First, thanks for reading and commenting.
I would appreciate any\all feedback from all of you, if there are recommendations for a stable, consistent setup - both hardware and OS. Or comments that I am asking for something unrealistic. Either a desktop or a laptop connected to a docking station.
a. I would like to suspend the machine at night and continue working in the morning.
b. To be able to support three monitors.
c. VM app to test stuff - virt network to test varied apps\code on different clients and servers.
d. Libre Office to create docs and presentations.
e. LTS.
Currently using a System 76 laptop w\ Pop OS and a docking station. The first laptop was warrantied to poor construction (keyboard and bezel weren’t flush, they separated and you could see the motherboard…) and now the second one is having the same issue - let alone sporadically working with suspend or the docking station (will have to reconnect the docking station, most times rebooting).
I’ve distro hopped for years, so I would consider myself a beginner\intermediate user. I am more than willing to pay\donate for consistency, and right now that leans towards MS and Windows (sigh).
What are corporate users using? I think that is my standard, as I’ve worked at places that were primarily windows shops, And it is pretty easy to come in in the morning and resume from yesterday. “RH for workstations” ?
Thank you!!
Second the NUC suggestion. I’ve got a 10th gen i7 model that I use primarily as a media server. It draws <6W at idle so it runs 24/7 and barely makes a blip on my electricity bill. It’s been rebooted exactly twice so far this year after switching from Windows 10 to Arch (BTW), once after a planned upgrade and a second time unexpectedly when my cheap UPS’s battery died. It works fine with the two docking stations I’ve tried and two different USB-C displays. I think my model might need a small adapter to support a third monitor but I’m not sure that’s the case with newer generations, though you may have to look beyond the Intel-branded hardware if you do want a more recent edition since they sold the brand to ASUS.