Most of the comments are anecdotes about experiences with Dell. Perhaps more of us can chime in with anecdotes about good experiences we had with certain lines

Most of the comments are anecdotes about experiences with Dell. Perhaps more of us can chime in with anecdotes about good experiences we had with certain lines/models of laptops that we can recommend? My recent experiences have been with Lenovo Legion gaming laptops. One is a bit over 3 years old, the other is coming up on 2 years. My wife and I use them (almost) daily. They get picked up, moved around, run mostly plugged in but with CPU/GPU getting a solid work out as we play games. Other than needing a good wipedown (and mildly decreased battery life), both are indistinguishable from brand new in how they work after 2-3 years. I did build 23° riser stands for each out of pine, so we often use them on the stands, with a board under the stand, sitting on our laps. This isn't due to heat, but because it raises the screen closer to eye level, decreasing neck strain, and works reasonably well with our arm/wrist angle, reducing wrist strain. Of course, it does open them up quite a bit underneath, so it no doubt does help with cooling as well.