I dislike trackpads, and use pointing sticks (or external mice, or trackballs) instead. (I know, I'm extremely picky on my input devices.) The first thing I do with a new Thinkpad is disable the trackpad, and then I never think about it again.
trackpad is useful as a scrollbar. Main mouse is the nipple, or an external mouse when I'm at my desk, but for scrolling I do find the trackpad useful. My window manager has "disable while typing" set, and scrolling set to edge scrolling, so I can use my right thumb to scroll without moving my hands.
FWIW, I've noticed knock-off replacement keyboards consistently have awful pointing sticks.