Depends on how "portable" you want the laptop. I used to use an old Dell Latitude 7480 as my main machine. You can get it with an i7, 32G of memory (maybe 64G) for pretty cheap. The resolution is 1080p, which sucks but it's doable. It has room for a m.2 slot and a 2.5" disk.

I since bought a https://frame.work laptop, it's nice, but not sure it's worth the premium over the Latitude IMO.

Nice thing about desktop PCs is you can upgrade pieces as you go, and there is much more room to upgrade. Downside with the laptop remoting into desktop is that if you have no internet you can't remote in. There is also a bigger change that you will encounter issues as you now technically have 2 devices that have to be working, compared to 1. What happens if your laptop's drive fails while you are out, etc?