Lenovo ThinkPad X220 [0] with an IPS display and i7, so it also has one USB3 port. I guess this is a quite safe bet as a daily driver, if you don't want to invest into the new models.

By saying that, the 2018 generation of ThinkPads finally includes excellent panels. If you get the new X1C or T480(s), you can choose a bright IPS panel with a good resolution. With the old ThinkPads, especially X220/X230 you just need to be VERY sure you DO NOT get the TN panels.

[0] https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X220-Laptop-Core-i7...

I upgraded the TN panel on my i5 X220 to a matt IPS 18 months ago. It was about £50 from eBay; and a careful 5 minutes with a set of electronic screwdrivers. (All quite easy, you just have to be very very careful when removing the ribbon cable, to not slice one of the thin wires.)

The display is vastly superior. Everything is more crisp, and it is brighter.

The X220 is still fast enough for Chrome / YouTube / Netflix without spinning up the fan. Running a high res external display is a bit too much though; the fan kicks in most of the time.

I love how good the IPS panel looks, but unfortunately it is rather fragile compared to the TN version, there are so many of them out there with bright spots from pressure damage.

Personally I care more about ruggedness (my X220i is my travel computer) than color fidelity. Compared to my old Acer Chromebook 13's absolutely horrible TN panel, the one in the X220i is actually quite decent.

The screen from the Lenovo Twist is a drop-in IPS upgrade and entirely shielded by a protective touchscreen that's removable. I have a slide deck that explains the procedure in detail: https://anddevw.com/gdgsf-chromepad-chromium-for-thinkpad/

From what I heard, it's vulnerable to pressure from the rear, like if you jam it in an overpacked bag. But that's the original panel, I don't know about the Twist panel, thanks for the link.

Still, from what I gather the IPS panels suck a bit more power than the TN panels (not a huge difference, though), and for my use (travel PC getting lugged all over the world in hand luggage) I'm primarily interested in ruggedness and battery life. I use it to browse and read email, with the occasional Youtube video, not for anything color critical. I would be much more interested in upgrading the mediocre built-in speakers, apparently you can use the speaker from a Nexus 6P for a nice boost in volume and quality.

The speakers really are exceptionally terrible, but upgrading them seems like a lot of work for not a lot of improvement. There's a detailed guide to the speaker upgrade over here: https://petrosprojects.blogspot.com/2017/12/thinkpad-x220-sp...