Top 10 Ease of Use Tips for ThinkPad
September 18, 2006
1. Presentation Director <Fn+F7>: this
key combo brings up a utility to manage dual displays and projectors.
Next time you fumble around trying to get your slides on the screen,
losing your audience’s attention, find this tool and start presenting
and not messing around.
2. UltraNav Wizard <Fn+F8> Turns on/off the pad or stick and customizes the pad hotspots.
3. Full Screen Magnifier <Fn+Spacebar>.
Suffer from hypermetropia (farsighted?), hit this key combo and you’re
in the land of large type. Hit it again and the display goes back to
its original state.
4. TrackPoint Center Button
location-sensitive magnifier or scroller. Find the center button, hold
it down, and scroll to your heart’s content with the Trackpoint.
5. Hardware wireless on/off switch Few
people know where to find it or why to use it. It’s under the front
edge of the keyboard and is a great aid when the pilot tells you to
shut off your wireless.
6. Wireless Controls <Fn+F5> also
invokes the radio control user interface, which is useful if one wants
to shut down unneeded wireless components to save battery power.
7. Active Protection System: the “airbag.”
This feature uses a motion detection system to detect as shock to the
system, parking the hard drive so the read/write heads won’t crash
fatally into your data. Also hacked by some users to enable “knock” commands.
8. Power Manager, <Fn+F3>. This key
combo invokes the power scheme manager,where the user can set charge
thresholds to maximize battery life (not minutes of charge, but overall
lifespan before having to buy a new one, and they’re expensive)
9. Fingerprint sensor and password manager
application. Swipe your finger over the sensor, and store other
passwords in the security manager application.
10. Shutting down your system when it’s hung
and nothing else works (press the Power key for 6 seconds). When all
else fails, just find the power button, press down, and voila, you’re
back in the game.
David Hill
