I love having the numpad available. It's just such a better way to enter numbers and do calculations.

That's what an Fn key is for. You can add a numeric keypad right under where the user's hand already is. No need to make everyone type with their hands way off to the side.

Fn option is Not nearly as good. Keys aren't lined up correctly and you cant tell where you are by feel.

Context switching overhead

Me too, I use tenkeyless keyboards on my desktops and don't have a need for a numpad in a laptop. I know some people type a lot of numbers but personally I have no use for it, and doing without it allows for better positioning and sizing of the normal keyboard.

I'm on the other side. I like the numpad, but I wish there was another place for it. But then, I also use a mouse!

You can get a TKL keyboard and an external numpad. Then you can put the numpad in some other location around the keyboard/mouse combo.

>I wish there was another place for it.

There is! With a programmable (preferably grid-layout) keyboard, you can have a numpad accessible from the homerow.

Edit: I do realize this can be inconvenient at times, but I primarily use an external keyboard with my laptop.

I want my hands to be in the middle of the laptop. No numpad for me please.

Numpad in the middle of a split keyboard could be somehow sensible.

Then make the split keyboard ergonomic, like ergodox, and add a trackpoint.

Sadly, likely too radical for a business laptop.

Oh yes please! I am a diehard Kinesis Freestyle user and would kill for a split keyboard laptop.

Definitely. It ruins the aesthetics and is completely unnecessary . If I really, really need one, i'd rather just use an externally dongle'd numpad.

The rest of this laptop is horrific and tacky, it's not the worst of its aesthetic issues IMO.

A choice between aesthetics and usability.

I find an off-centre keyboard to be a bigger usability problem than not having a numpad.

It depends. If you are a cad person that numpad is probably a requirement.

I find it terrible. It moves the keyboard/trackpad off-center.

A lot of manufacturers with poor taste react to that by offsetting the trackpad to the left, so it's only usable with one hand. What really bothers me about most laptops is the fonts used on the keyboards. I haven't seen a good one yet other than Apple's San Francisco.

My issue with the laptop is it looks like the kind of laptop I'd expect to see someone that is wearing a fake Rolex to have.

Completely baseless but it's all I think of when I see it. Just looks like a snobby laptop.

I think it's largely because of the brand stickers.

It depends on whether you want a laptop for work, or for something else. I hate watching people struggle on crippled systems.,