The ThinkPad X series. The X201 is similar in size, weight, and price, but can hold a modern CPU and gets an extra several hours of battery life. You can also get mobile internet access, although I'm not sure of what type.
ThinkPad construction stands up to a whole lot, and the keyboard is fantastic. I have a five-year-old X40 that is still chugging along wonderfully - I'd like to get a new laptop, but I just can't justify it.
I have only had one issue running Linux on it: because I use Debian, the non-free wireless firmware must be downloaded separately. I have never had a problem with Ubuntu, even the early versions I tried, because they include it. Intel has put a lot of work into getting all of their stuff supported in Linux, and it shows.
I hear the Sony Z series has a similar story: similar size/weight/price, better hardware and battery life.
If people are questioning the Air's price, they'll absolutely hate the Z's price. The cheapest Z has an i7, an optical drive, and a $500 premium over the base 13" Air.
I had a Sony TX3 back in the day -- the predecessor to the Z -- and yes, it ran Ubuntu rather nicely (unlike many Sony laptops it had a sensible enough chipset that the only device that I couldn't get working was the fingerprint reader). Alas: the price was comparable to a high-end Powerbook, it was relatively gutless (especially when the Core Solo was ramped down for power saving), murderously hard to upgrade the internals (upgrading the hard drive ... I looked up the engineering FM, turned white, and cancelled the whole idea), and had Sony's inimitable approach to warranty repairs if anything went wrong (i.e. six to eight weeks and a fat bill if you want your laptop back).
(Oh, and the keycaps rubbed off the keyboard inside 18 months. Not just the letters, but the silver finish, all the way through to grey plastic. They did not build it for the long haul.)
If Sony were to focus on quality of after-sales service for the high-end laptops, and maybe ditch the bloatware installs, they could probably compete with Apple. Their design aesthetic is there. But they fall down on the whole experience thing once you get it home (or in the office).
Core i7-640LM @ 2.13ghz, 2*2GB DDR3, Intel GMA 5700MHD
12.1" WXGA+ (1440 x 900) LED Backlit Widescreen
320GB HDD (that will be replaced with an SSD)
3 Year International Warranty
A machine that will last years, that works well with Linux, and that I can plug in a nice Docking Station.
*: I cannot understand why there is no Lenovo store for french private customers. Instead of creating a web app, I should open Thinkpad store! A thinkpad costs 2k€+ in Europa... Luckily, I found a cheaper deal on eBay. The actual EUR/USD conversion rate also helps. Plus, it comes with an international warranty, so no headaches here: http://lenovoblogs.com/connections/?p=14 .
Wow, that's nice looking specs. The higher resolution display and i7 I'm truly jealous of. I hope it works well for you. You should ping me and let me know how it works out for you or blog about it, especially your Linux experience. I'm very interested to know. Always looking to move back. The only thing I'm not too happy about is the Intel Graphics, looks good otherwise.
Also, I have never experienced this just works experience on Linux, Ubuntu included.