[sf-lug] seeking laptop recommendations to upgrade from thinkpad t61p

[Michael Shiloh]

I love my trusty Thinkpad T61p, but it's getting quite old. Time to 
upgrade, but to what?

I've owned many Thinkpads and loved them all. What are the Lenovo steps 
up from the T series?

Or is it time to try something non-Lenovo?

I strongly support what ZA Reason is doing, and would be inclined to go 
with them if one of their selections fits my needs. I know at least one 
of you uses a ZA Reason laptop and would love to hear your experience.

Considerations:

- What's a reasonable amount to spend? I expect to pay more than $1000 
but need to keep it below $2000.
- Some SSD for speed. Could be all SSD, or some SSD and some spinning disk.
- I carry my laptop everywhere, so weight is a concern.
- I use the laptop constantly, so a really good screen is important.
- Nice keyboard. I'm spoiled by Thinkpads.
- I love the Thinkpad joystick thingy between the GHBN buttons. I don't 
think I could get used to a trackpad. I've tried often and I hate them.
- I travel quite often and long battery life is somewhat important, 
although on the one hand in-seat power is becoming more common and on 
the other hand some time away from the computer is a good thing too.
- I speak publicly very often so flawless external monitor hookup is 
critical
- I don't do many CPU intensive things. Mostly lots of web pages (I 
typically have 30 open tabs) and Thunderbird. Lots of Arduino compiles 
but that's pretty fast anyway. I mostly used git, Inkscape, OpenSCAD, 
Fritzing, vi, etc. I suspect lots of RAM and the SSD is more important 
that CPU speed, but I could be wrong.
- Style is not terribly important to me (thank goodness)
- Obviously something that works well with Linux (standard Ubuntu) 
without having to jump through too many hoops is important

Thoughts? Suggestions for and against? General discussion?