I bought an Lenovo laptop which was supposed to be without an OS, with the intent of loading QubesOS.

It came with Windows, which I left on for work. 🤦

I GOTTA try that thing!!!

Qubes is fantastic for that

It's great though connecting a hardware wallet through sys-usb was a pain. Wish I could tag Craig so he could update the doc since I see Qubes mentioned in there.

I eventually want to run Qubes, but how much $ would it take to get an adequate system that could handle it?

Qubes is awesome.

Here's a guide to install Wasabi.

https://docs.wasabiwallet.io/using-wasabi/WasabiSetupVM.html#qubes

contains intel proprietary microcode and nonfree software. The website even suggests that you run Windows on it.

I recommend anyone who cares about their Bitcoin to get familiar with hardening Linux systems and install something endorsed by the FSF like Trisquel or at the very least Debian.

use that machine for Bitcoin only over a VPN, dont install anything you dont need.

instead of trying to run your whole digital life on one machine, Use a specific device for specific purposes.

This has always been the most secure, preferred and most practical method for security-minded folks in the community.

Now if you're a "travelling" journalist like Eddie, thats a different story.

But for most of us punks jammin in our cryptocaves, dedicated appliances are the way to go ;-)