EponymousBosh

I use SpiralLinux (basically Debian with some tweaks). I like it a lot! If you want to stay in the Debian/*buntu lineage, consider it.

Half of them probably were jaded (ex-)New Yorkers

The “sticker” is actually an off-cut from a laptop skin from my other laptop (which also runs Linux, and also has a sticker over its Windows key :P), so it’s held up pretty well

I’m petty enough to put stickers over mine.

Fuck dude it sure is

Maybe SpiralLinux? It’s basically just Debian with a few twealks, but the btrfs+Snapper might come in handy if/when you need to do tech support.

My current and previous laptops were/are Dell and I can count on one hand the number of hardware issues I’ve had with Linux (minus the Nvidia GPU but yknow. Nvidia.)

Same

Similar thing is happening in Louisville KY. It’s infuriating.

NVIDIA

Welp, there’s your problem. I have an NVIDIA card as well and it’s been the source of at least 95% of my Linux headaches.

I’ve tried a few distros and Linux Mint was definitely the most “just works” for me. Make sure you’re using the proprietary NVIDIA drivers, regardless of what option you choose. Currently I use SpiralLinux (Debian with a few tweaks) because I really like the BTRFS snapshots and fell in love with KDE during my distro-hopping, but Mint is what I would recommend to the vast majority of people.

Seconding (or third-ing, or twelfth-ing) the recommendation for Linux Mint, but also gonna throw one in for MX Linux if the hardware is older.

Mint is a pretty solid choice for like 95% of people. If you’re already using LibreOffice then you’re halfway there, and I’ve been able to run all the games I want through Steam or Lutris (the Flatpak versions are better for compatibility IME). A lot of people use Bottles for games as well, but I’ve never been able to get it to work properly. I think I started using Linux full-time at about the level you seem to be at, and I didn’t run into any major issues.