Aecetia: I picked up a refurb HP from HP.com (you go to refurbished/overstock/clearance tab on the website).
I paid about $1,400 all in for about $2,600 worth of stuff (they threw in a 3 year warranty, two travel batteries, lock, laptop case and docking station as part of the deal). I mention the pricing because you can save pretty big on their refurb line of products and it’s backed by a 3 year warranty (bumper to bumper coverage).
I’ve had the machine about a year and it functions flawlessly, which is typical of HP products.
I also have a Dell Precision M90 (the laptop that the HP replaced) and it was a piece of junk. Keyboard went first, followed by CD/DVD drive and the hard drive started persistently overheating. I would not recommend Dell under any circumstances, since this is the third Dell that has crapped out on me.
Having worked at Apple way back when (1982), I love their stuff, but it’s pricey and it does create the “culture dependency” that Nost mentioned. Beautiful design and engineering, though.
