I hear you. My philosophy changed about 20years ago when Apple switched to Intel:

Mac laptops are expensive, but I regularly get 4-6 years from them without too much drama if I simply max out the ram when I buy them.

My thinking of my eventual move to Linux full time, a Framework or System76 machine costs similar to a Mac, and use the same Max ram philosophy.

I just wish the build quality was just a bit better for the price, but I’m willing to trade a little for user serviceability…

I* want* to buy one. But:

• I’m mid cycle with my last laptop; and
• who the hell can afford to buy RAM for a new system these days?!?!

They are now one and the same…

https://k9mail.app/2022/06/13/K-9-Mail-and-Thunderbird

I often recommend mailinabox for the same thing…

On android: have you tried Thunderbird with davx5 as the connector?

I have suggested people start with MailInABox and go from there…

https://mailinabox.email/

I dipped my toe in the s76 pool with a fully specced lemp10.

It was by far the best Linux experience I’ve had on a laptop to date, but I still ended up back on an m2 mbp…

2 killer issues were:

1. finding realistic personal replacements for fusion360 and Affinity Designer. (freecad and inkscape just aren’t for me); and
2. The hardware just worked together better on the Mac (BT, audio, screen, WiFi, networking etc…).

I’m planning on taking my m2 mbp to asahi once the fingerprint scanner is working and dual booting for cad and vector graphics apps if I can’t get crossover versions working.

Net:Net I want to like s76, but the LEMP ended up basically the same price as the MBP and the Mac hardware was vastly superior (screen, audio, power management, etc)

I’ll try Linux again on my next laptop purchase again…

Only 395?!?!

I don’t upload my photos to the cloud, and don’t use the search function. It’s just a photo library app on the phone. It seems to do a better job of post processing the pics from my Pixel, which is why in use it.

It let’s you run Google Photos without network permissions and with storage scopes limiting it to certain folders.

https://www.notboring.co/p/the-electric-slide

A long but very worthwhile read for anyone wanting to understand the electrification industry.