Point Sticks
Quick, what’s the thing called in the middle of your keyboard that you can use in place of the mouse? You know; that rubber thing that looks like a small eraser? Give up? The technical name is point stick, but it has been called everything from a laptop eraser to a nub. And while they can be very handy when you’re cramped up tight in the middle seat on an airplane, when users have enough space they usually prefer to plug a mouse into the laptop. It’s much easier and quicker to guide the cursor that way.

The question is though, what do you do if there are suddenly problems with your point stick? Maybe it dry rotted, or perhaps it fell off. Or quite possibly, it could have just stopped working altogether. Regardless of what happened, at that point it’s time to find a replacement for your point stick. The first thing you should do is go to the website of the company that made your computer and search for the part. If you found the point stick for the correct model of laptop, congratulations; you’re in the clear. If the laptop maker doesn’t sell parts for your model anymore, there are several other things you can try.

To start with, it’s very possible that your model is similar to another, more current model that the manufacturer is currently selling, and would thus still carry parts for. Point sticks seem pretty standard, so perhaps you can find one that is supposed to be for another model and use it for yours. Other than that, you might also be able to find the point stick for your model on an auction site. Point sticks and point stick caps for laptop brands such as Compaq or Dell can be found online if you search hard enough. You could try to find a broken laptop that is the same model as yours and buy it to scavenge for parts. That way, if something else breaks on your laptop down the road, odds are you’ll have the right part all ready to go.

Then, once you find one, you can just unscrew the bottom of the laptop, take the keyboard out, and install your new point stick. You’ll be ready the next time you have to use your laptop and have no room for a mouse.