Yup, Thinkpad X60 with Intel wifi cards seems to work OK provided you add the non-free firmware iwlwifi package. Some of the X61 and X61s series had an Atheros wifi card and would work from a default Debian install.

I've also had good luck with a Dell Latitiude E5420 (i5). This and similar models have a Broadcom wifi card which is a known problem so I simply purchased an Atheros half size wifi card and popped it in. Unlike Thinkpads, the Dell bios will take hardware changes in its stride.

Of course, we should not have to do these things. Perhaps as laptop sales decrease, a crowdfunded fully free laptop will become economically viable.