Usefullness of a touch screen on a standard laptop?

[jamezr]

I've got an Asus 2-in-1 but I use it as a laptop most of the time, but that doesn't mean I don't use touchscreen. It's really useful for me when browsing the web or even navigating, because why bother moving cursor if you can simply touch the target on the screen?

Since it's made for students it's logical that they've enabled touch and pen on it, because that's Surface philosophy and it's useful for them when scrolling through Word/PDF documents or surfing the web. They've grown up using touchscreens on their mobile phones, so perhaps this could be a matter of which category of computing devices have you used first (or used the most) and what do you use your device for.

EDIT: More useful than a touchbar though

Love a touchscreen laptop...great for relaxing on the sofa or propped up in bed

 

[Jayesh Sharma]

It's better to have more options.

 

[k1s23]

I can't help myself to not use the touchscreen on my 2-in-1, I just don't know why would I spend 5 more seconds to navigate where I want to with the trackpad (it's because it's plasticky cheap feel and performance) so I just touch it, even if it's just launching an app or refreshing a website.

hey there. i cant test it out yet as my laptop doesnt have a touch screen, but after reading the posts in here now im kinda curious to see what its like to use a touch screen on a laptop. not pen support, but just using my fingers to access things. i guess touch makes sense with clicking, but it definitely makes sense with drag and drop. i remember before touch screens existed i used to get really pissed off when people touched my computer screen so i think ill still feel some reservations when touching the surface laptop screen, but its interesting to know that its encouraged to touch the screen in the surface brand of products so ill try not to feel weird about it haha.

 

[k1s23]

More usefull than touchbar, but more useless than 360 degree

lanakaryatna, i agree. i cant believe a touch bar was invented in a computer, and that less productive computer is STILL more expensive than 2 in 1 laptops. *facepalm*

 

[abhinavsaprey]

Since it seems like people get excited when a laptop has a touch screen, I thought I would question why? How many of you, that have a standard laptop with a touch screen, actually use the touch?

I do not own a touch laptop, but one of my classmates does. I know my way around the folders and settings of Windows 10 and am pretty fast with a mouse.
I tried his touch laptop the other day (this was my first time using a touch lappie with W10) and my navigation speed just took a huge jump. I was gliding through the menus and files and was impressed myself that how useful and easy the touch is this way as compared to double clicking the mouse. Though the angle was a bit awkward at first and I was holding the screen like a gamepad with both my hands on either side, a little bit later I found a comfortable angle to use the screen. I currently own a desktop only but whenever I get a laptop, it will sure be a touch screen based, I am that impressed.

 

[kaktus1389]

hey there. i cant test it out yet as my laptop doesnt have a touch screen, but after reading the posts in here now im kinda curious to see what its like to use a touch screen on a laptop. not pen support, but just using my fingers to access things. i guess touch makes sense with clicking, but it definitely makes sense with drag and drop. i remember before touch screens existed i used to get really pissed off when people touched my computer screen so i think ill still feel some reservations when touching the surface laptop screen, but its interesting to know that its encouraged to touch the screen in the surface brand of products so ill try not to feel weird about it haha.

For me it's just like I would be using a phone screen - if I can touch it, I will touch it One thing I do not like is the on screen keyboard though. I really really really dislike that one. If only MS would bring wordflow to the on screen keyboard...

 

[k1s23]

For me it's just like I would be using a phone screen - if I can touch it, I will touch it One thing I do not like is the on screen keyboard though. I really really really dislike that one. If only MS would bring wordflow to the on screen keyboard...

SERIOUSLY!! THANK YOU! im glad someone else feels the same way about wanting wordflow on the on screen keyboard. i would get so irritated with typing on my old windows 8.1 tablet because it didnt have wordflow which i loved on my lumia 920. its not useful on the surface laptop obviously but on a surface pro it would make typing on screen much more pleasant.

 

[raycpl]

I didn't think I would get used to touching a laptop screen, put now I am used to touching all screens! Can't help but try to touch navigate on a laptop, especially someone else's! Rapidly losing MacBook friends!

I was asked by some tourist to take their group photos. It was a compact camera, which I haven't used one in ages... There I was looking like an ***** tyring to pinch zoom, and touch to focus ..


... !!

 

[SpaciousZebra]

It wouldn't be incredibly useful, honestly. I bet Microsoft is making this product with the idea that those who purchase this device will be the guinea pigs for a premium laptop with touchscreen functionality. Will they end up using it often? Time will tell.

 

[k1s23]

It wouldn't be incredibly useful, honestly. I bet Microsoft is making this product with the idea that those who purchase this device will be the guinea pigs for a premium laptop with touchscreen functionality. Will they end up using it often? Time will tell.

spaciouszebra (interesting username), i kinda disagree with that. if you think "surface" you think "touch", which is what the surface pro, surface book, and surface laptop are capable of. therefore, in order to carry the "surface" name, the surface laptop was forced to have touch. not a design choice or for guinea pigs to see if they like touch or not, but because a surface product without "touch" is not a surface product.

 

[ghese]

+It really comes Down to the OS running on the Laptop or PC. If it's Windows 10. Browsing is way better With touch screen. And all the games on the WIndows Store that's going to be better With a touch screen.

