Flying Fox wrote:Usually, "business" class laptops will have both the trackpoint and trackpad, with the only exception the older X series Thinkpads (they have since added it back a couple generations after Lenovo took over). Like Forge said, the biggest advantage is the typing position. Using the trackpoint you do not have to move the fingers further away from the base positions compared to using the pad. I also find the cursor movement from one side of the screen to the other faster than using the pad. Scrolling with the middle button and the nub also feels faster than to use the side of the pad. However, the new advantage of the pad is multitouch gestures. I don't disable the pad myself but I still use the nub more.
I tried using the nub on the older Thinkpads (before Lenovo took that line over), and it just felt far too imprecise and too "muddy" for me. Guess I didn't really get the hang of it down.
That said, I've had business class laptops from several OEMs over the past decade, and the IBMs were really the only ones I used that came with the nub. Probably why I just got so used to using the pads (that and multitouch has been really nice, lately).