Hi, 

Im an electronics engineer and I do a lot of freelance work and my old Thinkpad doesnt really cut it anymore (battery life is terrible, its slow and most annoyingly it after about minutes wiht another screen plugged in it just disappears.) So it's time for a new toy.

The most limiting factor for my choice is I need to be able to run Altium Designer which requires windows and apparently runs poorly in parallels on a Mac. Other than that I will be running things like office, python scripts, and browsing the web so nothing to heavy. If I need to get into doing anything really heavy in Altium/KiCAD/Cadence or 3D CAD I will just buy a desktop which is basically to say I need to be able to run most of this CAD software but it's fine if it's a bit slow.

I also dont want a desktop replacement laptop, I had a Lenovo P50 in my old job and they are just too heavy to carry round, specially flying so I'm looking for something more portable. I also want something that will be reliable. So Im really looking for portability, reliability/build quality and power 

Laptops I have in mind

HP Elitebook 840 G11 
Seems to be decent specs, good reputation for build quality, decent warranty, easily upgradeable. 
I've also read some complaints about it having significantly less battery life in some configurations than spec'd. Also some complaints about the screen colours on the 300nit screen
It's unclear what the real differences between the 840 and the 640 are, is it worth spending the extra on the 840?
No one seems to stock them, I'd really like to be able to have a look at one and pick it up but I cant seem to find anyone that stocks any spec level on them. (Does anyone know anywhere in Auckland that stocks them that will let you have a look at them?)
There's a wide range of build options that are hard to discern, the differences between, Im thinking the A19NFPA and upgrading it to 2TB and 64GB after market. Are there any specific build options that people recommend?

Lenovo ThinkPad X9-14
Good specs, good reputation for build quality, nice screen
A lot of internet comments on it not being a "real" thinkpad, so maybe the quality isn't what one would expect from a thinkpad
RAM cant be upgraded so I would be stuck with only 32GB

Dell
Are there any dell business laptops I should be considering?

I will be paying this with own money so price is absolutely a factor but both the above options come in around the same price so it's not a huge differentiator.

Are there other options I should be considering?
Will I really regret not having dedicated graphics?
Can anyone comment on their experiences with the Elitebook 840/640 and or the Thinkpad?

Thanks