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October 15th, 2008 20:00
Capacitive Media Buttons
Hi All,
I'm just curious about other opinions out there about the XPS capacitive media buttons. I have an XPS M1530, and prior to this I had an Inspiron 640m, and I have to say I much prefer the buttons on the Inspiron. Why would anywone actually prefer capacitive buttons. To me they seem like a cheap gimmick, like those touch lamps that nobody ever buys anymore. I much prefer the re-assuring click and substantial feel of a regular button. With capacitive, it never seems really clear if the button has been pressed or not, and it's much slower to press it multiple times (like when reducing the volume etc.).
For some reason though this seems to be how all of the laptops are going.
Eugene
ejobrien
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October 16th, 2008 20:00
Yes that's true, but it's still not as clear as actually feeling the click. If capacitive buttons are really the way to go, then why don't they make the whole keyboard capacitive, and the touchpad buttons? Obviously they easily could. However noone would want that, people like to be able to feel that the button has been pressed, not just see visually that it has.
kirkd
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October 16th, 2008 20:00
kirkd
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October 16th, 2008 21:00
ejobrien
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October 16th, 2008 21:00
Also, what about people who have low vision? With regular buttons you can feel which one you're pressing. I might know from experience that the mute is third from the right, and easily find the button by touch, not possible with capacitive, where the buttons feel exactly the same as the rest of the plastic panel. I've actually found this a nuisance myself if I'm watching a movie on the laptop in a dimly lit room. With the old inspiron I could easily find the buttons without having to actually see the symbols. However with the XPS I inevitablly have to visually hunt around for the pause, review buttons etc.
Anyway I just strongly believe that usability/practicality should be the primary goal with any design, and visual aesthetics should come second. I highly doubt that anyone could demonstrate that capacitive buttons improve usability in any way.