@aral The problem with such device doesn't appear to be Linux - it appears to be the shitty proprietary software that controls the peripherals of the device.

Before purchasing a systemd/Linux device you should review if the device works with free software - if it doesn't, it's guaranteed to be a lemon, if it does, then it'll probably work properly.

>-three hours.
Possible with low brightness and aggressive throttling on most laptops - although you need to install laptop-mode-tools to get that.

>- Trackpad that disables while typing so I can, well, type.
That is usually an option that can be set in the desktop environment.