good advice, thank you! oh ok, so since im on a budget and i'll likely be buying refurbed or used, it'll likely be an older machine. would older computers but from the good companies mentioned still be capable of running newer versions/kernels of distros?

What about HP business grade stuff? thats what ive heard good about. Also any idea on other IBM equipment than their old thinkpads? I have no clue about nowaday IBM but am curious.

Well that's the thing, I can't afford to buy new where you can just return it and all that; I'll most likely be buying a refurb or used or older but new piece of equipment or possibly piecing together my own, depending on what i can learn about what I need for a smooth and easily fixable linux system

I have also heard this sentiment, that enterprise/business level hardware is best, even for personal use

Gotcha! I browsed their site a bit. I'd have to check ebay because I cannot afford the prices on their new stuff lol. I have a question that maybe you can answer. alot of folks recommend older laptops or whatever for linux. Does age of the computer matter much? I know you can always make upgrades to the internals and such, but say I got an old thinkpad for example maybe from 2010.... and it's certified linux compatible and all that.... would i be able to run the latest versions of distros or would i be limited to older kernels due to the system being old? or is all of that determined by the hardware specs?

Wonderful to know! thanks alot. I have heard alot of good about linux and thinkpads but only up to a certain generation I think? What about HP? my computer repair guy swears by HP but I honestly know nothing about HP and never hear people talk about HP either.

Perfect, good to know. I hear some of the older model dell laptops are great for linux, but these Xps models have been troubled

What the heck is System76??? I see it everywhere but only affiliated with Pop OS

oh it's all good brother, I could always try another distro in the future or just skip Xfce all together lol. I appreciate your help though

Thanks, didn't know about the Broadcom wifi part.

It's just that my model is a newer generation Dell and I've heard from multiple people that Dell is getting more and more locked down and proprietary like Apple, so im thinking that's why I haven't had the best linux experience on this darn thing.

Oh no, I couldn't care less about graphics, but at the same time I don't want a potato lol so no Nvidia for me