Microsoft Precision Touchpad, not very precise

Dell builds using Microsoft's platform.  Even if the platform they code on has an issue, Dell built on top of it, it has a problem, and then they sold it to you.  You need to contact the person you gave your money to (Dell) for resolution.

I gave Microsoft my money at the Microsoft Store to purchase this hardware. 

I've read trough enough user feedback elsewhere to be convinced that this is most likely an issue with the PTP spec on all Laptops using a PTP and not just the hardware Dell decided to use. 

Regardless, it's clear that this MS community is the wrong place to go to for help.  In fact this has been a horrible user experience filled with nothing but bureaucratic responses or buddy buddy tag team responses.  Unfortunately I'm alone on this forum so I wont be posting anymore. You can stop marking each others responses as answers because none of them have helped solve the original question. 

All I was hoping for is for some constructive conversation within the Microsoft community, not instant finger pointing. 

1. This problem is not in the hardware: when you use Ubuntu or Windows 7 on same machine, touchpad works just fine. That means the hardware is OK.

2. This is not driver problem: touchpad scrolls flawlessly in Metro mode (Start screen). That means the data fed to OS by the driver is correct.

So the only conclusion is that the OS is at fault.

At the PTP thread on reddit, TS said that MS has introduced new API: Direct Manipulation (DManip). So when you do a two-finger scroll they inspect active window and try to discover DManip consumer there, and if this check fails they fallback to standard behavior and inject legacy mouse wheel(or vertical scroll) event which is recognized by any software nowadays.

So this is most probable place containing problems. And since 99.99% of the desktop software doesn't support DManip, we're having horrible scrolling experience everywhere (except Metro).

The precision touchpad and the microsoft driver is the problem. You can track the problem over notebooks which use the precision touchpad and Win 8 or 10. Microsoft introduced something called Pointer Events (opposed to Mouse Events or Touch Events) which it uses in the Win 8 and 10 Apps, Internet Explorer and Edge. The Precision Touchpad driver scrolls incredibly well and smooth with these programs. Other software, like Google Chrome for instance do not support Pointer Events jet, so it "listens" for Mouse or Touch Events coming from the trackpad and this is where the Microsoft driver fails. While Synaptics programmed a driver which also allows good scrolling via the old methods, Microsoft does not care. One might also think Microsoft does this intentionally to either promote their browsers for smoother scrolling or to force other software makers to use Pointer Events...

HI,

You need to be working with your OEM System maker' support. They built the
hardware and implemented the design into their product. As OEMt they are

100&% responsible for he property operation of their hardware, their supplied
drivers, and Windows. So regardless of the cause of the issue is their to resolve.

Rob - SpiritX

Hi, THL6118 seems to have found a solution to point #1 (see post #3 here: http://www.heatware.net/hardware/dell-xps-13-9343-touchpadtrackpad-lag-issue/)

After making the instructed registry edits, I couldn't appreciate any improvement. I also set the values ridiculously high (1000) but didn't notice any worsening of the lag either.

Could anyone give his/her recommendations a try, and see if they work?

Hi, THL6118 seems to have found a solution to point #1 (see post #3 here: http://www.heatware.net/hardware/dell-xps-13-9343-touchpadtrackpad-lag-issue/)

After making the instructed registry edits, I couldn't appreciate any improvement. I also set the values ridiculously high (1000) but didn't notice any worsening of the lag either.

Could anyone give his/her recommendations a try, and see if they work?

I tried the registry settings in win 10, but they made no noticeable improvements to the input lag issue.

Those registry settings have no affect on the operation.

This is ABSOLUTELY a Microsoft problem. It is NOT vendor specific to Dell and it is not a vendor driver that causes the problem.

Try this experiment:

Disable the HID device (Driver) in Device manager. Note that you will be disabling a MICROSOFT driver that is provided with MICROSOFT WINDOWS (8 or 10). "I2C HID Device" under human interface devices.

Reboot.

Touchpad now works perfectly (uses generic mouse emulation for a driver). No gestures, however, so this is NOT a solution. Only intended to demonstrate that this is a Microsoft WINDOWS problem (the WINDOWS DEVICE DRIVER, digitally signed, code-typed-in by Microsoft Employees) is the culprit. Dell does not provide an OEM driver for this device, and neither does Synaptics (the ultimate manufacture). They *COULD* provide an OEM driver, but they chose not to because Microsoft encouraged OEMs to simply provide Precision Touchpad hardware, and they (Windows 10) will take care of the rest . . .

The gesture detection driver in Microsoft Windows (8.1 and 10) does not work properly. It fails to allow cursor movement in the first 1-2mm of finger movement; once movement begins - it allows for very precise operation (1-2mm movements are fine). Pick up your finger and start over, and your back to laggy land

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Some people are not "bothered" by this behavior, and in fact, report that they do not have the problem. They do. Some people always move their finger a large distance (more than 2mm) every time they make initial contact and touch the pad - presumably to 'find' the cursor moving on the screen.. These people are perfectly happy with their driver-less (Windows 10 provided driver) Precision Touchpad. They report that they do not have any problem and their hardware does not have the issue. I have worked with several of these people and demonstrated the issue on their machines. Two of them told me they "do not care"; the other one now notices it all the time and is very mad at me :-)

Other people, like me, are INCREDIBLY bothered by this behavior - it violates the principal of UI design that *I* control the cursor - that my finger movement is intimately 'connected' to that cursor whenever I touch the pad. A violation of that trust cannot be tolerated. I cannot use any notebook computer that utilizes the Microsoft Windows 10 Precision Touchpad Drivers - including the Dell XPS-13 (Early 2015) model. When the updated Dell XPS-13 comes out next week, I suspect it will utilize an OEM driver because Dell is well-aware of Microsoft's FAILING in this area.

This is absolutely a Microsoft Windows 10 issue and needs to be corrected by Microsoft. I hold my breath with each Windows Update - hoping for a fix. I check the driver version numbers with each Windows Update - has not changed since pre-release builds.

FALSE.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 3 has this issue. The trackpad in the surface Pro 3 type cover - a precision touchpad - has this exact same issue. I was referring to the Microsoft Product, not the Dell product.

There is no OEM in this case, only Microsoft. The operation of the Precision Touchpad - when controlled by Windows 10 (or 8.1) - using Microsoft drivers - on Microsoft hardware - does not work correctly.

I am trying to work with the hardware (and software) manufacturer on this one. It is Microsoft.