Number of ports: Don’t forget the port-replicators aka Docking-Station. Depending on the notebook model you are using you can get a docking-station for that. Depending on that docking-station you are using you get more ports then on the notebook itself. As you docking-station normally is there where your big screens are, they are connected to docking-station. So ports of the docking-station count too.

VGA: I use it often when on customer site and get “a screen” (if I am lucky a 24", sometimes smaller). Most of the time the customer IT have only VGA-cables or maaaaaybe a DVI (which I can’t plug into my Lenovo notebook) at hand. No display-port-* cables. So I still need a VGA port these days ;-(