I can control a mouse pointer with the trackpad on an Apple PowerBook much better than I can using the stick-type devices used on some machines or trackballs used on older models. Use it for illustration all the time.

The trackpad on the Apple machines is far better than any I have ever used on any other portable though, such as Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Dell, etc... For one thing it's large and for another it's less than half a millimeter from being flush with the top of the casing. It's also in the right place, centered in the middle of the case, not off to the left like on some notebooks - centering the pad in relation to the keyboard or space bar by putting it off to the left just makes no sense unless your right arm is visibly longer than your left).