Smilin Ed, out of curiosity what is the rate of change for the THR in manual control mode? How fast can it move 13 degrees? If 0.65 degrees per second is as good as it gets does that adjust your distaste for the auto-trim in any way, especially if that magic number and the actual time it takes to go from neutral to stop in both directions are taught very clearly in training?
If 0.65degrees/second is as fast as it gets and the pilots know this instinctively them holding the elevator is a one control option for controlling the elevator and spinning the trim wheel. You get the same effect.
I've been wondering if there is some place on that panel to put a cartoon of the plane that shows the control surface positions as reported by the feedback position sensors. It could be ignored until a pilot wonders if something is wrong or stuck. (Or perhaps if the PF was mucking it up.)
And, please, I am just asking. Knowing is better than guessing, not that I expect to ever be writing such software. Maybe somebody else who will be designing such software will read it and consider it fully.