Same reason as they almost all have glossy screens and Windows XP. The marketeers reckon people want them.

I know not all agree, but I too would like to see the suggested pointing stick, and at the top right of the keyboard (though I am biased, being right-handed) for best ergonomics. Thumb operated, with a second set of buttons underneath the unit where the index and second fingers would rest when comfortably hand-held. Apart from ambidextrous compatibility, the middle of unit (even towards the front) is about the worst place to have a trackpad or whatever. I don't keep my mouse there on my desktop, so why on a laptop or netbook?!

Otherwise, for all its ordinariness, this netbook actually ticks many of the right boxes that others ignore – SSD, small size, fair battery for its size, good connectivity (only 2 USBs doesn't matter when it's as well connected as it already is).

To me and, I suspect, a lot of other touch-typists, the between-the index-fingers location of the pointing stick is perfect because you never have to take your fingers away from the home keys and fumble to get them back where they belong. That's one of the reasons I like it so much than touchpads and mice. I use my index fingers to operate it, not my thumb.

Every touchpad I've ever used has been flakey and erratic in some way or another, but I still use them with laptops (except my ThinkPad), because mice don't work well on the side of my leg or, as you point out in the middle of the keyboard.

Hey, I just had a fueled-by-caffeine brainstorm: for mouse lovers, you could have a small screen-shaped mouse corral below the keyboard on the right hand side (the angle wouldn't work as well in the middle, and I think most lefties, like me, mouse with their right hands).

The mouse could be as big as an inch or so, with small buttons, or the buttons could be on the left side below the keyboard.

Whether this is a regular optical mouse held on by magnets and with exaggerated screen pointer movement, or a removable mouse that snaps onto a floating tab, attached to some kind of linkage which translates mouse movement into screen-pointer movement, I'll leave to the designers and engineers

While I would prefer a trackpoint, a tiny touchpad would be functional enough for the few times I wouldn't actually have an external mouse plugged in.

What I'm really getting tired of is 600(…or less) vertical screens… 768 please!

While I would prefer a trackpoint, a tiny touchpad would be functional enough for the few times I wouldn't actually have an external mouse plugged in.

What I'm really getting tired of is 600(…or less) vertical screens… 768 please!