I agree that a laptop is a compromise, which is why when I decided to get one as a portable rig, I bought a model sold as a “desktop replacement” or “mobile workstation.” It’s a 17" “workstation-class” HP Elitebook with a full-HD screen which gives me a 0.20 dot pitch (anything smaller and it’s virtually unusable for DAW work, at least if you don’t have perfect vision.)
It’s the only laptop I’m aware of that has room for up to three internal drives (as long as you can live without optical, or else 2+optical), and it comes with a wealth of ports the kind of which you’d only see on a desktop mobo. It uses modular quick-to-replace drive bays, so switching the third drive for an optical drive in case the need arises is something you can do in one minute. Oh yeah, there is extra room to accommodate a dongle inside, provided you have replaced the optical drive with a HDD or SSD, which of course I did.
The trade-off? Obviously weight and size, but this is the closest to a desktop you can ever tote around.