[lxfontes]

I would put down a list of hardware requirements: CPU, Memory, Disk (speed/size), screen, connectivity.

wrt Mac: It just works and most of your unix tools are there. You might still need a VM depending on the task as OS X is not Linux.

My current setup (around 2,500$): mbp 13' retina, 16g ram, 256g SSD. Asus PB278Q, CM quickfire keyboard, apple mouse

I would also consider Dell XPS 13, although it is at the same price range as mbp retina.

[rreyes1979]

On my present machine, I am using 16GB of RAM and a 1TB disc. I would say my next machine will need at least the same 16GB of RAM (Dell XPS 13 won't do because of this) and I could use less HD space to get a fast SSD. About CPU, I don't think the 3rd gen i7 I am using right now is a bottleneck at all. So most probably, a 5th generation wouldn't hurt either. About the screen, I have been trying to avoid HD screens if only because lots of programs look awful (or too small) on them. Also, linux does not provide good support for them yet.