I have a Toshiba Portege, which I think is what's now known as an Ultrabook. It's about a year old.
And yes - 3xUSB, VGA, 3.5mm audio-out jack socket, SD card slot....
I have no trouble running a reasonable external speaker powered off one USB socket, and taking sound from the 3.5mm jack.
I use it for presentations and business use regularly, and have yet to have any significant problem. With the screen brightness right down and the WiFi off, I can get 5-6 hours out of it, which once you've shut it down for dinner, just about crosses the Atlantic back in steerage where you seldom get power.
I did buy mine without a drive to keep the weight down, and do carry an external drive and spare battery - just to be on the safe side, although neither gets used much.
G