Laptop Recommendations?

[GreyGeek]

Maybe this one from this company. I've eyed them for a while but never took the plunge.

https://system76.com/laptops/model/gazp9

About six months ago my son purchased the Gazelle Professional (He supervises programmers and the Oracle db system where I used to work) and he loves it. He didn't install KDE but that would be a simple matter of opening a terminal and issuing sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop. He was satisfied with Unity. He installed Virtual Box in order to run Win7 as a guest OS for those times when he needed a Windows specific application, and for a VPN connection to work.

Personally, since you prefer the matte finish on the display, I'd recommend the 17.3" Kudu Professional for the same price, and it features a 17.3" display. That extra real estate comes in handy! (My laptop is a 17" and when I use a 15.6" display I feel like I am looking through a porthole.) If you are willing to go up to around $1,500 then your dream machine is the
17.3" Bonobo Extreme which also has a matte finish option, driven by an nVidia GForce 860 or 870 video driver.

Regardless, if my son's experience is indicative, you won't be disappointed. Wondering if I could find any bad reviews my google search didn't find any but it did find this review:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2199634
and he summarized his experience with pros and cons, finishing with these words:

Overall, System76 has made me a customer for life. I would easily recommend this laptop, and well as any from system76 if someone was looking for an excellent laptop. Well done system76, and thank you!

[Chopstick]

That's pretty interesting! Their customization options are definitely great! Although I'm a bit hesitant, since I don't know the company... and I also don't know what the battery life would be or how durable they are.
The Gazelle Professional would fit my equirements perfectly, but it doesn't have a backlit keyboard (and no thinklight either).
Does anyone have experience buying from smaller companies?

[MoonRise]

Maybe this one from this company. I've eyed them for a while but never took the plunge.

https://system76.com/laptops/model/gazp9

[Chopstick]

Hi All,
I'm currently considering to buy a new laptop, and I was wondering if someone could recommend specific models or brands. Of course in particlar with an eye towards compatibilty with kubuntu!
I've had a Thinkpad T60p for 7 years now and was quite happy with it, but now the fan is failing (again) and the battery/charging circuitry is dead. I'm also increasingly noticing that it is just not up to the task anymore, preformance with.
I'm a graduate student in a computational science and doing any serious work with real data is next to impossible on my old laptop (but of course I have a much more powerful workstation in my lab). I would like the laptop to be reasonably portable but also suitable for some serious work, for example when I visit my parents or when I'm at a workshop.
The natural successor for the T60p would be the Lenovo T540p, but the reviews I read are less than favorable... so I should probably look elsewhere... maybe HP?

Here is an outline of the specs I am lookign for:

15.6" FHD Display (i.e. 1920x1080) and matte (I hate glossy screens)
Intel i7 (preferably quad-core with 6MB L3 cache)
8GB RAM (upgradeable to at least 16 GB)
500GB+ HDD and optical drive OR 240GB+ SSD
(I intend to replace the optical drive with a SSD)
Bluetooth and WLAN
Dedicated (discrete) video card is not necessary.
Long battery life (>5h)

I really liked the track point on my Thinkpad, but I am not sure if other manufacturers have that, too.
I also prefer systems that are not tightly soldered together, so that it is possible to exchange/replace some parts (as with the Thinkpads; e.g. I replaced the fan before). I also want something that will last fora while and can survive some abuse - maybe MILSPEC certified or something like that (like Thinkpads).
I guess I'm expecting to pay about $1500.

So, any recomendations/comments?

Thanks,
Chopstick