Laptop owners: Can Synaptics touchpad driver and Microsoft Intellipoint USB mouse driver both be installed?

[jrichrds]

My friend's laptop has an Alps touchpad. He also has Microsoft Intellipoint software (for his USB mouse) installed alongside the Alps driver, and thus has full use of the special features of both his Microsoft USB mouse and his Alps touchpad. No conflicts at all between the Alps and Microsoft drivers.

The laptop I'd like to get has a Synaptics touchpad though. And I heard some time ago it's a pain to get the Synaptics driver working alongside Microsoft Intellipoint software. So you're forced to choose only one of the two drivers, and thus have only basic functionality for either the touchpad or the USB mouse.

Does anyone with a Synaptics touchpad successfully have Microsoft Intellipoint installed alongside the Synaptics driver, and thus have full functionality of both the touchpad and Microsoft USB mouse?

 

[eriqesque]

I have not
Intelipoint always asks you uninstall the synaptics drivers
but if it's any conselation Synaptics is much better than ALPS.

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: eriqesque
I have not
Intelipoint always asks you uninstall the synaptics drivers
but if it's any conselation Synaptics is much better than ALPS.

But is the Synaptics driver anywhere near as good as the Alps? I prefer to use a mouse at home and the touchpad on the road, so the ability to have full functionality of both devices with minimal fuss is desirable.

The touchpad driver just has to be installed after Intellipoint. What my friend did was uninstall the Alps driver, install Intellipoint, then install the Alps driver again. The Intellipoint controls just his USB Intellimouse, and the Alps just the PS/2-based touchpad. The Alps driver even lets you adjust the touchpad cursor speed relative to the Windows setting, thus letting you tweak the cursor speed of the USB mouse and the touchpad separately - very useful. I'm hoping the Synaptics driver has the same sort of compatibility with Intellipoint as the Alps driver does.

 

[eriqesque]

Well IMHO the synaptics driver is by far better than the ALPS
I now use a T40 and IBM has their own spin on the Synaptics driver and makes it even better
but having used both in the past I find the Synaptics drivers far superior to the Alps.

 

[jrichrds]

Oops, I meant from a compatibility standpoint. From a touchpad standpoint, Synaptics usually gets more favorable reviews.

But I just want to know whether the Synaptics driver is compatible with Intellipoint like the Alps driver is. Being able to use the full features of both the touchpad and USB mouse without driver conflicts is what I'm after.

 

[GnomeCop]

I don't spend all day in my touchpad drivers window, so the alps drivers/touchpads seem to be fine, plus they co-exist with other mouse drivers without any problems.

 

[eriqesque]

Originally posted by: jrichrds
But I just want to know whether the Synaptics driver is compatible with Intellipoint like the Alps driver is.

Point blank answer would be NO

 

[jrichrds]

Originally posted by: eriqesque

Originally posted by: jrichrds
But I just want to know whether the Synaptics driver is compatible with Intellipoint like the Alps driver is.

Point blank answer would be NO

Well, I assume you still mean that the Intellipoint installer asks you to uninstall the Synaptics driver before it'll install. It asks the same for the Alps driver. But when you install the Alps driver after Intellipoint, the two work great together.