While I exclusively use Linux at home and I recommend it to everyone especially on desktop, they mentioned battery life and from my experience that isn't its strong suit.
I have a small dumb TV I got fairly recently from Best Buy. It's their store brand and has no smart features. Only 720p but they had some 1080p ones too. They're nothing special but very cheap. Mine was an open box and I got it for maybe 40 or 50 dollars.
In Northern California my AC is off as much as I can help it. When it's on it's set at 82. Energy bill is still at least $250 for my one bedroom apartment...
How do you stand those things?? I've tried dollar tree headphones and they were awful awful. I like VE monks as beaters
I've run into these issues in the few years since I've switched. Old outdated stuff or windows exclusive software can be a hassle to get running. Possible, but your putting a square peg in a round hole.
Were flatpaks a thing when you tried Linux last? Flatpak makes installing most programs extremely easy. I just search my distros software store and hit install. As a bonus, you often get newer versions than when you install software traditionally, and updates can be set to automatically download.
I've run Pop OS since 2019. I have never reinstalled and I only touch the terminal maybe once every 6 months. Absolutely everything I do is GUI.
rutracker and soulseek are good options for finding music.
Easy Effects is such a great program. Very good for doing all sorts of effects on audio. Great for filters and EQ.
I don't understand why the button couldn't have remained in the middle of the screen. It makes sense in the middle, being such an important button. It's easy to reach no matter which hand you use to hold your phone. It's the norm and people are used to it.