[excession]

Actaully I do occasionally use it when I'm stuck playing an MTT or sthg and I want to go sit on the sofa in front of the TV - it works fine for me but I'm no touchpad afficianado.

Anyway whilst it may not be that great a design decision - most of us buy it for the fantastic screen specifically to multitable with - very few of us would in those circumstances be using the touchpad..