IMO, not all Thinkpads. My E485 was noticeably worse than my X1C6. Never seemed to track as well, nor did it seem to resist "sticking" as much.
I don't quite know to describe sticking, but it's like when an INU (or a strain gauge in this case) fails to properly self calibrate, and it decides that an objectively false input is true. Something similar to video game controllers with "stick drift," but not quite the same afaik.
Aside:
Ultimately, I can take it or leave it w.r.t. the trackpoint. A good touchpad can do wonders. In tight spaces I use my thumbs then rely on decent tap-to-click and inertial dragging implementations (present since ~2008). Though in the recent years, I haven't had to commute to work by train or bus anymore, nor have I had to really travel by airplane.
When typing, I mostly rely on keyboard commands for text-heavy work. I do find quite a bit of use in many thinkpad's KB layout still preserving home/end/insert/pgup/pgdn without needing to resort to "fn" key twister games, even if newer Thinkpad layouts are worse and worse for this (insert key got eaten by fn in some newer laptops, and there are obviously longstanding debates over the 7row vs 6 row). None of the griping about the "swapped" ctrl/fn key positions would even matter if functions weren't being hidden behind fn keys in the first place, negating the need for a fn key at all.
I do appreciate the thinkpad's clustered f1-f12 keys, which make common f keys quicker and easier to find.
I've never used the touchpad on any of my thinkpads.
I think Lenovo have been okay stewards of decent laptops. Not great, especially relative to newer developments on the market.
I have an E585, and I agree it's not quite as good. I think the E series are kind of the "budget ThinkPads" (I got it second-hand in a pinch after my previous laptop broke). It's decent enough I suppose, but I've had a number of curious hardware problems with it (including the drift you mentioned).
> I do appreciate the thinkpad's clustered f1-f12 keys, which make common f keys quicker and easier to find.
Finally I found someone who cares about this too! I've had laptops without those little gaps, and I found it unnoticeably harder to use the F keys; for example brightness up/down is F5/6, and when watching some TV at night when it's dark it's so much easier to find those keys with those little gaps. Even in regular normal use it just makes things a wee bit easier.
It's a small design detail, but it so clearly and objectively makes the keyboard better than I don't understand why so many keyboards don't include it. Well, I do understand: the graphical designers have locked all UX designers in a closet somewhere, but still...
> griping about the "swapped" ctrl/fn key positions
You can just change it in the BIOS anyway so that Fn is Ctrl and Ctrl is Fn, so it's a non-issue anyway.
I don't quite know to describe sticking, but it's like when an INU (or a strain gauge in this case) fails to properly self calibrate, and it decides that an objectively false input is true. Something similar to video game controllers with "stick drift," but not quite the same afaik.
Aside: Ultimately, I can take it or leave it w.r.t. the trackpoint. A good touchpad can do wonders. In tight spaces I use my thumbs then rely on decent tap-to-click and inertial dragging implementations (present since ~2008). Though in the recent years, I haven't had to commute to work by train or bus anymore, nor have I had to really travel by airplane.
When typing, I mostly rely on keyboard commands for text-heavy work. I do find quite a bit of use in many thinkpad's KB layout still preserving home/end/insert/pgup/pgdn without needing to resort to "fn" key twister games, even if newer Thinkpad layouts are worse and worse for this (insert key got eaten by fn in some newer laptops, and there are obviously longstanding debates over the 7row vs 6 row). None of the griping about the "swapped" ctrl/fn key positions would even matter if functions weren't being hidden behind fn keys in the first place, negating the need for a fn key at all.
I do appreciate the thinkpad's clustered f1-f12 keys, which make common f keys quicker and easier to find.
I've never used the touchpad on any of my thinkpads.
I think Lenovo have been okay stewards of decent laptops. Not great, especially relative to newer developments on the market.