I don't even have a strong enough pull in my direction to say that I think the non-removable battery is made up for by "X" other property.

My previous PBG4 system couldn't get 2 hours of battery run time. I didn't own a previous generation MBP17, but even if I could only get 5.5 hours from this battery that'd still be fine by me.

My point has always been that there are multiple reasons that Apple made the decision. And that regardless of those reasons, the non-removability (non-instant anyway) doesn't affect the vast majority of customers.