Ask Lemmy

My work computer has a touch screen. It is used about evenly by people pointing at my screen and accidentally touching it and one form I sometimes use where I have to select an option and hit next a bunch of times. It's way faster to do that with a couple fingers than with a track pad or a mouse.

I use to use mine regularly, it was nice ergonomically to change between the trackpad and touchscreen. My arm needs a rest from being tucked up next to the trackpad. This makes most sense if the laptop is on your actual lap. Can't do it anymore since my laptop broke.

It can be useful for drawing and photo editing without a mouse. Since I don't do that much, it is practically useless

Pretty much never. Even if my hands are dry and clean, I get annoying marks on the screen.

I may rarely swipe to scroll, but if it's anything else I'll go hunt down a keyboard to plug into it instead of using the screen. Convertible, by the way, can;t see any reason to do it unless you have it detached from the base and in your hand like a giant phone.

Used to have one, literally never.

I don't use it consciously. But I do notice when I'm using a laptop without touchscreen - so I probably use it more than I think.
I mostly use it in tent mode with keyboard and mouse attached tho.

I usually don't use it.

Disabled it in BIOS, most useless feature in a laptop. Yoga like laptops that can flip the screen 18 degrees, sure. But a regular laptop - just why?

My work laptop is a touch screen, The only time I've used it is when I accidentally brushed the corner of the screen reaching passed and closed the window I was working on.

When I had one, I used it a couple of times to play Civilization V on an airplane.

Me: so rarely that I keep forgetting it's a touch screen

My wife and daughter: constantly, so my screen is full of their fingerprints

Very rarely. It’s my work laptop so I always have the mouse available. Occasionally it will sometimes be easier to just reach over and tap something on the screen.

Oh, and I hate the trackpad.

I recently pulled out my previous laptop that I'd used for several years before getting my current one. I don't remember how long I'd had the previous one, but it's been quite a few years.

While working on my project with that laptop I accidentally bumped it and knocked it off my desk. Reflexively, I grabbed for it and managed to catch it by the corner of the screen.

And that's how I found out my laptop had a touchscreen.

all the time. sucks to go back.

I use one for sound recording, as tapping controls on a screen makes far less noise than a keyboard or mouse of any make or model.

ITT: people hating on touchscreens

Also ITT: people pointing out really good reasons to have a touch screen.

used to have one. loved it. I hate trackpads and having a touchscreen saved me from cramping the tendons in my hand.

bring back the nipple!

Every once in a while I accidentally tap and am reminded I have a touch screen.

I have a much older laptop with a stylus interface that I'll use to draw things when I need to.

Never. I didn’t realise it had a touch screen when I got it, i disabled it, and I don’t miss it.

Mine is a two-in-one where the keyboard can fold fully backwards and it puts the laptop in "tablet mode." I use it constantly for reading comic books, as rotating to a portrait frame and swiping through pages is much easier than scrolling/zooming on each page with mouse and keyboard.

I also occasionally use it for doodling when I'm traveling, but I've got a nicer setup for that on my desktop. So that's a corner case.

Often. Easier on the train than using the touchpad. But a x86 tablet with a sliding-over keyboard would be even better.

Only to answer teams calls because I can hit the notification with my pinkie rather then moving my hand to the mouse.

I honestly forget it had a touchscreen all the time. I grew up before the prevalence of touch screen devices so it never occurs to me that something with a built in physical keyboard could be interacted with that way.

I used to note take constantly on the Surface line so all the time. Even now I still use it quite a bit since it became so natural.

occasionally. It's nice to have, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy a laptop with one. Sometimes I use it to quickly scroll or tap a button if my hand isn't already near the mouse. Not too often, but saves me a fraction of a second once every few weeks :)

Mostly simple things. Changing and closing tabs and windows, toggling bluetooth, etc. Anything where the button is visible and big enough to be easy to hit.

Literally never. Never on purpose, at least.

I had a Surface Pro all through college, and used it for note taking in all my classes (pen on screen), which was fantastic. Haven't really used the touchscreen function since though, and it's been quite a few years.

When I had a work laptop with one, I used it daily for quick UI things, browser windows, start menu stuff. I used it a lot. I'd never spend more to own one myself, but the work one I had was nice.

Work laptop. I use it when I’m sharing my screen and we’re discussing a map or drawing of something. Pretty useful. Especially the pitch zoom function when whatever app I’m using doesn’t have an intuitive zoom function.

Not work laptop. If I’m reading an article on the couch sometimes I’ll scroll down using the touch screen.

never bought one for it and never used it on ones that have it. its surprisingly common for the last many years and it was sorta hard to avoid if you otherwise don't care and were looking for a baseline of features at the best price.

Only with the fancy stylus that came with it.

I pretty much only use touchscreen for kolourpaint so I can do some math or something

Sometimes, mostly for a quick volume or pause/play press.

Being able to fold it right round can be useful as it uses less space when you are just playing a video or something. (Less chance of damaging it while cooking too!)

I got a fancy one with a pen, but found that trains are really not as smooth as I thought so the plan of learning to draw on the train never happened.

Edit: the pen support has come in useful for electronically signing things multiple times!

I miss having it, I still occasionally forget I don't have it. I would use it to select tabs, open programs, scroll pages, zoom in and out. I loved it, I'm legit thinking of replacing my current laptop screen with one that is a touch screen.

All the time because the Surface keyboard is a piece of shit

I put FydeOS on mine and Sketchbook. I use it almost entirely as a tablet and draw with a USI stylus.

I have a tablet that mostly gets used as a laptop and I rarely touch the screen when I have a keyboard/trackpad attached.

The vast majority of the time on accident when pointing to something on the screen, maybe a couple times on purpose when the mouse was in an awkward place.

I would rather not use the touchscreen but it doesn't come up enough for me to find the setting to turn it off.

Since the battery in the pen stopped charging, almost never now.