What helped me on laptop searching was that I went on cpubenchmark.net and used a CPU I’ve known and used, as a benchmark and then compared the CPUs of some laptops within my budget to know what is and isnt worth it. As you said, the RAM and SSD can be upgraded later so its really mainly the CPU you should be concerned with in terms of core specs. Dont forget to look at charging and battery life too! And remember to check repairability especially with more modern thinkpads as some models come with soldered RAM. I learned that the hard way with my current thinkpad that Im writing this on.

Idk about 2 years, but they can definitely do it by 2030.

It took TSMC a while to get to that point if I’m not mistaken, so even with all the financial might of the CCP, I still doubt it will happen THAT quickly.

If China’s already at 5nm, they’re getting close. Smallest in use now is 3nm, I think.

This poses the question, how long until China can achieve its goals without Taiwan and TSMC?