Then you're not in the market these machines serve. I have been rocking the MBA since it came out, and the latest rev is I think the best computer ever made for me. When they go Retina (and use a discrete graphics card) I will be in hog heaven.

People occasionally ask me what laptop to buy, and I always admit that I know nothing about the Windows laptop market. Is Thinkpad still the only game in town?

I also know nothing about the Windows laptop market. But in Linux land Thinkpad is just working perfect.

More accurate I guess would have been "the ~OSX laptop market." Precision in language!

VGA ports are too tall to fit in ultra-slim laptops. RJ45 is a bit smaller, but must also be sacrificed for slimness.

Some old PCMCIA cards used to have pop-out RJ45 connectors where the cable plugged vertically into a square open-ended socket. While making this design durable seems difficult, I'd still appreciate having an Ultrabook that didn't require a dongle.

Similarly, the latest model of Vaio Z has an ethernet port taller than the body, with a plastic cover that folds open to accept the full height of connector.

Get the T430s. One pound heavier, a little bigger, ethernet and vga ports. And full voltage processor.