Re: Dells
Agreed. i still have some D620s as the real serial port is useful.
As much as I like larger screens I've grown quite fond of my E7240s that I have few and I've replaced parts as needed, maxed out RAM (or added the WWAN card if missing). Had to replace the screen on one (only annoyance is that the 1920x1080 is only available as the glossy touchscreen). I have couple spare keyboards and palmrests in the cupboard for when needed. Whilst I've always thought UltraBooks were silly, when I had to recently do fair bit of travelling i found the E7240 perfect, small and light and not too cumbersome to use on a plane either WWAN card for mobile internet is very useful when on the move and I prefer that to tethering.
I did take a look at the new lineup and looks like you can get those new ones with 4GLTE card etc so fairly similar. Sadly they have dropped ethernet port so its either the awful puck or some other USB GigE adapter. Battery is also internal as seems to be the case with all laptops now.
So £2k for new shiny that is less functonal (unless you crave USB C) than my current one.
I think I'll stick to recycling old ones until they die completely or spare parts become unavailable.