macbook typing problem

There is something that reaallly irritates me about my macbook. Sometimes when I'm typing on msn in the middle of typing the last letter that was typed highlights and changes with whatever key I hit next. If I'm trying to type "hello there" for instance, while I'm typing say the h in there will highlight and I continue typing the h will change to the e and then the r and then the e. This is a very irritating problem because I like to type fast and do not like having to stop and click around randomly to get it to stop.

Anybody know what's going on?

You're probably stroking the trackpad with your thumbs while typing. Try turning on "Ignore trackpad input while typing" in the Mouse or Trackpad pane of System Preferences.

technologist said:

You're probably stroking the trackpad with your thumbs while typing. Try turning on "Ignore trackpad input while typing" in the Mouse or Trackpad pane of System Preferences.

Click to expand...

That is exactly what I thought when I read the OP's post. Seen it happen on PC laptops quite often. When I got my iBook I turned on that option the first day. Works great.

Ahh I did not realize there was an option to turn of trackpad input while typing. I cannot thank you guys enough because this happens several times a day and is extremely annoying. I'll let you know how the system preference change effects it!

*Moved thread to appropriate forum - Notebook settings problem*

Same Problem

The same thing happens for me, and I have tested this by keeping my hands above the track pad and it still happens. I also have ignore accidental touch turned on in system preferences. Any word on a fix for this?

Glenners said:

There is something that reaallly irritates me about my macbook. Sometimes when I'm typing on msn in the middle of typing the last letter that was typed highlights and changes with whatever key I hit next. If I'm trying to type "hello there" for instance, while I'm typing say the h in there will highlight and I continue typing the h will change to the e and then the r and then the e. This is a very irritating problem because I like to type fast and do not like having to stop and click around randomly to get it to stop.

Anybody know what's going on?

Click to expand...

I came across this thread while looking for a solution to the errors caused by accidentally touching the trackpad while typing. FWIW I do have "Ignore accidental trackpad input" checked in Trackpad preferences...but it doesn't help (me at least) all that much. I also have (two-fingered) "Clicking" turned on which is very convenient...but it does lead to those typing issues.

A nice solution is a little freebie program called "Sausage Fingers":

Sausage Fingers - A Tool for Preserving Sanity

It works perfectly and can be set to load automatically if desired:

Mac OS X: Setting up Login, Startup items

Hope that helps anyone that's looking for help with this!

EDIT: Two-fingered right-click still works while the program is on. Also, I'm on Snow Leopard v10.6.1 and it works fine.