Laptop advise - Thinkpad vs KDE Slimbook vs System76

TLDR: Looking for suggestions for a new linux laptop under 2k CAD. Confused b/w Thinkpad/KDE Slimbook/System76.

So after months of saving, i think i'm ready for my next laptop after a long time [i have been using my current laptop for around 8yrs now, and geez most of the things i knew about hardware has changed]. I'm waiting for black friday to make the purchase.

My usecases:

1. I will use my laptop for tinkering around things like VMs, Dockers etc, trying out new programming languages etc.
2. I want to install and use Arch Linux - i might choose to move away to a different distro later. However i don't see myself going back to Windows, so linux support is of atmost importance.
3. My linux literacy is somewhere b/w beginner and intermediate - so i think i can google around stuff and apply fixes and solutions for "not-very-complicated" problems. I have been using Kubuntu for around a year now in my personal laptop.
4. Laptop will mostly be used along with a dock with 2-3 displays [like a workstation] , but i also want to carry the laptop for meetups and stuff. So i prefer laptop being an ultrabook - but anything not too heavy can be managed.

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Specs i'm looking for:

1. Budget: Max 2k CAD [1.5k USD/1.36K EUR]. To be bought and used in Canada.
2. CPU: i5/i7 [i7 preferred]. I have read about Ryzen - but not sure how well they are linux supported, and none of the laptops i was looking for had this CPU.
3. RAM: 16GB or more. How is your experience with soldered RAM? Do they get damaged easily? I can start with 8GB and maybe later add 8GB.
4. Display: I don't game, also don't care much about the 4k display. So anything with HD and about will suffice. Definitely won't use the touchscreen feature or tablet mode.
5. Battery - Anything above 4-5hrs is fine as i will be mostly using this as a desktop with dock.
6. Storage: 250GB NVMe SSD
7. Repairabe: I plan to use this laptop atleast for next 5yrs. So something easily repairable will be preferred.

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In your experience, how good are exlusive linux laptops like KDE Slimbook or/ System76? Are they better thank thinkpads ? I personally have shortlisted Thinkpad X1 Carbon [but integrated memory is a disadvantage] and few T series.

I would love to hear your opinions.

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TLDR: Looking for suggestions for a new linux laptop under 2k CAD. Confused b/w Thinkpad/KDE Slimbook/System76.