To add to the point of not getting a too unique laptop, it's also important not to get too fringe a Linux distro. I've had Kubuntu on my Acer laptop for ages an

To add to the point of not getting a too unique laptop, it's also important not to get too fringe a Linux distro. I've had Kubuntu on my Acer laptop for ages and experienced practically no issues at all. Ubuntu's official web page has a list of verified laptops running a given version of Ubuntu as well, possibly worth giving a look.