I've never spent that much on a laptop. I bought my 700m for $700 cash (craigslist, in pristine condition), Its still alive and well (though I had to reinstall windows a few times, due to bloat).
My m1330 OTOH... I paid much more for that one, and it needs the motherboard replaced for the 2nd time in <2 years. Thank g-d for complete-care. Next time it's acting up, I'm going to insist they replace it with a different model.
But then again, I can't really compare Dell to Sony. With that in mind, I bought my uncle a Sony VGN-SZ430N several years ago. He paid a bit less than you paid, and he was not happy at all. Maybe his expectations were too high.
No, you're 100% correct, hard to find on lightweight ultraportables. I think the macbook and one of the Dells have a back-lit keyboard, but nothing that's ~3.04 Lbs.
The last laptop that I bought was the 700m with a 50% off code ($750 off $1,499...remember those!)
I loved the 700m, but after 6 years, complete care gave me a refurb Studio XPS 13 for it, but it has been a huge pain in the you know what...every day something else breaks on it and Dell won't do anything about it because it's past the original 5 year warranty from the original 700m.
I've looked high and low, but I can't seem to find anything 12-13" that is fully loaded (i7, at least 6GB RAM, backlit keyboard, HDMI, optical drive, webcam, bluetooth, removeable battery) etc. besides the Sony.
The Sony is a very sweet laptop based on the time I've played with it (30 days free returns) but I still can't believe how much it cost...It is really amazing to see and feel though!
If anyone can find another ultra-portable I'm all ears.