I need one decent machine for travel and photo storage during travel. Right now that is a Chromebook that is easy to carry and charges the same as a phone. The other laptops are mostly to install and experiment with Linux.

Understandable. I just realized how to get cheap laptops second hand.

All of my notebooks - even new ones - were used as secondary machines for web surfing and light office work. I never needed a really powerful unit. Hence AMD suited me fine,

I did love my AMD K6 many years ago, I switched to intel after that and went all the way up to i9 (current laptop).

My first new laptop (AMD Phenom II) lasted 4 years and then the video chip failed. The 2nd (AMD A8-6410 quad core) is still functioning with EndeavourOS. The 3rd one (Ryzen 5 3500U) runs Windows 11. Only the Ryzen 5 is really competitive with Intel netbook processors.