Aspire Switch Alpha 12 - Touchpad Driver Question

Hey all,

I'm considering buying an Aspire Switch Alpha 12, and wanted to ask someone who's already got their hands on one: does it have a proper touchpad driver & touchpad configuration panel, that lets you adjust things like pointer speed, gestures, palm rejection sensitivity, etc? Is it a Synaptics device, or Acer-specific?

I'm trying to replace a returned Lenovo Miix 700, which Lenovo (bafflingly) released without any touchpad driver at all - it just uses the default Microsoft HID driver, which offers none of the above (i.e. https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-based-Tablets/Miix-700-no-touchpad-driver/m-p/2244115#M4878, https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Windows-based-Tablets/Still-No-Miix-700-Touchpad-Driver/m-p/3346632#M5620, etc). Microsoft has issues with their Surface touchpads too (https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/forum/surf3-surfhardware/surface-3-touchpad-first-touch-delaylag/67a4b6ac-bfbb-4a74-9b0a-acd8b2ca57cd), so since it seems like these Surface-like tablets often have similar issues, I just want to make sure the same wouldn't be true with this Acer Smiley Happy

Thanks in advance!

Accepted answers

All comments

Mary-Acer

Acer does not offer a specific touchpad driver for this product. It would use the driver that is integrated in the Acer OEM operating system.

metal450

Hi Mary,

I'm not 100% sure what you mean by "It would use the driver that is integrated in the Acer OEM operating system." I think you're saying that it suffers from the same lack-of-completeness that is causing hundreds of people to return their Lenovo Miix 700 tablets, but just to be 100% sure before I discount Acer as a non-option, let be a little more explicit with my questions:

1) Is the touchpad a Synaptics device (so any of the synaptics drivers could be used)?

2) Does it have a proper touchpad configuration panel, that lets you adjust things like pointer speed, gestures, palm rejection sensitivity, etc?

3) Please provide a screenshot of the Windows Device Manager, with the "Human Interface Devices" and "Mice and other pointing devices" groups expanded (like this: http://screencast.com/t/TNIa3AIBz7), so that I can verify it has a proper, functional driver.

Thanks,

J~

Mary-Acer

Please send a private message with the serial number of the system.

metal450

There is no serial number of the system - as stated in my post, "I'm considering buying an Aspire Switch Alpha 12."

Whether or not I purchase this system is dependant on your answers to those 3 questions.

gbardach

No, the Switch Alpha 12 does not have a Control Panel Expansion for the touchpad. It uses the OS settings (Settings-Devices-Mouse and Touchpad).

I can't believe that 100s of people returned a 2-in-1 device with a touchscreen because the touchpad is not full-featured like on a notebook without a touch screen. If you want a keyboard centric device why don't you buy one of the Ultranotebooks with a clamshell design? They usually have all the touchpad features you want (BTW, pointer speed, two finger scrolling and all the other basic features also work on the Acer Switch Alpha). Acer and Lenovo have a wide range of ultranotebooks with or w/o touchscreen, with pen input or w/o pen input etc...These devices usually have better keyboards than the 2-in1s.

metal450

>>I can't believe that 100s of people returned a 2-in-1 device with a touchscreen because the touchpad is not full-featured like on a notebook without a touch screen.

Why is that so hard to believe? The vast majority of notebooks *do* have touchscreens nowadays, I fail to see how this additional functionality translates in any way to "people should be OK with crippling something else." We don't see cars with less-functional accelerator pedals just because they have Cruise Control, do we? Receivers don't ship with broken RCA inputs just because we now have HDMI? Laptops with USB3 don't lack the ability to work properly with USB1 devices? It shouldn't be strange that people wouldn't suddenly be OK with crippled touchpads, now that there are touchscreens. They're two different input devices for two separate scenarios, one is not a replacement for the other.

>>If you want a keyboard centric device why don't you buy one of the Ultranotebooks with a clamshell design?

These Surface-style 2-in-1's are often touted as a single device that can replace either a notebook or a tablet. This one in particular has an i3-i7 chip - and a range of specs to exactly match a full laptop. I don't see how "thin, removable keyboard formfactor" would have any relationship whatsoever with "...means the touchpad should be non-configurable." Yes, I understand that it has a somewhat thinner, more flexible keyboard than a clamshell - but as I'm aware, no company has ever said "if your preference is towards a notebook-like experience rather than tablet, don't buy this device." Instead, they say "this is the device that can do both!" It makes absolutely zero sense to me that the choice would be "enjoy this formfactor, but we won't bother completing the touchpad," or "if you want a properly functional touchpad, you don't get to enjoy this formfactor." This physical system design does not preclude them from supplying the software drivers necessary to properly use that system.

And I do already have an ultrabook. This is for a different purpose.

mromolino

I just pick up one yesterday (Costco, $700) and I wanted to adjust the track pad but found the options to be very basic - track speed and click speed only.

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