This was my experience about a year or two ago. I was really impressed with how polished it was in ecosystem. Using Firefox, Typora, Plex and a bunch of other things that solved my user needs better don’t quite fit in right. When the update came that required me to wipe my system, I switched to Mint. I’m happy where I am now, but don’t believe Elementary was a bad thing - just clearly wasn’t aligned with what I needed.
I picked up a used Latitude 7300 (I think?) last year and am quite happy with it. I appreciate that I can replace the ram and ssd myself for repair / upgrade.
I’m running Mint on it and haven’t noticed any problems.