Well, this is was a big reason for choosing the

optopia · 12-18-2005, 06:35 PM

Well, this is was a big reason for choosing the tc4200 over the M200; the pointing stick. The little blue cap has, however, apparently been melting over the past few weeks (if you removed it, you would find this sticky, gooey blue stuff on the metal post that the cap sits on).

Just today, though, the cap basically fell apart - all the little round knobs on it rubbed off within a period of an hour, and I was left with a useless pointing stick cap.

Mind you, my tc4200 is about 4 months old, and most of the time I've been using it with an external keyboard and mouse. Has this happened to anyone else, and how/where did you get a replacement for the cap?

DanDaMan · 12-20-2005, 05:40 AM

I'm sure HP would send you a bag of them for free if you asked them. I think I got 3 with my tc1100. Recently I called up and asked for an extra screw because I lost the one for the battery cover. What I got was a purulator shipment the next day which contained every screw used in the tc1100. The one screw I actually needed probably could have fit into a small envelope.

WillAdams · 12-20-2005, 10:15 PM

What you want to get is one of the fibrous replacements which IBM has available --- they last practically forever and have a much nicer fell (IMO) than the rubber ones. Not sure what the IBM part # is though.

William

loftyhauser · 01-04-2006, 05:56 AM

I've seen the same thing (the stickiness, etc). In fact, I've been trying to find out how I can get some replacements for the last several days. Someone I talked with via the live chat utility on HP's website said that I couldn't order the part online, and gave me a phone number. Today, the person I talked with on the phone said that they don't offer those parts for sale, etc. So, here I am with a pointing stick cap that's almost ready to fall apart... I've had my TC4200 since last July, and I use the pointing stick almost exclusively (although I do have an external usb mouse right now).