I think you'd have to buy a really cheap laptop to match the relatively poor build/reliability of Apple laptops. I can't help you there I'm afraid, but this man could shed some light on the issues...
https://www.youtube.com/user/rossmanngroup
On a serious note, instead of a rucksack full of dongles users could carry a powerbank. I personally would like to see laptop manufacturers move away from the slimline design ethos back to bulky, but with modern electronics affording an enormous (relatively speaking) battery.
One of the Thinkpads has a hot swappable battery, giving 17 hours of life with the internal + 6 cell internal/plugin one. With another battery you are over 24 hours. Or something like a near-invincible Getac B300 with a 30 hour battery life.