[ale] May need purchase Laptop - Linux Friendly

[tfreeman at intel.digichem.net (Tom Freeman)]

I've been running an ASUS my daughter gave me (she couldn't stand Windows 
7 and went back to Apple) with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Unfortunately, there 
seems to be some instability developing (not sure - it isn't very common), 
and my local pusher of used laptops has closed up the nearby store front. 
Assuming that I can not get to the bottom of the ASUS's challenges in the 
next month or so, I will be looking for a laptop.

My preference from the past is a 2-4 year old ThinkPad. Solid builds with 
2-4 years of life left with fine linux compatability in my limited 
experience. Assuming I find one of those from a dealer I have some 
history with (or will have with), this question is probably 
wasted/redundant. However...

Is there a line of new Laptops in this era of Windows 8 and the fancy 
security boot scheme which is 1) Linux friendly enough to trust a 
distracted individual with (me) 2) robust enought to risk loading on the 
back of scooter transportation?

Thanks to all for the use of their bandwidth