So, my 10 year old Chromebook has reached the end of the line and, because of [gestures vaguely around at the state of everything], I obviously don't want to buy another one. I am beginning the process of evacuating all my stuff from Alphabet's ecosystem specifically (mostly Google Drive) and other big tech generally.
Essentially, what I need is an inexpensive mid-tier laptop. No gaming, no need to run complex stuff like video/audio editing, nothing like that... I just need to be able to stream video, look at my email, check social media, download text and photo files, etc (so, running a web browser and saving files... that's it). I'd ideally like to have something I could setup once and then potentially not have to fuss with for years (outside of updates obviously)... like a Chromebook.
Coming to Lemmy because I just have no idea where (else) to get started.
Which distro do y'all think would be a good fit for this purpose? Should I play around with different ones? What laptop manufacturers should I look at? Which ones should I avoid? When I buy one, how do I get a machine that's just formatted without Windows already installed? Should I order direct from the manufacturer or would it be more prudent to buy from a retailer (for like shipping and returns policy purposes)? Has someone already built exactly what I'm talking about, written/vlogged about it answering all my questions, and I just can't find it because of the enshitifacation of search engines?
Any suggestions, tips, blogs to read, tech channels to watch, etc, are all greatly appreciated!
Differs by company, of course, but the one I used to work for would wipe, reimage, and sell them to employees for $50.