited for the new one to come in. It is better with nothing than the OEM sticker, but I did not like it since my finger didn't glide smoothly. I measured 76mm wide by 45mm tall. The height was closer to 45.25mm, but just 45mm looks good. The T410 is the same size as the T410s.

I have pictures of Dark Metal 10 installed on my T410s. The first picture is with the flash and the second is without. My camera is not that great.

http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af2 ... G_0425.jpg

http://i1010.photobucket.com/albums/af2 ... G_0426.jpg

I am thinking that I may order a different style/color for my T410, and I may try 46mm tall instead of 45 to see how that looks.

Looks great, I go with the more conservative black ones, bot the feel of these stickers are lightyears ahead of the gritty oem surface. I have a whole bunch lying around to replace the surface on every Thinkpad i see . Congratulations!

Thanks a LOT vipstjert

I just replaced the touchpad/trackpad surface on my T430 with a smooth one from tecty.com and the multitouch scroll is much more acceptable now! If anyone has a question on how to remove the existing sticker on touchpad/trackpad, you can use some duck tape

I don't think that the pimply touchpad surface can be removed on the E430 or E530.

I was able to stick the skin above my E530 Touchpad. Looks fine for now although I could not remove the pimples on the touchpad

Hello,

For an E530, it seems that the touchpad surface has no sticker on it. It has a grid of small spots on it.

Anyway, I feel the same as you, the cursor "jumps". I work on Linux, graphical environment, i.e. xorg.

I guess that in part the question is related to setup parameters. In my case, default configuration has parameters (config of Synaptics Touchpad):

"FingerLow" "25"
"FingerHigh" "30"

changed to

"FingerLow" "42"
"FingerHigh" "45"

improves. At least now I can work with it, BUT there is still something, as "repeated taps" move the cursor a little bit, and in some other laptops that I have worked with it does not happen.

Regards,
Josep

Just in case, the previously mentioned website www.tecty.com does not show anything at all!
But go instead to http://www.skinstyler.com/pc/ and there it shows the name Tecty!
Guess they merged?