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Comment by nextos | Hacker News Reader

Sadly, the trend has been to copy Apple. Even Lenovo has been taking some Apple design cues into Thinkpads.

While Macs are good, it's better to have more variety and different design compromises to choose from. Especially, if you run Linux as only a tiny proportion of sold models will have trouble-free hardware. So I applaud this move by VAIO.

The same frustrating thing happens in the smartphone market. Practically no small phones left. Interestingly, the Xperia Compact is one of those few. Also by Sony (VAIO is part-owned by Sony only).

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Haven't seen any copy Apple's trackpad size, unfortunately. They're copying the wrong things.

They tried and failed.

I’m glad they haven’t. That ginormous trackpad is a huge turnoff to me.

It's the one thing that makes me think I have to stick to a MacBook. All the small touchpads are too fiddly for my liking.

Does it turn you off because you feel that you would touch it whilst typing, or is it something else?

I prefer using the keyboard nub on my ThinkPad myself, and have the touchpad disabled. If I'm typing, it's easier to use a nub. If I'm not typing, then I'd probably prefer a touchscreen for more accuracy.

As long whatever I'm doing doesn't require precise movements, then a touchscreen is good enough, and easier to use. If it's something harder to touch with big fingers (say position in code), then I'd probably rather use arrow keys anyways.

I’ve used one on other people’s macbooks. I think my objection is mostly aesthetic. It just seems so gaudy and excessive or something along those lines.

Out of curiosity, what can you do with that large touchpad that you can't do with one with half the surface?

To gi e you some context, I always traded touchpad surface for three physical buttons. They're very convenient when working in Linux. All I need from the touchpad is pointer movement and scrolling.

The X1 Carbon is somewhat an attempt to have an Apple-like glass trackpad. But other models have different trackpads.

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