While I may have constructed a "laptop proto-type" with Grandma's overnight suitcase in the mid-1980s, I deferred and avoided getting one for the next 29 years. (Counting from 1985).
Finally, and because I primarily budget my "computer fund" for high-end desktop building, a friend offered a Gateway C2D refurb -- an "executive" model. Six+ years old! For what I paid in upgrade parts, I might have bought an i3 or even i5 laptop with 8GB of RAM.
On the up side, some of the upgrade parts can be recycled into a new laptop or one of my desktops. So the worst of it was the $100 I spent on a 2x4GB SO-DIMM kit. It's fast enough for me!
And it was a fun project. There's plenty of hardware-savvy people, like my friend, who maintain and use these older machines. Never can tell when the data and convenience is so important that you might actually replace the motherboard.
It's all about a nexus of need, want and curiosity. Curiosity killed the cat. But the fringe demand for some dated part of an old laptop -- is not necessarily owing to cerebral impairment.
