Is the pixel's screen really an "overall smaller package"? With an aspect ratio closer to square, it gets more surface area per diagonal inch, I would imagine it is actually larger than the 13in macbooks' screens even though it is only 12.8in or whatever.
Unless you can't stand OS X. Also the "Better Trackpad" is arguable. And I'll take the Pixel's screen.
MagSafe is a big draw though, arguably as important as almost anything else. Comparing the screen on my MBA to the screen in the new Dell Developer laptop with IPS is a bummer though.
In all honesty, I've never even seen a USB3.0 device in the wild either. Not an argument against the option, of course.
Nope, Ubuntu 13.04 works perfectly out of the box on my Air. With older versions you have to install more stuff to make sure the fans kick in, etc.
edit: Actually, hotplug Thunderbolt is touchy in Linux 3.8 because Apple's thunderbolt implementation is back-ass-ward stupid, but that's not really a biggie, I don't use Thunderbolt for anything really (the display out is fine)
- faster CPU (i5 2.5 vs 1.8 GHz)
- double the RAM (8 vs 4 GB)
- bigger HD (as you say)
- wider aspect ratio (Pixel has 100 extra pixels along the bottom in an overall smaller package)
- a bit higher (1.9 vs 1.6 cm)
- a bit heavier (1.62 vs 1.52 kg)
- bigger battery and runtime (74 vs 59Wh, reportedly 7 vs 5 hours)
Overall, a lot to be said for the rMBP. Good to have options.