> upgrade suggestions for someone who loved that laptop?

The repair-friendly [0] StarBook and StarFighter line might interest you. They generally seem good value for money and ship worldwide. Here's a 96g DDR5 + Intel Core Ultra 7 configuration at ~$2200: https://starlabs.systems/products/starbook-ultra?variant=552...

Their funder/backer is a mystery (to me) though.

[0] https://support.starlabs.systems/what-is-the-star-labs-limit...