I just got a new laptop for my work (which I also use for personal stuff, it’s a family business).

It came with Windows 11 but I’d got a bigger SSD which I’d installed before I’d even turned it on so Windows never even got a chance to boot.

I installed one of the Fedora atomic distros and it seems to be pretty good, though I’m trying to figure out how to tune battery life. I’ve setup TLP but haven’t noticed any improvement, though, it’s still much better than when I first tried Linux on a laptop.

I’d never used Fedora before, but the first distro I ever used was Ubuntu Dapper Drake and I’ve dipped my toes occasionally since then, but never fully committed until now

I’m not sure if they all do, but some models also support a daughter board for additional IO. Often it’s DisplayPort but I’ve seen ones with Ethernet and DB9/RS232 on AliExpress/ebay

Some of the HP DeskMini machines might be a good one. There’s a model that has 2 x m.2 for a little high speed network storage or as a HTPC.