Please Continue to Standby

Well, the laptop damage was not that extreme (hard drive crash), but I've ultimately decided to replace my laptop since it was already over three years old.

I did a lot of research over the last couple weeks, and just finalized my purchase of a Lenovo ThinkPad this afternoon. I was thinking about switching over to the dark side (Mac) since I wanted nothing to do with Windows Vista. However, a PC was probably a better match for me, so I tried to find a solid PC laptop brand that let me "upgrade" to Windows XP. Ultimately, the ThinkPad gave me that option (Dell did not).

Thanks to Mouse (and everyone else) who helped talk me through my laptop purchase. I wish this crash could have been deferred a few months, but now just seemed like a terrible time to take a chance on Vista and I was just not brave enough to get a Mac.

I am borrowing a laptop right now and I won't have my new laptop for 1-2 weeks. I'll catch up with my posting at that time.

Anyone know of good ways to dispose of laptops that could easily be brought back into solid working condition?