my ex tasked me with: I NEED A LAPTOP
and i was like you want reliable or cheap or GIVE ME A LAPTOP, HERE IS MONEY YOU DUMB BOY
so I was into them Thinkpads before then and after then,
got cheaper from ignoring the clamoring of lovers,
but there was a period where you could just grab several pallets load of what the fuck laptops for super cheap
edit to add, not to be like me arguing with my ex:
they are all good laptops. good internals. Northbridge? excellent scoring potential.