The Acer Aspire R7 trackpad – what the heck are they thinking?

December 10, 2013
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So I stopped by my local Best Buy today and was looking around. I stumbled on the Acer Aspire R7 laptop and HAD to share this with you guys.

What the hell are they thinking with this track pad?

It’s ABOVE the keyboard so where exactly would your palms go? Is it me or is this some of the dumbest hardware you have ever seen?

Do any of you have this laptop?

Use the comments and let us know what you think…

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Microsoft · Miscellaneous

Mike Johnson is a writer for The Redmond Cloud - the most comprehensive source of news and information about Microsoft Azure and the Microsoft Cloud. He enjoys writing about Azure Security, IOT and the Blockchain.

All Comments

  • That is some really DUMB shit.

    I’ve never seen anything as assinine as this…

    Mickey Carter December 10, 2013 9:56 pm Reply
  • That is some really DUMB shit.
    I’ve never seen anything as assinine as this…

    Mickey Carter December 10, 2013 9:56 pm Reply
  • For those of us who can navigate around without the aid of a mouse and spend most of our time typing, this is not that big of a deal. Better to just keep walking then talking here when you don’t want to understand why they might have made the decision to place the pad elsewhere.

    Dan Stark December 10, 2013 11:09 pm Reply
  • Why would your hand be “resting” in position on the trackpad anyway? You use the trackpad and get off of it, so your palms should never be resting on the keys.

    Lee Keels December 10, 2013 11:40 pm Reply
  • The more I look at it, the more sense it makes. I spend VERY little time using the pad at all, and all my time on the keys.

    Lee Keels December 10, 2013 11:41 pm Reply
  • It looks odd because it is not a visual we are use to seeing.
    I can see some benefits to it though.
    I use the keys far more than the track pad.

    If I used my computers primarily as an internet machine, I might not like it.
    But, since I use my computers primarily for computing, this actually might be nice.
    Having the track pad out of the way and not having to extend my fingers any further than I would when using a regular keyboard at a desktop.

    Keith Peterson December 10, 2013 11:56 pm Reply
  • It looks odd because it is not a visual we are use to seeing.
    I can see some benefits to it though.
    I use the keys far more than the track pad.
    If I used my computers primarily as an internet machine, I might not like it.
    But, since I use my computers primarily for computing, this actually might be nice.
    Having the track pad out of the way and not having to extend my fingers any further than I would when using a regular keyboard at a desktop.

    Keith Peterson December 10, 2013 11:56 pm Reply
  • My initial reaction was the same but after thinking about it, I agree with Dan and Lee. There’s a couple of reasons this makes sense. One is that there are many people like me, who don’t like and rarely use touchpads. In my case, I always have a bluetooth or cordless mouse handy. The other thing is, having a touchscreen, it’s just as easy or easier to reach up and do most mouse actions on the screen. At least that’s what I’ve found I tend to do when I have my Surface set up on a desk with the keyboard.

    The_Norseman December 11, 2013 12:46 am Reply
  • It’s even more strange when laptops have a keyboard that is 3 or 4 inches from the screen hinges, its just too big of a gap and just looks… strange… e.g. The Razer Blade Pro.

    rysliv December 11, 2013 1:46 am Reply
  • This is a laptop that I have been looking into buying because you can use the screen as a tablet. So when you move the screen forward it covers the touchpad and leaves the keyboard. They did have an issue with these when they first came out and that was the wifi but then it was figured out that this device needed a current dual band access point. When you see one of these laptops try it out and type on it I bet after a few minutes you will be like hmmm it’s comfortable. The first model had a 24 gig ssd with the regular hard drive but they took that out and placed a 1tb hard drive.

    Alvin De Leon December 11, 2013 5:10 am Reply
  • How many laptop users actually use an external mouse as opposed to the trackpad? I know I prefer an external mouse, but I very rarely use one. I don’t think I even have an extra mouse right now. This is dumb for people who don’t want to go out and get an external mouse. I guess if you’re going to get a mouse, or you’re going to use the laptop on a desk or something where you have room to rest your had on something else, this does make some sense.

    Ray C December 11, 2013 6:11 am Reply
  • I’m with those who think this design has some merit. I never use my laptop trackpad and brushing my wrists across it is a darned nuisance, so I turn it off. I think Acer realized that’s how a lot of users feel, but were too scared to leave it off altogether — so they tucked it away at the back, just in case. It’s the same syndrome that makes most manufacturers continue to include a number keypad that hardly anyone ever users, on larger devices — resulting in a main keyboard that is skewed to one side.

    KeithE December 11, 2013 7:01 am Reply
  • warex3d December 11, 2013 7:40 am Reply
  • It’s a touch screen laptop; who needs a mouse?

    Idee Tentee December 11, 2013 9:18 am Reply
  • Even from the point of view of someone like myself who uses my keyboard way more than my mouse/trackpad/touchscreen, I think this is quite an asinine design queue. Even if it is rarely used, it’s far more efficient to leave the trackpad where it is normally and leave the function key option to turn it off if deemed unnecessary. If the train of thought is that one doesn’t need a trackpad for navigation if the laptop has a touchscreen then it’s more rational to simply remove the trackpad completely rather than opt for that farce of a design

    chozendroid December 11, 2013 11:00 am Reply
  • hahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahaha, sniff- sniff hahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha
    Propably the funniest thing I have seen today.

    xinu December 11, 2013 1:07 pm Reply
  • hahahahahahhahahahahahhahahahaha, sniff- sniff hahahahaahahahahahahahahahaha
    Propably the funniest thing I have seen today.

    xinu December 11, 2013 1:07 pm Reply
  • I think that it would be more comfortable typing with the keyboard that way. Mouse is used less often with a touchscreen. Has anyone taken the time to see the reviews on this convertible laptop/tablet? If I had a client who wanted a tablet, but was worried that the Surface screen was too small, I would suggest the Acer Aspire R7.

    Alex Molitor December 13, 2013 5:35 am Reply

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