I've been posting all over this thread because I love my new T440s, so it looks kind of funny, but for me as a new Thinkpad user the clickpad as trackpoint buttons was really easy to get used to. I think it's actually worse as a touchpad, but as a Trackpoint I don't think you lose that much. I'd say give it a chance, I think they have a 30 day return window and I'd say you should easily figure out if you like it or not in that timeframe (you should verify the return window though, this is just what I'm remembering).

> Have you actually tried and compared the physical buttons to the new ones?

No, not yet. However, I'm not holding out much hope, considering that the change to the chiclet keyboard was also proclaimed as being an "improvement", when in reality it was not. Also, as a Linux user, having to configure the trackpad-based buttons is definitely going to introduce driver headaches, something else that I have been able to avoid so far by sticking to the TrackPoint.

I am holding out hope.

I have used the 4 trackpoints on the market. I own an HP Elitebook and the trackpoints aren't as nice as the ones on the Thinkpads, but are the closest I have found to the Thinkpad pointing sticks. If I have to leave Thinkpad/Lenovo I might go to an Elitebook. HP quality control is terrible, but it might be the only option if the new buttons are really that bad. HP at least has buttons.

They should have kept the mousepad as an option.

Charge extra for it, just don't blatantly remove it. Maybe either Lenovo or someone else entirely different will figure out a way to install the old keyboards on the new computers.

As mentioned in the video I linked, I've got an extended warranty for my X1 Carbon, so I will just hold out and see what happens. Maybe I'll buy a couple of T420s's (the last of the T line with the proper keyboard) and make them run for another 5 or 6 years after that. I definitely don't need the latest hardware, given the sort of dev I'm doing on my laptop.