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Comment by coin | Hacker News Reader

> it moves the touchpad to left of center

What is it with PC laptops and off-centered trackpads and keyboards? I center center sit centered to the trackpad and look right, or sit centered to the screen and they awkwardly type to the left.

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It depends on the point of view. Those off center trackpads are in fact positioned in the center in relation to the keyboard (without numpad) which make sense because when you are typing you have access to it with your thumbs and, because it's in the center, it's away from your palms, so it minimize possibility of accidental use when you're typing without using any sophisticated software solution. It may look stupid when you look at it but it's not so stupid when you start using it.

You missed the point. The point is, both the keyboard and trackpad aren't centered. Now you have two options:

1. Position yourself in the center of the keyboard and type straight -> This forces you to turn your head/eyes to see the middle of the screen.

2. Position yourself in the center of your screen and look straight -> This forces you to put your hands to the left.

Both are very awkward. A keyboard needs to be centered in front of the PC. Numpads screw that up.

It's an ergonomics nightmare. You use the keyboard infinitely more than you use that trackpad and a good, solid keyboard is the only advantage of using a laptop over a tablet these days. It makes no sense to compromise the primary functionality of the laptop for something that rarely gets used.

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