[szundi]

I usually buy top quality laptops second hand from shops that give at least 6 months warranty. Best strategy. You get a $2000 laptop for $500. And honestly, Intel did not do too much in the last decade, so these are of great value.

[FullyFunctional]

I was going to say the same - you are often better off buying a quality not-too-old used than buying a crappy new low-end machine. Better for the world too. However I tend to keep my gears for a very long time (hello my well-loved 2007 MacBook Pro) so I can justify buying new (w/warranty).

[tombert]

Yeah, I got my fancy macbook pro now because I used to work for Apple and had a pretty substantial discount on it as a result. When I need to replace this one, I'll probably get something decent in the used market and just install Linux on there.