I would suggest the following: 4GB of Ram i7 or i5 SSD Something like this: x220: http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outlet_us/LenovoPortal/en

I would suggest the following: 4GB of Ram i7 or i5 SSD Something like this: x220: http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outlet_us/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=445&Code=4290XB7 http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outlet_us/... or x230: http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outlet_us/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:item.detail?GroupID=445&Code=R9TBNWW-2306CTR http://outlet.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/outlet_us/... Might fit the bill. The nice thing about the x220 is that it is what a lot of Linux Kernel hackers use so the hardware tends to be well supported. Get an intel wifi card and intel graphics card. I have personally avoided Optimus technology for fear of lack of support, however, others have had luck with it so it might not be too bad. Do you have any preference for screen real estate?