Linux

Get a thinkpad (I've been liking my T14)

God I love Kbin, never change

I have Lenovo and not happy with it. Weird issues like unable to start it when battery has run out and it's plugged into docking station. Need to wait like 15 mins before it even turns on.

Also issues with docking stations (from Dell) not showing external screen unless i unplug the cable at boot and then put it in during boot.

I guess all this could be because I run Linux though but I'm just not happy with the laptop.

I would get a framework laptop as a next one.

On Ubuntu 22.04 me and a relative tried to fix the sound on the XPS 13 9315. Neither of us found an easy fix. We hopped distribution to get it working, hope you have better luck with 20.04.

I've been using XPS 13 as my "daily driver" for about 4-ish years now (I think the 9300 model came out in late 2019? Maybe 2020. I can't remeber tbh). It's been running Debian and I've never really had any problems with it. I didn't order the Developer Model as I wasn't going to run Ubuntu and I don't really need Linux preinstalled (and as added bonus, it comes with Windows OEM license, which you can use in your QEMU).

It has a shit battery time, but so does every Linux laptop. I don't want biometrics on my devices, so I've never used the facescanning or figerprint sensors, no idea if they work, I'd assume they do.

I've connected it to a USB-C hub with dual 1080p screens, webcam, microphone, external USB etc in the office. Works perfectly. I travel quite a lot, it's light and easy carry, I bought a small USB-C travel charger. Trackpad palm detection in Linux is bad, so I normally carry a small travel mouse with me and disable the trackpad if I need to do some writing.

It's got a SD-micro card slot, which is very useful, I can store my disk encryption keys on it and take it with me when I need to leave the laptop in hotel rooms etc.

Never had a problem connecting it to any presentation display at customers. I miss ThinkPad keyboard layout, but it is what it is. Not a dealbreaker.

Overall, it's served me well over these years - and there's not much signs of wear and tear on it. Solid build quality.

From what I heard, the Dell XPS 13 is one option to run a Linux distro, but it isn't the only option. Should it not work for you, another alternative you could consider is the Acer Swift 3. That's the laptop I currently own, and I run Arch Linux on it. I have not yet encountered any issues with it. Prior to running Arch, I have tried Linux Mint and Pop OS on it. I wouldn't recommend Linux Mint on a laptop, not because it's a bad distro (Linux Mint is quite good as a beginner distro), but because the Cinnamon DE isn't great for laptops. The GNOME and Cosmic DE are more suited for laptop workflows.

For Linux compatibility, something like this https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/ would be better than Dell XPS 13.

That should work, though you may want to look into Framework instead.