LOL, Linux is for people who just want to show off that they can use Linux, it is pointless otherwise.
As for OPs question: Does screen size matter to you? If unsure, head to best buy or walmart and look around, if you are on a laptop a lot, that 17 inch might be worth paying more for instead of getting the 13 or 15.
Easily upgradable? My current laptop is an I7 from walmart, if I want to add an HD or ram, motherboard has to come out. I was so impressed by how thin it was, I never thought about ease of upgrade.
Not for gaming? You say that now, but if you ever end up at a hotel or friends house, its nice if it will at least play WoW, even at lower settings (mine plays at graphics setting 4, not too bad I guess since it has no dedicated graphics card)
SSD? HD size? Remember the first stimulus check? That’s when I bought my laptop and it was my first SSD. I’m never going back, and now prices are lower for one with SSD then when I got mine.
And here’s one I didn’t even think about and wish I had- Lighted keyboard? If you are a master typist, you wont need, but if you “hunt and peck” like me, its handy if you use the laptop in bed or other dark places.
Numerical keypad? Just like on a full size PC keyboard, but on many laptops with smaller screen size, you must access numbers in a row above the letter keys.
USB C port? I had no idea how handy it would become, and I didn’t even care at the time. Now days it might be hard to find a new laptop without it. (I hope so anyway)
Ok enough for now, I’m close to wining a TLDR award…