I've used devices which lie in the hand well with d-pad before such as gamepads. Yes, a d-pad lying good in the hand is indeed a powerful d-pad.

Hmm, I'm not so sure about that.

For example it scrolls down, but not exactly one line. Lately, I've been using S60Browser with d-pad. I can't express how much I miss being able to touch and scroll around on the screen (and the screen is a little bit too small, too).

The Amazon Kindle doesn't use this either. The success of an application such as Liqbase for e-book reading is also telling that at least the device is usable without a d-pad. Touch screen based scrolling, when implemented properly, is much more powerful and logical than a d-pad. To compare, take something such as X terminal into account, a keypad (d-pad) is pretty useful but there you have everything fixed width, 1 up is one up, 1 to the right is one to the right. In a browser, its not as simple as that.

And without a d-pad I do see some complications. For example, I wonder how exactly I'd use my X terminal without a d-pad. Would require something like Fn key, or something touch based.

Mind you, this is about smooth scrolling using fingers (and/or stylus; that is a different issue).

For most people here, comments based on experience don't stem from the usage of one or two devices. It stems from a lifetime of experience with all kind of devices. From magnetrons to coffee machines. And, possible, several mobile devices. For me not 700/N800 because back then I was still a Sharp Zaurus user...