# Touch/No Touch



## Son_of_Perdition (Apr 14, 2016)

I have a smart phone, tablet & a non-touch screen laptop.  I have years (53) of tech experience & now contemplating a purchase of a 23" all-in-one for these tired old eyes, after many weeks of research I come away with the idea of avoiding a touch screen.  The fingerprints on both my phone & tablet are annoying to say the least, my g-grandson has almost destroyed my tablet's screen with his sweeping stylus moves, he's wore out 2 pens.  Luckily the tablet was inexpensive & keeps him occupied for hours even without my credit card number.  It's enough that I have to clean my TV screen weekly to remove the little hand prints & dust.

I wondered & my only question is how happy are you with a touch screen versus the archaic use of a wireless optical mouse?  I'm leaning in that direction because of the added cost that would annoy me with the smudges.  The all-in-one needs a USB keyboard (never found a BT KB that was reliable) & adding a wireless mouse is a no brainer for me.  It saves anywhere from $50-75 to purchase a non touch screen.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 14, 2016)

The only touch screen I have now is my smartphone and kindle.  Otherwise I like a mouse or a touchpad.


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## Wrigley's (Apr 14, 2016)

Or you can get a smudge-free coating for the screen. It's not expensive.


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## ossian (Apr 14, 2016)

I'm a bit of a dinosaur here. I don't like mobile devices of any kind as I like to be independent and unable to be contacted. So, that kinda rules me out of the touch screen stuff. So I am happy with my Macs and landline!  I use an Apple mouse that allows me to run my finger over the mouse and it simply acts like a scroll pad or wheel and that suits me. I do have to use iPads used by others and cant say that I enjoy trying to successfully shift case and characters on a touch screen.


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## Son_of_Perdition (Apr 14, 2016)

Thanks for the input.

Being old school, I did take typing 1 & 2 in high school, was able to get up over 65 wpm, came in very handy when I joined the USAF.  Also paid it's dividends later when gainfully employed in the private tech sector.  Seems to me that using a small keyboard with my thumbs or onscreen KB/stylus on a tablet is reverting somewhat back to the hunt 'n peck method.  I also disable my touchpad on every system I've had.  My palms have a mind of their own.  As for the smudge-free coating, I see it as another gimmick that never seems to be fool proof in my world.  If my dextority & depth perception were as good as they were in my 20's I might have gone with the touch screen, but alas my body functions fail me at every new adventure.

My 'puter is pretty much stationary except to roll it in front or to the side of my chair.  I pointed out to my son when he had reservations about an all-in-one that it is nothing more than a large tablet with an attached KB & mouse.  His comment is that when & if it dies you have to replace the whole unit, just like his $600 iPad.  But I can read mine without glasses.  Decision made, it's a non-touch 23" HP all-in-one with BT KB & mouse.  By the way my graphic design days are behind me, so the need for a Mac & being able to turn on my coffee pot remotely are something I can't justify in my mind, I can't remember that my smart phone signals me when I get an email on Gmail!  I just sit there trying to figure out who is calling.

I still can get around the web with the best & doing it at minimal cost helps me pay for my meds, now if my 'Mahjong' game would only cooperate life would be much better.


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## Lon (Apr 14, 2016)

I prefer he mouse on my HP Lap Top. Using touch on my I Phone is enough of a challenge for me.


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## Ken N Tx (Apr 15, 2016)

Wrigley's said:


> Or you can get a smudge-free coating for the screen. It's not expensive.



...My tablet came with one and is doing great..I bought the screen saver cover when I bought my Kindle years ago..I do need to change the Kindle one out..


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## Bobw235 (Apr 15, 2016)

I have an iPad and a MacPro laptop that's less than a year old.  On the laptop I only use the touchpad.  I never thought I'd get used to Apple's haptic, but now I really like it.  In terms of a bluetooth keyboard, I bought one from Logitech for my iPad and it's really performed well.  Still use a mouse on my iMac, which I'll use more for my photography.


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## Guitarist (Apr 15, 2016)

My only touch screen is my smartphone and even though the fingerprints are all mine I still don't like the grubby streaky look (and yes I do clean it).  

I prefer a mouse, and after that a touch pad.  

You would think a fingertip-touch would be the most accurate contact possible, but I have found a key pad and mouse clicker to be much more accurate.  Guess the organic-to-inorganic communication just can't be perfected (and I think that's a good thing, all in all).


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## NancyNGA (Apr 15, 2016)

Also much prefer a mouse. So accurate.  Sometimes I just have to get close to the touch screen and it activates.  Other times I have to pound on it.  Maybe it's my smartphone or my skin.


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## Son_of_Perdition (Apr 18, 2016)

Since I had reacted to the evil cable company's refusal to lower my fees back in '14 I had opted for DSL through a well known ISP provider whom shall go nameless, I ran into a glitch related to technology advances & cost cutting by the laptop manufactures.  As an avid Linux user, I use only Linux or Android (Linux again) on my laptop, smartphone & tablet.  I was having slow connection issues & decided that an update to my router was the most obvious basic solution.  I had originally purchased a used router to facilitate the install of my DSL. older, slower & outdated.  

I went to my local Walmart, not wanting to spend an arm & leg for a top of the line unit I found a Linksys router that I thought would be the answer, brought it home hooked it to the ethernet feed & connected my Linux laptop via ethernet, tried to configure it but the firmware was written for Windows & there was no Linux application.  I decided to use my wife's newer Win 10 laptop, nope no ethernet port or DVD reader, my bad!  Only had 3 USB & 1 HDMI port.  Alas, the old tech router had no HDMI port only ethernet.  

Checking the web I discovered my new router wasn't so new, manufactured in 2010.  Why the heck would they keep new/unused 6 YO devices on their shelves, again my bad.  I decided to check for an adapter for HDMI > ethernet, found one but it was $70.  The router was $45.  I was trying to avoid spending more than $100 on a router, can't be done & remain current.  Besides if I spend the extra I would still be installing an older router, that probably had no update firmware support.  A Catch-22 situation that I created by being too cheap to buy the right equipment.  So now I'm out $45 (unless WallyWorld will understand my plight & return my purchase price), I'm too embarrassed to admit it to the return desk clerk.

I could use my daughter's Win 7 laptop but still would be installing old technology, I went back to the original router, boxed up the new/old one that now resides at the top of my closet as a reminder of my plan to get better connection cheaply.  I blame Walmart for their reluctance to renew their inventory & dump the outdated units.


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## Wrigley's (Apr 18, 2016)

SOP, I feel your pain, man (comes across loud and clear). I'm the last man I know who switched to a flat screen TV. I only did when the prices dropped by about 100%. And I held out on buying a new computer til the old one was 12 years old. It worked fine and I didn't want to be just another flocking sheep. Plus I was sure a new one would keep costing me somehow.

Now, maybe the NSA knows when I sneeze and maybe they don't, but sometimes you just have to go with the flow. 

I don't blame myself. I, too, blame Walmart. layful:


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