Hey Dave,
If it were me looking for a solid laptop with a good amount of power, that will be somewhat "future proof" I would look for a 2011-2012 Apple Macbook Pro.
These would be models 8,2 and 9,1 and 9,2 I believe. Look for ones with i7 processors, and the Superdrive. Don't get one with a retina display as they are glued together and much harder to upgrade (unless you want to spend that extra money, there are some things you can do to upgrade the flash drive and in most cases they come with 16 GB ram).
Here are some:
https://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Searc ... OWCUsedMac
https://eshop.macsales.com/Search/Searc ... OWCUsedMac
Here is why I would consider these:
1) IMO and experience, a PC is a jackpot waiting to happen. I used them at one time, and since thenI have had much better luck with Macs.
2) you can ran any DAW on it except for Sonar or Cakewalk.
3) the price vs. performance can't be beat - and in many cases you can pick up one of these on eBay for about $500. I did, and so have about 4 other composer friends of mine. Buying on eBay also allows you in a lot of cases to buy a SquareTrade Warranty if you are concerned about breakdowns etc.
4) the same website has upgrades to 16 GB ram for about $100
5) you can replace the existing mechanical hard drive with an SSD as needs and $$ allow - up to 2 TB size.
6) you can replace the Superdrive (DVD) with a chassis from the same website call a "data doubler" and put another SSD in it for audio sessions or samples - again up to 2 TB.
7) USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt connectivity for the most modern interfaces if you want a UAD Apollo or An Antelope Orion Studio or similar.
8) There are lots of them out there - so even though you won't have a service program, you can easily find replacement parts if some part of it stops working (like the monitor or the video card).
Spending $500 - $1000 now will give you 3+ years of computer, and then you can again buy an older model and that time and upgrade if you find you present machine is falling off with your demands.
Again - my opinion and my experience.
If you want a beast of a machine, buying a used Mac Pro 5,1 from 2012 or a Mac Pro 6,1 from 2013 or newer on the used market can't be beat either. Look for a used Mac Pro 6,1 off eBay or refurb off the Apple store if you want the Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 connectivity. Another composer friend of mine just got a used Mac Pro 6,1 six core and an Apollo Twin with Quad processing and he's going to be set for a LONG time.
I have a Mac Pro 5,1 12 core x 2.66 ghz that is tricked out with SSDs for system and sample drives (on a PCI card so its like lighting) and lots of other internal storage for backups and sessions. Plus a UAD PCI card.
Lots of different ways to do it.
Good luck!