Windows 7 Multitouch

[crlamb]

Device manager lists the following touch-related devices under human interface devices:

Touch Panel Driver

Wacom Penabled Dual Touch

Is the dual touch what you meant by "wacom two finger touch," or does the "dual touch" counter-intuitively mean I only have single touch?

Thanks for your help,

-- Chris

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erik wrote:

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unfortunately, no.    7448 and 7450 machine types exist (among others) with both the one- and two-finger input panels.   simply having a certain machine type won't determine the panel.

take a look at the device manager control panel (start > run > devmgmt.msc) and expand the human interface devices tree.   a wacom driver will be listed.   if it says "wacom two finger touch" then you have the newest panel.   if not then you only have one-finger touch.

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[erik Community SuperMod · Accepted solution]

"Wacom Dual Touch" means finger and pen input (which is a dual method of input).   mine says "Wacom Two Finger Touch".

in any case, i agree that this nomenclature is counterintuitive now that multi-finger touch input is available.

(edited for clarification)

[crlamb]

All right, that seems to answer my question. If I understand you correctly, only the most recent x200 tablets accept two finger touch inputs, and since I didn't get it in the last couple weeks, mine almost certainly doesn't.

Apparently that theory is confirmed by the "Wacom Dual Touch" listing in Device Manager, which really means pen & single touch, not two finger touch.

The terminology is certainly confusing. Thanks for your help.

Sorry if I seem a bit confused about the capabilities of my own computer, but as I said, it was a replacement for an earlier model that stopped working, and as a result I'm a bit fuzzy on some of the technical details of the system. Looking at the sales pages as they are now it's clear that the x200 has two finger touch: I didn't realize that Lenovo had improved the multitouch capabilities between when they shipped my replacement (last spring) and now.

-- Chris

[GoofyG28]

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crlamb wrote:

All right, that seems to answer my question. If I understand you correctly, only the most recent x200 tablets accept two finger touch inputs, and since I didn't get it in the last couple weeks, mine almost certainly doesn't.

Apparently that theory is confirmed by the "Wacom Dual Touch" listing in Device Manager, which really means pen & single touch, not two finger touch.

The terminology is certainly confusing. Thanks for your help.

Sorry if I seem a bit confused about the capabilities of my own computer, but as I said, it was a replacement for an earlier model that stopped working, and as a result I'm a bit fuzzy on some of the technical details of the system. Looking at the sales pages as they are now it's clear that the x200 has two finger touch: I didn't realize that Lenovo had improved the multitouch capabilities between when they shipped my replacement (last spring) and now.

-- Chris

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Are you guys SURE about this? I'd feel really stupid if I bought my x200 tablet from eBay which only has single touch.

[GoofyG28]

This is indeed very frustrating! I had no idea that the term "MultiTouch" was previously used by Lenovo to describe Pen + Finger. In their tabook, the 2008 models of the 7450 (which is what I got) has the following verbiage:

   MultiTouch (touchscreen via finger and pen)

If you look at the September 2009 7450 machines, they updated to say:

   MultiTouch (touchscreen support pen & two-finger touch)

THIS SUCKS!

[erik Community SuperMod]

i agree that's confusing.   the new version is supposed to be called Enhanced MultiTouch.   i'm not sure why this hasn't been updated correctly.

fwiw, these systems are so new that i honestly doubt you'll see EMT panels on ebay.   if you want EMT, buy a system through lenovo or an authorized reseller so you know exactly what you're getting.

[trixpan]

I got a 7448-CTO and my screen is a "multitouch" that only works with one finger (and badly...)

If you look after press releases about the two finger technology you see that it was called MultiTouch instead of Enhanced MultiTouch.

Furthermore, it is worth to say that calling Multitouch a technology that does not accept multiple finger interaction is misleading advertisement as the technology does not support multiple touches but a single touch using different pointing instruments. One could use a wood stick to tap the screen, would that count as an extra touch on the multi touch description?

Best regards

Note from Moderator:  A comment which violated the forum rules was removed.

[bananaman]

To be fair, Lenovo was using "multitouch" to mean touches using different pointing instruments long before the iPhone came along and redefined the term for them.

I don't think Lenovo has ever been deliberately misleading. They just have the problem that the meaning of a term they were using got changed by forces beyond their control.

[trixpan]

bananaman,

"We see now as the right time for multitouch screens on PCs,” said Sam Dusi, vice president, worldwide ThinkPad product marketing, Lenovo." (emphasis added)

http://www.lenovo.com/news/us/en/2009/09/multitouch-screen.html

I understand your point, however, based on the above declaration by a Lenovo Executive, we can quickly conclude that the product labelling is misleading, no matter if deliberatedly or just from confusion.

I am not a long time Thinkpad user, and as such, after reading the information posted on the company website,  I closed on a X200 Tablet. I could never imagine I would get a "Multitouch"  that only supports one finger at a time.

I've already complained with Lenovo and I hope I will soon get a response, otherwise, I will seek remedy using the mechanisms available in Australia.