Thanks for the advice, glad to hear dissent about the viewing angle (I've only seen the touchscreen in person once, and maybe the lighting was just bad in that instance). But the cost is still a sticking point, because for me this isn't competing with a Macbook Pro; it's competing with the older refurbished laptop from an arbitrary manufacturer that I got for $0 from a friend and that I currently use solely for Linux dev. I don't have a lot of income to dedicate to Linux development, so if I'm going to upgrade at all it has to be a compelling proposition from all angles (and it occurs to me that at this point I might as well wait until Ubuntu 18.04 LTS arrives anyway).
There is no reason to be poor with your knowledge. Do yourself a favour and invest in good hardware, it's a matter of ergonomics, focus, health and motivation not simply economics. Usually you can get a tax writeoff and it signals to clients you invest in your own tools and professional development as well.
