I bought my desktop four years ago. It's running low on space -- I've been storing media files on it, and I have some new software that optimally performs on a newer operating system, on a machine with more RAM and more storage.

I've considered a laptop for the following reasons: portability for when I take 1099 contracts, ability to use wi-fi on the bus (my bus is pretty much only for geeks in my neighborhood commuting to Geek Headquarters across the lake) space considerations, and price. I could clean my desktop and give it to my kid. So it's primarily for business, but I know enough about PCs to know I don't need extra power or storage to do things like write letters.

I had a 1997 Dell Dimension before I updated in 2004 to a locally made system.
I'm already squeamish about blowing $35K-$40K on a kitchen, and $3K on Japan, should a li'l thing like a $654 laptop purchase worry me? Back-to-school sales are still raging, and my options now are a HP Pavilion, Sony VAIO, or Dell.