I wouldn't buy such laptop either. Considering that we can get newer higher performance refurbished Thinkpads for rather cheap, why even bother?In principle, I agree completely. Heck, 120GB SSDs (BX500) recently broke the 200DKK (USD $30, though not directly comparable) marker, which is cheaper then a HDD. So there is absolutely no reason to use HDDs for anything but bulk storage. There is always a -but- however...
Legacy PCs. Plenty of older laptops still use 2.5" 5400RPM drives.
Unfortunately, plenty of people hang on to their laptops for 5-10 years. Basically, use-until-death. Most people treat their PC as an appliance today. Which unfortunately mean you can still find Brazos-era (2011) systems with 5400RPM spinners out there... slow isn't the word to describe such...
Off hand would the most recent Atom based CPUs be faster then Brazos?