For the past 10 years I’ve been using 13 inch or below. I used an 11 inch for a year and a half. I love these super light laptops when traveling but I think I want a large screen this time, maybe a 17 inch. With the smaller screens I have used a USB multiplier and ran up to 3 additional screens in the office. The downside was when I’m not in the office and I’m stuck looking at a small screen. I would consider something larger than 17 this time.
Migrated to all laptops 4 years ago after getting tired of dealing with driver and hardware issue when building midtower PCs. Rather than going with a vendor completed PC rig, thought having laptops would be much more mobile ie if there is a fire, just grab the laptop and go. I have a "desktop" laptop and travel laptop. Desktop is connected to 34" UltraWide and 27" 3840x1600 monitor. I just upgraded both laptops due to Black Friday deals. Here are the main things I considered when I upgraded. "Desktop" laptop - strong CPU, not hindered by Intel EVO. EVO hobbles CPU to conserve energy for battery life so you get reduced performance. AMD's version is their U line. - ports. Gaming laptops are a bit heavier but have enough ports to drive multiple monitors. - weight is not an issue as the "desktop" laptop will be stationary most of the time. - moderately quiet. Some gaming laptops can be quite loud due to full power requiring fans to cool them down. Travel laptop - moderately lightweight with full sized numpad/arrow keys. Since I won't lug my MS4000 keyboard when I traveled, I wanted a decent keyboard with numpad/arrow keys for spreadsheet work. - 16" 2560x1600 screen. It's like having a desktop high rez monitor on the go. - nice to have: decently strong CPU for longevity. - quiet. being in different places, didn't want to pollute noise. Existing setup - desktop laptop: 2018 Dell XPS 15" 9570 - travel laptop: 2021 ThinkPad 14" X1 Carbon Gen 8. 2.4lb. New setup - desktop laptop: 2022 Dell Alienware X14. 12700H CPU. - travel laptop: 2022 Lenovo IdeaPad 16" 5i Pro. 12500H CPU. 4.3lb. Great keyboard layout which I think is better than the ThinkPad. I had considered the LG gram 17", 2.7lb Intel EVO CPU as a travel laptop but really wanted the Lenovo full sized numpad/arrow keys and 16" high rez screen, even at the expense of higher weight. The 12700H/12500H are a quantum leap better than my XPS/TP CPUs. You might notice that the X14 is lighter than the IdeaPad, mainly due to the BF deals that I was able to get. A gaming laptop is actually a great choice for a "desktop" laptop. Also I should note I already have a SideTrak monitor (1920x1080) for more screen space on my travel laptop. I liked their swivel mechanism the best. Hopefully this gives you some possible ideas about upgrading.
After looking at your new setup specs I'm surprised that you bought a separate travel laptop. The Alienware x14 looks like it would be a better travel option than the IdeaPad
Will get a HP EliteBook with Linux for myself next. Spoke to a guy who repairs laptops and that's what he uses, says they are the most reliable. With a Mac, when something breaks, they'll just tell you to buy a new one. From what I hear the internals of Macbooks are of poor quality, so you want them to be repairable.