I used to work for Chromebook Retail and I have a bunch of EOL devices around. Tumbleweed has been the most stable in my experience followed by Endeavor OS.
If you don't want to mess with the surface kernel, I've had 100 percent compatibility with OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. No different kernel required on all 5 of my surface devices.
I use Linux daily but honestly I don't game on it and I watch movies on my proper hdr10+ dolby display so HDR on Linux was never even a thought in my head.
Did you set up recurring searches for new episodes? Idk what it is set to be default but you have to set each show to do episode searches at a given interval.
I got my kid a rugged smart phone. It's pretty locked down and whatnot because he's young but unfortunately there's no way I'm going to send him to Public school without a phone, just in case.
I've got a wife and a kid and I will say that I live in butt-fuck nowhere where everything is cheaper than anywhere else, however groceries are still getting way too expensive.
I'm sure I've tried a bunch over the years those are just the two that I've actively used the past couple years.