On 2017-04-12 Kevin McGregor wrote:
Oh, I know, I know, details.
Um, ~15" screen, SSD, 16 GB RAM, quad-core? Those would be my main requirements. 1080p screen, preferably, and IPS or equiv.
ThinkPad and Toshiba are quite good for Linux (and in general). Fujitsu and Panasonic also good but very pricey and esoteric. Personally, I'd try to buy models that are showcased on EmperorLinux (or similar/newer models in the same series) since they are then pretty much guaranteed to be fully linux-able. Of course you could buy from Emperor (I only hear great things about them) but they aren't cheap, or easy (us being in Canada).
I will add one thing, it's often cheaper to buy one without an SSD and without big RAM, and add in aftermarket yourself (dd and an external SATA/USB adapter work wonders). Plus then you have a backup hard drive containing the original install images (or an extra part you can sell).
Careful with maxing out the RAM, even in good laptops, Adam can tell you some stories. That could be one reason to buy one with the vendor RAM as you want it; at least then you can make it their problem, not yours (but not always fixable).