According to my anecdata, most devs are using either Dell XPS (or other notebook with Ubuntu preinstalled or listed as supported such as Inspiron or G5 gaming l

According to my anecdata, most devs are using either Dell XPS (or other notebook with Ubuntu preinstalled or listed as supported such as Inspiron or G5 gaming laptop) or Lenovo Thinkpads (T480 or X1 depending on your budget). If possible, I'd check them out yourself. Personally, I found Dell trackpads better and larger than Thinkpad's, but neither is a match to Apple's (I have no use for the trackpoint on Thinkpads). Thinkpads are also praised for their keyboards, but I've found Dell keyboards work better for me. This is highly subjective; some devs have reported pain after using Dell keyboards. Last time I checked, Thinkpad T460/470 notebooks are equipped with (sub-par IMHO) 14" displays which would be a deal breaker for me, though I guess you can order better ones at least on their X1 (for a price, though).