My hands are too big to type on anything smaller than a 15" laptop. 17" would be better, so you actually have some screen real-estate to work with, if your int

My hands are too big to type on anything smaller than a 15" laptop. 17" would be better, so you actually have some screen real-estate to work with, if your intent is to do actual work on it. Ideally something with an aluminum case, since the screen hinges on plastic case models wear out so quickly. Something that has accessible panels for upgrading/replacing RAM and hard-disks, without having to completely disassemble the case. Something with a standard keyboard layout, with real F1-F12 function keys, and a full numpad on the right. Get a cheap wireless/bluetooth mouse that takes AA batteries and turn off the trackpad. If carrying around a 5 lb laptop is an issue, you might want to go to the gym a little more often ;-) Unless you have to do iOS work and need to have XCode, I wouldn't pay the 300% Apple tax. There should be something offered by Acer or Asus for $500-600 that would fit your needs. Get the cheapest one that has a decent processor/GPU (don't worry about the HD or memory, as long as the motherboard supports at least 8GB DDR3). Throw an SSD and some decent memory sticks in it, and install a clean version of Windows, without all the bloatware, or your favorite flavor of Linux.