First time trackpad user: should moisture on thumb severely degrade performance?

I came from the 9000 so this is my first trackpad device.

I live in Miami where there's a lot of humidity.

I also have dry hands so I use moisturizer a couple times a day.

I'm finding that if my thumb is not completely dry (not like it's wet...just moist from humidity or moisturizer)...the trackpad becomes much less responsive to flicks of my thumb. When dry, I feel like it's exactly like using the trackball on my 9000...

Is this typical of a trackpad or is there perhaps something defective with mine?

Thanks in advance for your input.

You may be getting a slight film from moisture that could obscure the optical sensor somewhat, that's the only thing that might affect your usage I can thing of. It's not a capacitive sensor, it works the same way as an optical mouse.

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I think I'm going to have to go to my AT&T store and play with a trackpad on a display unit and see if ours are the same - it's really frustrating. The trackpad is supposed to be better...and in ideal conditions it is - but it's so humid here during the summer that if I'm outside I'm finding the trackpad pretty much unusable.

I just wonder if this is normal or not.

on my 9700 if my thumb is wet i find it hard to be precise because of the moisture, but the sensor works fine, its just the moisture is adding friction to the trackpad.

On humid days my thumb drags a bit, but other then that it works fine.

Originally Posted by jeffreii

I think I'm going to have to go to my AT&T store and play with a trackpad on a display unit and see if ours are the same - it's really frustrating. The trackpad is supposed to be better...and in ideal conditions it is - but it's so humid here during the summer that if I'm outside I'm finding the trackpad pretty much unusable.

I just wonder if this is normal or not.

Originally Posted by UN4GTBL

on my 9700 if my thumb is wet i find it hard to be precise because of the moisture, but the sensor works fine, its just the moisture is adding friction to the trackpad.

You were exactly right.

Since I had no basis of how a trackpad -should- work, coming from a 9000, I did not realize that my issues were not normal. It is normal for the moisture to make it harder to swipe with the trackpad, but it should still work fine - mine was not. I ended up swapping my Torch for a new one at AT&T and it's much better! That's the only minor defect mine had and my new one seems perfect.

I have noticed this problem not only with the trackpad, but also with touching the screen.

When my hands are extra moist, my fingers do not move smoothly across the surface.

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should it? no, does it? yes

Originally Posted by plkcable

should it? no, does it? yes

On my new Torch the trackpad seems to perform decently even in the worst moisture conditions. I'd say 75% as well as when totally dry.

On my old/defective unit it was more like 25% - especially when trying to move the trackpad up.

Understand the trackpad is an optical sensor.
It is not a conductive sensor like a touch screen/touch pad.
In fact you can test this by running your finger just above the surface of the track pad... you will still be able to move things around.

When your finger is moist, the H2o on your finger surface scatters the optical beam reflecting off your finger and the moisture also tends to fill in the 'voids' of your skin surface, which the track pad uses to measure movement.

Are some track pads more sensitive to this?.... maybe... and that's possibly why another device is working better for you. Just realize it really doesn't have anything to do with the 'drag resistance' across the surface of the pad.

I don't know the exact humidity levels in my country (it's pretty much the same all day, at least during the times it matters) but I guess it's still pretty high. Never experienced a problem with the trackpad on my Curve 8520. I move around quite a bit every day and never a day pass without me perspiring buckets. Crappy climate if you ask me.

Originally Posted by jeffreii

On my new Torch the trackpad seems to perform decently even in the worst moisture conditions. I'd say 75% as well as when totally dry.

On my old/defective unit it was more like 25% - especially when trying to move the trackpad up.

Unless my thumbs are completely dry, they stick to the trackpad a bit, making swiping difficult.

Originally Posted by plkcable

Unless my thumbs are completely dry, they stick to the trackpad a bit, making swiping difficult.

Yes and now on the new device, despite difficult swiping, it still reads the swipes.

On the old one, difficult swiping lead to it not recognizing the swipe.

Big difference!

I live in a humid climate (Texas) and notice some slow down of the trackpad if I'm sweaty from exercising or being outside on a hot day (like lately). It still responds, just slowly.