C2D MBP - botched trackpad button design?

[EstorilM]

Ok, so about a week after I bought my first C2D MBP a couple months ago my mouse button started to have this weird / incredibly annoying "double tap" type feel to it, in other words.. as you press the button down, instead of one reassuring "click" there was first a faint click then the real one, if you pressed it at a normal speed it would feel like "ta-tap." I wanted to pull my hair out every time I used the button!!!!

So, I brought it in and they gave me a new computer on the spot - which I was pretty surprised about (being a 1st time mac convert, I don't think they wanted me to go back to the dark side so easily.) The computer was a few weeks old like I said.

Well, today it happened again - all of a sudden my mouse button is doing the same thing, it took a little longer but I've been careful to use the button as little as possible and use either the external mouse or the tap method.

Oh well - there seems to be a very short life on some aspect/part of the click design in the mouse button on these things. Has anyone else experienced this problem? I mean, I'm 2 for 2 now - I'm surprised this isn't a MAJOR issue for the laptop at this point. It sounds trivial but like I said, in real world use when you're not thinking about it then you get smacked in the face with the problem every time you click... it's enough to make you want to throw the computer out the window.

GR wtf should I do? I'm starting to get disappointed to be honest with you.

 

[iW00t]

I have no idea what you are talking about, but I do love the feel of the MBP's trackpad.

The only quirk I observed is when scrolling through a page. I move the pointer to the button on the scroll bar, give it a short click, and somehow the button didn't depress itself and the page overscrolled what I was reading.

 

[EstorilM]

Well it's strictly a hardware issue I'm talking about here, the scroll / tracking behavior of the trackpad itself is very good.

Whatever mechanism under the button causes the click feel/sound just screws up on me after a few weeks it seems like, but it's one of those stupid things you take for granted and don't really notice till it's gone / messed up.

Like right now, I can push on the button just enough so that it doesn't do the "real" click, yet it's making this stupid clicking sound anyways. If I push a little harder, it does the stupid click followed by the real click (ie. the "ta-tap" thing I mentioned.)

It's hard to explain and I'm sure I sound like an idiot, but trust me when I say that you'd know what I was talking about if your computer was doing it too.

 

[Jiddick ExRex]

I have read about the issue before, so no, you do not sound like an idiot. Just take it back again, even though it's a sore and annoying proces.

 

[jdtanner]

I had the same double-click problem and solved it by using a bit of WD40! I bought one of those WD40 pens and used it to lubricate the gap between the trackpad button and the case, being careful to wipe up any excess (and not use too much). Anyway, since then I've had no problems with the trackpad and it feels so much nicer.

Disclaimer:
Don't blame me if you screw up your MBP doing this...I'm only letting you all know what I did.

Cheers,
John

 

[Danny Futuro]

i think i know what you're talking about. my trackpad button makes a tapping sound as you lay your finger on it. It's not really a big deal to me. You think the tapping is annoying? Try having a squeaking iBook G4 palmrest for a week. THAT will drive you nuts!

 

[kappaman210]

Yea, I've had two that have had this same exact problem. It's really annoying.

I'm not quite sure how that WD-40 pen would work though? Could you care to explain a little more? I'm very curious. Thanks.

 

[EstorilM]

Honestly I'm just happy I'm not the only one that noticed it haha.
I mean it's almost as noticeable as the primary click.. and yeah you're right, it happens when you lay your finger on the button with a small amount of pressure.

Hm, for some reason this one has stopped doing it now. Maybe it's going through a phase.

 

[kappaman210]

Honestly I'm just happy I'm not the only one that noticed it haha.
I mean it's almost as noticeable as the primary click.. and yeah you're right, it happens when you lay your finger on the button with a small amount of pressure.

Hm, for some reason this one has stopped doing it now. Maybe it's going through a phase.

Yea, it definitely has phases. And it's not a big enough problem to get too worked up over. Hopefully someone eventually finds a fix though, because I've seen a few threads on these forums about it and a few over on the Apple discussion forums.

I've found that a good temporary fix is to just push the trackpad button forward a bit. It makes the clicking go away.