I also opted for this laptop even as it only has 2 usb-c ports (no other connectors) and even worse no physical mouse buttons. However, this is the first ThinkPad for a long time that has a really good thermal design and good battery life. I am happy. And I actually even find myself using the touch pad from time to time.
The lack of ports and trackpad buttons seems awful. I think they ruined the trackpoint too. Are the thermals and battery life really so much better than e.g. the T14 or T14s?
I had only had X-Series laptops before and I cannot tell.
The haptic feedback on the track pad is emulating the buttons reasonably well, but, yes, I am missing the buttons! It is much more tiring on my fingers than using the external trackpoint keyboard. Particularly the middle mouse is harder to hit.
I can reasonably live with the usb-c as there are great small USBC hubs. I actually started to enjoy that I can connect eanythingbon either side.
For cooling: the non-coated case material and particularly having the air flowing inside the display joint ( I think like Mac books) makes a difference IMHO.
