recommendation Programming laptop

[QPaysTaxes]

Hi!

 

I'm trying to find a new daily driver laptop, since my old one is starting to die and I'm taking it as an excuse to upgrade. I'm not looking for a gaming machine or a netbook, though, and that's all I can find any resources for. I'm looking for something that will be great at compiling (and, of course, running) my code.

 

I'm in the US.

 

TL;DR: I'm looking for recommendations for a laptop with enough ports, a good CPU, and good battery life, to use as my daily driver for coding. Budget is soft, $2000.

 

In more words (but please at least skim this before recommending):

Spoiler

Hard requirements:

• Ports. I need a 3.5mm headphone jack, one Thunderbolt 3, and either a second Thunderbolt 3 (for a dongle) or the normal combination of Ethernet, a handful of USB 3, and preferably an SD card reader. More than that is fine -- that's just my minimum.
• 256GB SSD. More is fine, as is having a second HDD as a data drive, but I need at least a 256GB main drive.
• 14" or 15" screen. Unless 13" has gotten better in the past few years, it gives me headaches, and 16"/17" won't fit in my bag.
• WiFi. 802.11ac / Gen 5. If the builtin WiFi chip supports monitor mode, that'd be great, but had to buy an external adapter for that already anyway.
• Price. By and large, I'd like something under $2000. Since this is supposed to last me for years, I'll pay more if it's really worth it, but under $2000 is best.

Things I care about but are hard to clearly define, so I'm fuzzier on them:

1. Processing power. I need a good CPU, with good per-core performance, even if it's multicore. Having a lot of cores is nice, but the compiled languages I work with are either mostly single-threaded (rustc) or have a major, unskippable, unparallelizable stage (linking).
2. Battery life. My current laptop barely lasts an hour just running an IDE and accessing local docs with everything tuned to get as much out of the battery as possible. I realize battery life depends on what I'm doing, but something that lasts for 8 hours of coding with Spotify/YouTube music in the background would be very nice.
3. Keyboard. I'm typing on this a lot, so I need backlit keys that feel at least decent to type on. I also need a keyboard with a full-size SHIFT key, or at least not the tiny one to the right of the UP arrow key. I don't need full-sized arrow keys, but I prefer them. My favorite layout is this one, but I haven't seen it on any laptops recently. It also needs to be comfortable typing on my lap. I don't care about numpads.
4. Screen. It needs to be bright and a minimum of 1920x1080p, 30Hz. Faster refresh rate or higher resolution would be nice, especially a higher resolution for sharper text, but I've managed at 1080p/15" for a while now. Color accuracy/coverage is nice, but not totally mandatory. I'd also prefer a matte screen, but I feel confident I can make a glossy screen matte with this brilliant advice. Or just a screen protector. 
5. Weight. What it says on the tin. The lighter, the better. My current laptop is about 6 pounds, so lighter would be nice, but weight isn't a huge priority for me.
6. Trackpad. Preferably something big and nice-feeling, but as long as it's got a solid, reliable click and good accuracy, I'm happy. The bigger the better.

I explicitly don't care one way or another about:

• Specific brands. That said, if there are brands which specifically cater to what I'm looking for, let me know!
• RGB. I just find it... kinda over-the-top. And as much as I love rainbows, flickering 
• Upgradeability. Programming hardware doesn't need to follow the tech curve as closely as gaming stuff, so I'm fine letting this stay as it is for a few years. The hard drive is the only part I might need to upgrade.
• Operating system and bloatware. I'm going to be wiping it and installing more than one OS. I don't really care what ships with the laptop. It's not gonna last.
• Fingerprint sensor/Windows Hello. They're nice to have, but I don't mind entering my password, and I don't know how well they'll work with my non-Windows OSes.
• Builtin webcam/microphone/speakers. I use external headphones/mics and don't use webcams, so I don't need these to be great.

Let me know if there's anything else I need to add to this. I'm happy to make that giant spoiler tag even bigger. All in the name of... clarity, or something.

[QPaysTaxes]

15 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

Dell XPS 15? Those are good notebooks, lots of processing power and have very respectable batteries. I also like Dell's customer support, one of the main reason's why my laptop is a Alienware lol. 

Good idea. I just took a look at the XPS 15 (2-in-1 and not), and they do look good. Definitely going on my list. Thanks! I had a bit of a chuckle at the "maglev keys" they tout on one model -- do you know how they feel to type on?

 

14 minutes ago, Abyssal Radon said:

What's your budget?

$2000, but I'll shell out more for something that hits all the right notes. I just added that to the OP. 

[genexis_x]

Are you from US? Preferred max weight in kg/lbs and min battery life in hours? Mind low sRGB display and non-upgradable RAM?

[QPaysTaxes]

22 minutes ago, GeneXiS_X said:

Are you from US? Preferred max weight in kg/lbs and min battery life in hours? Mind low sRGB display and non-upgradable RAM?

I am from the US, yes. I don't really have a max weight. I'm not too concerned with high color accuracy or coverage, though it'd be nice. Don't care about upgradability. I updated the OP.

[genexis_x]

Lenovo Thinkpad P52 (8750H+P1000 or 8850H+P2000) - add SSD after purchase

Dell Precision 7530 (8750H+P1000/P2000, 72% NTSC FHD IPS, Intel 9260, 97Wh) - add SSD after purchase

Lenovo Thinkpad P1 FHD (8750H+P1000 or 8850H+P2000 MQ) / X1 Extreme FHD (8750H) - runs a bit hot

HP Spectre x360 15t customize (8750H) - non-upgradable RAM, runs a bit hot, light weight