Is that really still a problem? I've always had trackpads work straight-off 100%, and find battery life to be way better under linux (perhaps because it's not running a million unwanted services.)
I'm thinking taking an existing laptop (say hp), installing debian variant.
I'd be intrigued what other options are out there as I'm trying to move the whole family over
Whether these advanced features are desirable is of course a matter of opinion. Personally, I find macbooks very hard to use because the trackpad never does what I want on account of having the motor skills of a spastic five year old. So I don't miss this at all.
On mac I disable nearly all gestures, I prefer the keyboard shortcuts.
You are right though, we're probably all talking about different aspects of trackpad usage.