Any Intel-based laptop (i.e. with Windows) should run Linux no problem. But best avoid cutting-edge peripherals and Nvidia graphics chips and always look up the model before buying.

Chromebooks are ARM-based (and have locked bootloaders), so they’re out. This is a bit of an annoyance because they now occupy the netbook niche, i.e. cheap and small. I once paid 240€ for a small fanless Asus netbook and got six years of constant use out of it on Linux, with no speed issues at all. That would never have been possible running bloated Windows spyware. For the replacement I had to go up to 400€ for pretty much the same thing (Acer Swift) because these days all the cheapies are Chromebooks. But still, it’s a good deal.

There are a handful of Linux laptop makers, for instance Tuxedo, but they are expensive. If you can afford it, go for it, it’s good to support them. I can’t afford it.

For the distro, don’t panic, they’re functionally pretty much all the same. Download its .iso and burn it to a USB stick using the official instructions. For it to boot you’ll probably have to go into the laptop’s UEFI (BIOS) and uncheck Secure boot first. This opens you up to the Evil Maid attack vector (requires physical access), which is very unlikely to be a problem for you. Then follow the prompts and a few minutes later you’ll have a computer connected to the internet.

Pick a mainstream distro which will update itself and not need babysiting. Ubuntu gets hate from techies, but it’s rock-solid reliable. Same for Fedora. The FOSS purist choice is Debian, which is just Ubuntu with some rough edges.