i am using HP pavilion. its quad core, comes with 8gb expandable to 16GB, no ssd (which is pain), full HD display matte (which is something i like compared to glossy), backlit keyboard and windows10. this is my replacement for my macbook pro 2011. so far pretty good to me. i havent tried linux. https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Pavilion-15-Power-i7-7700HQ...