I have a gaming PC, with SSD, etc.
Mostly I do all my dev in windows 10, but also use virtual PC to run Ubuntu when needed.
Works really well.
Thinking of getting a Macbook Pro 13 for on the go dev.
However, seems like Meteor dev doesn’t really need anything fancy compared to most other things I develop for.
Colleagues and myself using Ubuntu on almost 20 laptops… never an issue. Last time Trackpad problems like …well… looong ago 
I last experienced touchpad issues with Ubuntu about one year ago. It was really bad, I tried to use Ubuntu with some older ~2009 HP Probook. Never got the touchpad to work properly and bought Macbook instead.
I just checked… one of the laptops is an HP-DM4 from 2010 and another from 2011. Both running Ubuntu 14.04 like a dream still today. Just saying…
I think the bandwidth is not the only metric that matters. The fact that SSDs can “find” the data much faster due to no mechanical parts already makes a huge difference.
Just to hikack this thread a little bit…
Which MackBookPro do people prefer, the 13 or 15? I see quite a few people advocate for the 13 because its a bit lighter, longer battery?
13" with a 27" external monitor for the desk. The next gen of 13" mbp’s should have a quad core too.
13 is lighter, smaller, easier to fit on a plane, easier to pack around in a backback going to a coffeeshop but still powerful enough for day-day use.
Interesting. I have a Lenovo S431, not really a super old laptop, and the trackpad is rather jittery in Ubuntu. In Mint, it’s flawless.
BTW, out of curiosity, which exact laptop brands/models do you find to work really well with Ubuntu? (trackpad and wireless have given me issues on certain laptops)
Get them one of these Workstation Laptops with like 32GB of RAM and i7 3.4 Ghz CPU and HD Screen and beast graphical card 2GB ?
it’s not expensive just $1000 each 
Best laptops for engineers: When work requires a real workstation
and my favorite now is the:
Lenovo ThinkPad W541
Price: $1232 and up
i7 Extreme CPU (i7-4940MX), and optional Nvidia Quadra K2100M discrete GPU
A monster GPU or the 32GB of RAM the W541 packs
Ever since my Lenovo ThinkPad S431 with the wonky trackpad and crappy wireless, I’m wary of using them for a Linux workstation. I’d probably go for either a Dell XPS Developer Edition or a System76.
I just bought 4 new systems for my team and for the first time - I have used SSD and the performance of the new systems in amazing. The cost is high, but will recommend SSD to all.
Yeah I have a 15" and that thing is just not portable.
Ubuntu on laptops is horrible. If you were gonna get a laptop then get a mac because it’s just a better user experience.
I’d recommend anything with a SSD and ~8Gb of RAM. i7 is overkill. Then pick a decent OS with a desktop environment you like. Any flavor of Linux will do, especially if you plan to use things like Docker.
I’m personally running Arch on a MBP. Arch is a “rolling release” type, so set it up once and you’re done forever.
It also has a huge amount of packages (I don’t think I ever had to install anything manually) and is one of the most up-to-date distribution out there.
Why is it horrible ?
Maybe Elementary OS will be a good option: is pretty and low consumption of resources
or a Surface 4 Pro? this beats the Mac Book Pro 
Not to start an OS war, but Windows comes up short compared to a *nix-based based OS for web dev work. Most of the tools out there are built for Mac & Linux.
BTW, Ubuntu or Linux Mint is a great choice for dev work, but the reason I still prefer Mac OS is because of the additional tools I use/need to do my job (Sketch, Balsamiq, Xcode iOS Simulator) and other tools that I may not need, but like using (SourceTree, Kaleidoscope).