 

[k1s23]

+It really comes Down to the OS running on the Laptop or PC. If it's Windows 10. Browsing is way better With touch screen. And all the games on the WIndows Store that's going to be better With a touch screen.

i think touch games even on the surface laptop will be fun. i play disney emoji blitz which is perfect for touch. at first i was worried about screen wobble affecting my game play since that is such a rapid-paced game and constant screen wobble would be annoying, but i think i can swipe with my right hand and hold the screen with my left hand and be fine. that style of play is similar to me holding my lumia 950 xl with my left hand and swiping with my right hand, though the screen sizes are totally different.

 

[Jeffery Holderness]

My wife is a photographer an she loves being able to touch the screen on her surface book. She uses it more as a laptop then a tablet and she loves it. I imagine the Surface Laptop is going to be amazing and touch is great on any type of computer now.

 

[k1s23]

My wife is a photographer an she loves being able to touch the screen on her surface book. She uses it more as a laptop then a tablet and she loves it. I imagine the Surface Laptop is going to be amazing and touch is great on any type of computer now.

i am more interested in a touch laptop as i read posts in here. even though its not essential on a standard laptop its user can still benefit from quicker and smoother actions. as a photographer i assume she does touch-ups on the surface book? if so then she has the surface pen and transitioning to the surface laptop would be easy considering how she works on the surface book.

 

[JohnnyRedLight]

Would a Surface laptop without touch cost significantly less? Like $100 or more? Or does it jsut cost peanuts now to make them touchscreen? I guess if the cost is minor, it makes sense jsut to have it in there. I suppose manufacturing costs are probably less with the fewer variations a product you need to make.

I'm still not sold on using touch on a standard laptop, but I think this thread has convinced me that it certainly doesn't hurt and alot of people actually like it.

 

[k1s23]

Would a Surface laptop without touch cost significantly less? Like $100 or more? Or does it jsut cost peanuts now to make them touchscreen? I guess if the cost is minor, it makes sense jsut to have it in there. I suppose manufacturing costs are probably less with the fewer variations a product you need to make.

I'm still not sold on using touch on a standard laptop, but I think this thread has convinced me that it certainly doesn't hurt and alot of people actually like it.

hey johnny, i think its less about the option of having a non-touch surface laptop for cheaper and more about "if its a surface product, it has to incorporate touch" so they included every version of the laptop with touch. the surface brand was built on interacting with the screen and touching the "surface" or monitor of the computer so it makes sense for the surface laptop to have the same capability the surface pro has a better touch screen which is why it is capable of those higher sensitivity points with the surface pen and the laptop cant do that. at first i was kinda skeptical like you about having a standard laptop with a touch screen, but i think i can get used to it. my usage would be clicking on links or drag and dropping items (or in the case of disney emoji blitz, swapping all those emoji on screen haha) but i can get used to it.

 

[raycpl]

Every Surface device should have touch... otherwise it'll be called MSFT Keyboard 5 Pro... doesn't have quite the same ring to the name!!

I only have a budget i5 Acer laptop, no touchscreen. When it's time to change, my replacement must have touch, no two ways about it. It's quicker for things like scrolling, pinch zoom pictures and web pages, and certain games work better with touch.

... !!

 

[GG002]

hey there. i only have a macbook pro which is obviously not touch screen but if i had a surface pro like you then i would probably do the same thing. whats your opinion regarding typing on the surface pro? i think typing on a full keyboard screen would bug me.

Indeed, once you get used to a more direct input (touch), it's hard to do without.

Not sure what your question was, but I use my SP3 with the (SP4 Alcantara) type cover, and I really have no issues with it. I type on it basically as quickly as I type on my laptop. The other day, I wrote 4000 words for a paper in about 3 hours on the Type cover. No fatigue or frustration whatsoever (apart from it being a German keyboard, meaning some buttons are physically different in size and shape, compared to my laptop's international layout).

 

[k1s23]

Indeed, once you get used to a more direct input (touch), it's hard to do without.

Not sure what your question was, but I use my SP3 with the (SP4 Alcantara) type cover, and I really have no issues with it. I type on it basically as quickly as I type on my laptop. The other day, I wrote 4000 words for a paper in about 3 hours on the Type cover. No fatigue or frustration whatsoever (apart from it being a German keyboard, meaning some buttons are physically different in size and shape, compared to my laptop's international layout).

sorry, what i meant with my previous question is whats your opinion regarding typing on the surface pro on-screen keyboard instead of on a physical keyboard like the type cover? i hardly have a need to look at my keyboard because of the f and j keys having those little notches. i guess muscle memory after years of typing on a physical keyboard also helps. i was thinking the lack of feeling physical keys and accidental screen presses when typing would slow down my productivity, but whats your opinion on that?

 

[ZvjerOPC]

I had a Yoga 3 Pro for straight two years and I have used it in laptop mode most of the time, but since it was so thin and light I used it as a tablet on go often. When it was in laptop mode I used the touchscreen quite often - it replaced half of my touchpad usage: For example when I navigate the web with Edge - it works much better with finger than with Synaptics touchpad. Also when I copied files arround I used to drag files with my finger because it was convenient. But have in mind that most times it was a bad touchpads' fault because I have used the precision one on SurfaceBook and I found that one MUCH MUCH better - on the verge of not needing a touchscreen at all.