If you're willing to give up a tiny bit of screen size for portability, I highly recommend the Dell Latitude E5450. * 14" 1920x1080 screen * Excellent keyboard

If you're willing to give up a tiny bit of screen size for portability, I highly recommend the Dell Latitude E5450. * 14" 1920x1080 screen * Excellent keyboard (better than my 13" Macbook Pro) * Very usable trackpad * 6-7 hr battery life * RAM and Hard Drive easily upgradable * Works great w/recent Ubuntu-derivatives (probably other distros as well, but I haven't tried 'em) I recommend you try and pick on up via Dell Outlet -- with an occasional 40% off coupon (e.g. there's such a discount available right now) you can get one for less than $450.