My other option is, in fact, the Acer. It's relatively Linux-friendly, and your revelation that they are relatively simple compared to other designs makes them desireable. It scored well in my test this evening at Micro Center.
For sheer design, Lenovo Thinkpad wins hands-down (credit goes to IBM, of course). Solid keyboard, no-nonsense mien... But I won't buy from a company that ships with spyware that relays data to the ChiComs and whose name sounds like a Soviet general secretary, no matter who appealing their slave-labor-built product.
Asus seems a solidly-built product as well, but apparently features BIOS locks that marry it to Windows 8, a nightmare I'd prefer to avoid.
We get most of our hardware through a small independent company that basic only sells to consultants. They also will repair out of warranty products. Took in a friend's kid's Asus that had power issues. It was of course the power connector to the motherboard. The part was $4, labor $120. The Acer would cost maybe $50.
If you don't mind, let me know what config you get and how it prices out with Lotus. Do get the third generation Core series. It is a much better chipset and much longer battery life. If you would like, I can ask which one our hardware guy recommends (I don't pay that much attention to series numbers any more since they are changing so quickly now.)
Also, let me know what you think of them after a few months. It would be cool to find something made in the US, unfortunately we are not in the position to take risks with other peoples businesses.
Hopefully you can get Lotus not to charge you for the Win keycode. They maybe under licensing restrictions that force them to charge for the keycode, however.