Lenovo Thinkpads are top tier. Shoot for X and T series for best build quality. You want high resolutions, so customize it to the highest you can get. Some p

Lenovo Thinkpads are top tier. Shoot for X and T series for best build quality. You want high resolutions, so customize it to the highest you can get. Some people may say it makes stuff look too small, but software will continually will improve to handle HDPI scaling, but that's easier than trying to switch out a screen yourself. Remember you'll at least have an editor and docs on the screen at the same time. You said you want to do deep learning / big data stuff, Tensorflow can work with CUDA. Feel free to go for the NVIDIA laptops (T and P series), which can fall back on intel integrated graphics for power savings. NVIDIA's Linux and FreeBSD drivers are nice. These laptops work well with Linux and FreeBSD. On FreeBSD, newer intel chipsets graphics and wifi may have issues. If there's an issue with wifi support, consider a USB wifi like "ASUS (USB-N10) wireless-N USB Adapter" or "TP-LINK TL-WN725N Wireless N Nano USB Adapter", which have chipsets that are supported on FreeBSD and Linux very well. Consider outlet.lenovo.com for deals on these laptops. Older generation laptops work well Steer clear of anything with *40 at the end. T440, X240, etc. are the scourge of the Thinkpad line. They removed the physical keys from the buttons in the mouse and the trackpad itself is horribly poor quality. http://www.laptopmag.com/images/uploads/4020/g/lenovo-thinkpad-x240-g15.jpg http://www.laptopmag.com/images/uploads/4020/g/lenovo-thinkp... is bad. http://www.laptopreleasedate.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X260-Intel-Skylake-3.jpg http://www.laptopreleasedate.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/... is good. You can go for X series and grab an external monitor / base station to plug into. This gives you may portability. But I still advise you go for 1080p resolution, if you compromise for less, it may be too squished to program in.