I picked up a Logitech Wireless Touchpadat Fry’s last weekend. I’ve been research alternatives to a regular mouse and the Touchpad seemed like an interesting option. The other item I was considering was the updated M570 Trackball, since I’ve used one of those before and liked it quite a bit.

My biggest concern about the Touchpad was whether or not it would work under Ubuntu and if I could pair it with my existing Unifying Receiver. And it does! A number of the gestures work as well, which was a nice surprise. I was able to use the Touchpad right out of the box with Ubuntu 11.10 using the receiver that came with it.

Unfortunately, Logitech doesn’t provide the unifying software for Linux, so in order to pair the Touchpad with my existing receiver (the one that came with my wireless keyboard), I had to use my old Macbook Pro. If you have a Windows machine lying around, that will work too. I have no idea of you can configure the paring with either of those operating systems running under a virtual machine under Linux.

I’ve been using the Touchpad full time now for a bit less than I week and like it quite a bit. I recommend it to anyone who wants a trackpad-like device and can’t or won’t get Apple’s version.