Paul,
A non slide coach is good for two people. We have 3 and 4 people in the coach almost all of the time. Karen's mother travels with us and other friends take trips with us. And when we tailgate it is more like 10 to 12 people INSIDE. So you can see that we need a coach with the extra room that slides afford. With us, it's about liveability while parked.
If we park in a Wal Mart I put the slides out. It only takes a few minutes and it makes it so much more comfortable when we open both sofas into beds. In my '93 non slide Newell; when we opened both sofas it was like a king sized bed. Both sofas would touch together and there was no room to walk between the two. With 4 people in that coach it was very crowded.
If it were just Karen and I a non slide coach would be perfect. But currently the way we use the MH - slides are a necessity.