The recently released Cypress Trackpad software 2.5.3.35 is VASTLY better than its predecessors but it still has one big problem: it detects "phantom clicks" frequently while I'm typing (too many to count during the typing of this post alone!). As I will explain, I have mucked around with every setting and I believe that there's simply no way to set things such that this doesn't happen. As I will explain, initially I was thinking that the issue was that a setting that could preclude the problem was missing but my empirical results indicate that setting wouldn't solve the problem. In the end, I think the trackpad software is not simply missing a feature, I think it's buggy as well--either that or the hardware itself is flawed.

As things stand now, I truly hate this trackpad it makes the user experience of this entire Dell XPS absolutely miserable for me. Unfortunately for me, this is a work machine and I have no choice but to use it; however, as things stand now, I would ditch this thing in a heartbeat if I could.

Let me explain my experience a little further: sometimes when I'm typing, a click event is registered on the trackpad. This is a MAJOR deal: phantom clicks can cause all kinds of unintentional behaviors from text being typed in unintended places (when the click moves the text insertion point) to buttons and links being clicked that cause data loss or even unintended data transmission (email sent unintentionally or web forms submitted unintentionally). This is far from a minor annoyance: this is in fact a major functional flaw that can have severely bad repercussions.

I believe these phantom clicks are generated from my palm (almost always my right palm) touching the trackpad while I'm typing and I don't believe that there is any way I can set the trackpad settings to preclude the issue. Here is why:

• It seems to me that, if it were implemented properly, simply turning on Palm Rejection should completely eliminate the problem. Unfortunately, I can't tell that turning on Palm Rejection has any impact whatsoever and if it does have some kind of impact, it certainly does NOT have the impact of preventing the issue. There's a sliding scale associated with it; it's not entirely clear if the - or the + side is the one that sets the Palm Rejection to be the most aggressive and the app doesn't provide any guidance on this but in any event, I have tried it with the setting all the way to the + side, which I think should be the most palm rejection, and I have also tried it with the setting all the way to the - side and the issue occurs either way with no discernible difference in frequency.
• I have the "Tap to click" option turned off; this should mean that in order for the trackpad to register a click event, I should have to press hard enough on the trackpad to actually click it (an audible click, not just a dull tap or no sound at all). When my palm makes contact with the trackpad, it is NEVER with enough pressure to click it; as such, the phantom clicks should not be coming from accidentally touching the trackpad hard enough to click it.
• Unfortunately, the buttons register not only clicks but also taps: lightly brushing against them, NOT actually clicking them (in other words, no sound at all, certainly not an audible click), can be registered as a tap that will engage them (that is cause them to perceive a phantom click).  By the way,  I've found that the situation can be helped, but not eliminated, by cranking up the Touch Pressure setting--but then the trackpad becomes harder to use for intentionally moving the pointer around the screen! I was initially thinking that if the buttons had a "Tap to click" option like the trackpad, that would be sufficient to solve the problem but I no longer think that: while certainly the developers need to add a "Tap to click" option for the buttons, I have found that the problem exists even when I set the buttons to the "Do Nothing" option.

So as I said, I don't believe that there is any way I can set the trackpad settings to preclude the issue. Further, since the problem happens even when I have the buttons disabled (set to "Do Nothing") and I have "Tap to click" set for the trackpad, I have to conclude that either the software is buggy or the trackpad itself is faulty.

This is such a shame because it doesn't have to be like this: it's sure not like this on my MacBook nor was it on either of my previous 2 MacBooks (this is the first Windows machine I've used in years so I can't compare to that). Now, I'll note that I have had this exact same problem on my MacBooks--but on those, simply turning off the "Tap to click" setting immediately and permanently resolved the problem. The truth is that it ought to be just as easy here! I just don't get it--do they not do real world tests on this stuff?!? I have big hands and I do see that the palm of my right hand hits the trackpad in the right button area so I imagine people with smaller hands wouldn't experience this issue but still: surely it can't be all that uncommon--after all, they put in that whole Palm Rejection feature for a reason, didn't they? As a side note: computer manufacturers' relentless insistence on putting the trackpad right in the middle of the laptop doesn't help either: if it were shifted slightly to the left, it would fall between users' hands instead of partially under our right hands. As I said, this is just a side note: moving the trackpad isn't the way to solve the issue, making the trackpad work properly is the way to solve the issue.

I've dug around in the registry and I can see that there are tons of keys in there for the trackpad and they all have pretty good descriptive names (nice work, Cypress developers!) but none of them seem to me that they would enable "Tap to click" for the buttons. Cypress developers: if you're listening and there is something in there that I could alter or even a registry key I could add, I'm more than comfortable doing that, just let me know.

As I said, I have found that setting the buttons to "Do Nothing" doesn't prevent the problem but if you'd like to try your hand at it, you should know that if you turn on "Two Finger Click for Shortcut Menu" you'll get a better way to get get the shortcut menu (which is the traditional default behavior of the right button) than the right button. With that on, you can both click and right-click on the trackpad itself so you won't lose any functionality by turning the buttons to "Do Nothing." Unfortunately, what you will lose is the ability to click with one hand and drag with the other: if you need to move something on the screen, you have to both click and drag with the same finger on the trackpad, and you must keep the that finger pressed down to keep the trackpad clicked because as soon as you release the click, you will "drop" whatever you were dragging. I vastly prefer to handle moving something on the screen by clicking it with the left button with my left hand and then dragging it with my index finger on my right hand; by doing that, I don't have to engage the click with my right index finger (in fact, I can't even engage the click with my right index finger because my left hand already has the click engaged) and, because I'm holding the click with my left hand, the item I'm dragging will not be released until I release the button with my left hand--so even if I move my right finger off the trackpad, the item won't be dropped (bear in mind that sometimes this is critical: if you're moving the item a big distance, you might run out of trackpad and have to pick up your finger and move it back off the trackpad so you can then put it back on the trackpad and move the item farther). So: setting the mouse buttons to "Do Nothing" has a serious drawback and given that in my experience it doesn't prevent the problem, it's not worth doing--but if you find otherwise, more power to you!

I have visited Cypress's website trying to find a way to submit this information to them but I can't find an appropriate way to do that.

And finally: please, nobody tell me that my typing teacher would simply tell me to sit up straight and keep my palms up. Yes, I should do those things--but this trackpad should work properly too!