W700 Wacom pad

[jgt1942]

I have the Wacom pad built into my W700 and use it for teaching. Thus my usage is limited to writing on PowerPoint slides or  writing on the slides through a web interface (the hosting firm presents the slides). When working with the web interface I've encountered a few issues and I'm looking for a solution. I suspect it may be the hosting application but don't have enough facts to point a finger at them.

Very often when I place the pen on the pad and I'm just trying to insert a decimal point it is impossible. If I use my mouse I can easily insert the decimal point. Or if I attempt to draw a short line with the pen if is difficult to impossible whereas the mouse does not present an issue. Also if I attempt to print a message with the pen very often strokes of the pen will be missing. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Jimbo]

Jgt1942, I have a W700 and can click the pen between characters in a text editor just fine to enter decimal points, if that's what you're talking about. And I can go into Photoshop and draw lines as short as I want with it. So I can't replicate your problems. This is with the pen that came with the W700.

I have to say, though, that in addition to the skinny pen that came with the W700, I have a much nicer pen designed for the Wacom Cintiq 15X tablet. That Cintiq 15X pen works with the W700. And I find that pen to be thicker, with a better grip, thus providing more precise control of positioning. Also, some users prefer the Cintiq 18SX pen, which also works with the W700 but has a squishy grip on it.

All I can suggest is that you try using the pen in some programs other than your teaching application, and see if it works better in those. Then you'll know if the problem is tied specifically to that application. Or try it within different pages in your web browser, such as a gmail page, etc.

Also, you can check out two of your control panels: Pen and Input Devices, and Pen Tablet Properties. You can try the different settings in those and see if any of them alleviate your problem. You might first write down your current settings for reference. And I suppose the action of the pen might be affected by preferences that can be set in your web browser, although I'm having  difficulty imagining what settings those might be.

Perhaps other users out there who spend more time with the tablet than I do can chime in with more specific suggestions.

By the way, if you buy either of the above two Cintiq pens, see the following thread, which tells you how to enable the second side-button on those pens for use with the W700 (although I don't think anyone has yet tested that procedure under Windows 7 -- I'm using Vista 64 on my W700):

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/W-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/drivers-for-Lenovo-W700-supporting-a-2-button-...

Good luck!

[jgt1942]

Jimbo ref - "can click the pen between characters in a text editor just fine to enter decimal points, if that's what you're talking about. And I can go into Photoshop and draw lines as short as I want with it"

This is the issue I've encountered and I'm sure that it is the iLinc (see www.ilinc.com) interface. I've mentioned this to them in the past but I don't think they have a system they can test with thus they have not really looked into the issue. I was hoping that there are some options I've not considered and they might provide a solution.

If I go into PowerPoint show mode on my system the pen (that came with the W700) works great. If I shareout the PP in the iLinc interface the pen does not work at all in the PP show mode.

In the iLinc interface if I start a whiteboard inserting short pen strokes or decimal points with the pen  is near impossible.

When I go into the Control Panel (Win7 x64 Ultimate) I see only "Pen & Touch" this opens the same window as the pen systray icon does and seems to have very limited controls.

The other two pens you mentioned, will they store in the W700 pen storage slot as does the pen that came with the W700?

Most likely I've encountered an issue that is somewhat unique to my usage. While I have PhotoShop and other graphic applications that could use the pen, at the present my usage is limited to teaching. I had looked at the Lenovo X-Tablet series but did not like the idea of a 12" screen. The W510 if it had a PAD would be more to my liking.

[Jimbo]

The Cintiq pens don't fit in the pen hole in the side of the laptop, because they're thicker than the stock pen, which is what helps make them easier to use. I figure you almost need a wheelbarrow to carry the W700 around anyway, so putting a pen in a pocket of the laptop's carrying case is no big deal.

My best guess of what you should try is to go into the control panel, and look for a screen that (at least on my Vista 64 system) is entitled "Pen Tablet Properties." It has a couple of tabs on it, and clicking the "Pen" tab should show a picture of the pen in the upper left corner of the dialog box. That tab of the dialog box has an "Eraser feel" slider, a "Tip feel" slider, a "Double Click Distance" slider, "Enable Eraser" and "Click Sound" checkboxes, then a "Tracking" section that lets you choose between "Pen Mode" and "Mouse Mode."

If you select "Mouse Mode," then you can click on a "Details" button that pops up a dialog box containing a "Mouse Acceleration" slider and "Mouse Speed" slider. The combination of selecting "Mouse Mode" and setting the mouse acceleration and speed settings may fix your problem.

If you don't have any of these options, then you may have a driver issue. But proceed with extreme caution if you decide to mess with installing tablet/pen drivers in Windows 7. I know that people have run into some issues with that. I don't have Windows 7 here, and haven't delved into all the tablet/pen driver issues for windows 7. So make sure you find instructions from someone who has successfully done what you plan to do before proceeding with that. I don't trust Lenovo tech support on this issue, as a lot of users have said tech support is clueless on pen/tablet matters. And you should backup your entire system drive before messing with that stuff.

Anyway, that's about all the info you can squeeze out of me on this topic. I went to ilinc.com to try their system, but they want me to sign up, schedule a session, and all of that, which is more than I have time to deal with.

Best of luck!

[jgt1942]

Jimbo- When I installed Win7 I performed a clean install. After the install I installed the Lenovo ThinkVantage System Update utility. I was told that this utility would check and install ALL Lenovo drivers and ensure I had the latest level for my OS. Well..... this is not a true statement... so I just discovered.

After reading your last post I, especially about what you saw in the Control Panel, I went to the Lenovo site, downloaded the Wacom drivers, and then installed them and rebooted my system. Now when I go into the control panel I see what you see. I open the "Pen Tablet Properties" and adjusted the "Tip Feel" to the far left (Soft) and now the pen works MUCH better in iLinc. However the pen still does not work when I share an application through iLinc but if I switch back to the application (e.g. not the share window) the pen will work. At this time I assume there is an issue within iLinc. I'll try to contact them tomorrow and see if they can help (I doubt that they can/will).

Thanks for your suggestion, it was a BIG help!

[Jimbo]

Good to hear of the improvement!

If you haven't already done so, be sure to try the Mouse Mode. That's because when you go into the share mode, your application is apparently distinguishing between the tablet and a mouse, and ignoring the tablet. There's a chance that Mouse Mode will thwart that. Worth a shot, anyway.

[Jimbo]

By the way, if/when you call iLinc, see if they have any info on using their system with either a Wacom Cintiq 15X tablet or Cintiq 18SX tablet. Those stand-alone products are fairly close in operation to the W700's tablet.

[jgt1942]

Jimbo - you are my hero! I just went back intoPent Tablet Properties -

Selected the “Mouse Mode” and click on Details, in the “Mouse Mode Details” popup adjust the “Mouse Acceleration” to off.

Now I seem to have full function in iLinc. I'll ask iLinc about the pads you mentioned but most likely they will not know. If you want to test let me know.

[Jimbo · Accepted solution]

Congratulations! As far as I'm concerned, everything is now solved. Interesting problem, and I'm glad it worked out. Also glad to hear that you had no problems with the driver install.