Touchpad modules

[Bud]

TFT display modules have become a commodity, it is easy to find one with the interface and/or graphics controller you are familiar with or information for which is available. So I was somewhat surprised to find very little when tried to search for a touchpad module. Despite touchpads been used everywhere in laptops these days, my search for a readily available touchpad module for integration with microcontroller projects failed miserably. Does anyone know of a supplier selling a vanilla touchpad modules, i.e. not just aftermarket  replacements for specific laptop models  but rather a generic module that can be used with hobby projects. I know Microchip recently came up with a kit but I would like to understand what else is available.

[paulie]

It's not obvious what use a touch panel alone would be but probably your best bet are the touch+lcd and throw away the display part. Like this:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-1PCS-2-4-TFT-LCD-Touch-Panel-TF-Reader-For-Arduino-UNO-R2-R3-A137-UNO-R2-/111385996082?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item19ef1f6b32

Sometimes as low as 3-4 bucks shipped more than one on Aliexpress. The touch screen is just attached with double side tape and easy to separate.  I have seen stand alone touch screen modules there too but the cost was about five times more than the combo lcd with touch. Display and touch controllers are closely linked for technical reasons so rare to find touch alone.