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View Full Version : Wireless sliders on laptops. Hate them.



kaldor
March 9th, 2010, 03:34 PM
On my laptop, my girlfriend's laptop, and most other laptops I have used, the wireless slider is just below your left hand on the front of the laptop. They're sensitive too. Really sensitive.

I've resorted to jamming the switch so that it can't move and disconnect every time I brush up against it while typing or moving the laptop.

What's the point of them anyway? Can't people just use the GUI to turn off Wireless if needed? Or even make a button instead of a slider. Or make it so the slider isn't so light that a breeze through the window can't move it to the off position.

/endrant

Tristam Green
March 9th, 2010, 03:39 PM
On my laptop, my girlfriend's laptop, and most other laptops I have used, the wireless slider is just below your left hand on the front of the laptop. They're sensitive too. Really sensitive.

I've resorted to jamming the switch so that it can't move and disconnect every time I brush up against it while typing or moving the laptop.

What's the point of them anyway? Can't people just use the GUI to turn off Wireless if needed? Or even make a button instead of a slider. Or make it so the slider isn't so light that a breeze through the window can't move it to the off position.

/endrant

The Dell D620 has one of the finest sliders I've ever seen. Instead of a stupid rocking slider, they have one you really have to click in order to turn off wireless. And, it doesn't have any sort of grip (in fact, the grip faces in the wrong direction).

To turn off, you have to manually click the slider in this direction <-- against the direction of the thumbgrip.

To activate the wireless network locator you have to rock the slider forward in this direction --> in the direction of the grip.

It's a great design and I think more laptop makers should use it.

LowSky
March 9th, 2010, 03:51 PM
My Lenovo Thinkpad is a sliding switch too but it take a good deal of muscle to get it to move.

chessnerd
March 9th, 2010, 04:08 PM
The slider on my laptop is good. It's off on the left side of my laptop next to the SD card slot and takes a bit of effort to click. I've never had any problem with it.

As for using the GUI to disable wireless, you can't actually turn off the card with the OS (at least, not that I know of). You can still disconnect from your network with the OS of course, but the slider allows you to actually turn the card off. This can be a big battery saver. Turning the wireless card off gives me another 20-30 minutes over the life of my battery when it's off.

kaldor
March 9th, 2010, 04:08 PM
My Lenovo Thinkpad is a sliding switch too but it take a good deal of muscle to get it to move.

Wow. I have had bad luck from the look of everything. I have to be *so* careful because I keep getting disconnected. It has a large grip as well, which makes it even worse! Hooks into everything!

forrestcupp
March 9th, 2010, 04:10 PM
I guess I'm lucky. My laptop has a button next to the keyboard.

I've had laptops with a slider on the front. I had some trouble with it, but not enough to make me mad.

Objekt
March 9th, 2010, 04:23 PM
These switches are an unfortunate shortcoming in a number of portable designs. On my Acer Aspire Ones, one model D150 and one model D250, the switch does nothing under Ubuntu Netbook Remix. It is supposed to turn off the wireless network device, and indeed appears to do so under Windows XP.

I freaking HATE stupid "hardware" switches that only work under Windows. There is no reason for a supposed "switch" to give a fig about what OS the computer is running. No reason, except lazy/cheap design. The Aspire One's must be a soft switch, entirely dependent on software (Windows-only, of course!) to actually work.

More to the OP's point: the Aspire One's slider is not easy to accidentally activate. It is spring-loaded, small, and located below the front edge of the keyboard/touchpad surface, requiring a deliberate effort to activate. You have to hold it there for a second or so. An accidental movement won't do it. Since it only works under Windows, I hardly ever use it.

Dragonbite
March 9th, 2010, 04:33 PM
My Lenovo Thinkpad is a sliding switch too but it take a good deal of muscle to get it to move.

Same here. I like it because sometimes the software on/off works, and other times it doesn't.

Sporkman
March 9th, 2010, 04:42 PM
My Acer laptop has a little flush-with-the-surface button next to the keyboard that's really easy to accidentally push when you grasp the machine from the side to lift it/move it as I often do. :mad:

madnessjack
March 9th, 2010, 04:58 PM
It's a good security measure though. Worried you're laptop is being hacked? Not anymore :P

undecim
March 9th, 2010, 07:13 PM
I think the main idea behind them is that WiFi/bluetooth are big battery drains, and software apps don't always shut the antennae completely off.