First I'll talk about the ease of use when using Linux Mint on a laptop. First when you first boot into Linux you will notice a dramatic boot time increase and really no lag when trying to open up applications from a fresh start. You won't be greeted with a bunch of unnecessary popups. If the system discovers new updates a box will pop up and ask if you if you'd like to download and install, or save it for later. It's very unobtrusive and doesn't force you into updates, or slow you down by not allowing you to shut down because it needs to perform over 100 updates. Those unfortunate days of Windows updates will be a thing of the past once you start using Mint.
The second aspect that makes Linux Mint laptops just really great out of the box is the fact that it already has so many great preinstalled packages that are actually very useful. Did you hate purchasing Microsoft office or using the watered down version online? Me too. However, with Libre office preinstalled, you will have access to a great word processor, excel and power point replacement too. They are very intuitive and if you've used Microsoft office you will have no problem switching over.
Do you need to ever edit pictures but don't want to pay Adobe a monthly subscription for something that is also offered for free? Great news. Linux Mint has a preinstalled application called Gimp and it can do a lot of what Photoshop does, but without having to pay a penny. I used Photoshop for years and was skeptical about switching to gimp. I didn't know if I would be able to edit my photos the way I needed to. After a short learning curve I found that I actually enjoy using Gimp more and can do what I need to do in a shorter amount of time. There are many other great free open source packages available for Linux that won't have you missing any of the paid ones for Windows.
The last thing I want to talk about that makes Linux Mint laptops just so great is the security and privacy aspect. I don't like someone standing over my shoulder and watching what I do on the computer. It doesn't matter what their intentions are, its my computer, therefore I should be the only seeing what is going on, unless I want to share it. However, there becomes a problem. When using a computer with a Windows operating system, there is a digital person standing over your shoulder. Everything you do is recorded and stored somewhere. Doesn't really seem right to the users, so when using a Linux Mint laptop, there is no digital person standing over shoulder. You own your computer and your operating system. Personal information and data isn't stored on some server.
You can also feel much safer doing regular activities on a Linux Mint laptop because the security on them is much greater due to the fact that there aren't many viruses written to attack the Linux kernel. There are built in security features such as the firewall and I would definitely recommend enabling that. Also, when in doubt, use a VPN. There are many available for a very low price. Its basically cheap insurance to keep your personal information safe and out of the wrong eyes.
Linux Mint itself is free to download and use. If you are looking for a good refurbished laptop that will run Linux Mint with no problem and don't want to deal with finding, fixing, and installing Mint then check out the laptops that Laptop Mountain offers. There are many refurbished Dell, HP and Lenovo business class laptops available for sale. The thing that makes these laptops better than your average consumer laptop from a big box store is the fact that they put more money into designing and engineering these laptops which then translates into a higher quality, longer lasting laptop.