Touch pad vs. Track stick

The household got a new PC (or rather laptop), because I got a new job where security is important and we therefore only have desktop PC's. Anyway - we ended up buying a Compaq Presario A900 with a 17" screen. It's really cool. BUT - there is no track stick (the small "joystick" between letters G, H and B introduced by IBM back in the day). I knew that I preferred this, but hadn't realized how hard it is to go without. I've now disabled the "click" feature on the touch pad so I don't accidently click something (which happens quite a lot - I'm beginning to fear Parkinsson disease). I also mark areas up without wanting to, when just writing (because I rest my hands down close to the touch pad). I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon because my 8 year old son clearly prefers the touch pad (he's even a bit angry that I disabled the click-feature on the pad itself). But then again - it's not like he's writing anything much (other than URL's to gaming sites) - so that may be the reason. I'm sure tons of usability testing has gone into the design of this - so why do I have trouble with it (and not a touch screen like the iPhone)? Really annoying.