Around that time, I would buy "refurbished" Thinkpads around Canal Street in NYC (where many cheap things are sold) from an authorized dealer for much lower tha

Around that time, I would buy "refurbished" Thinkpads around Canal Street in NYC (where many cheap things are sold) from an authorized dealer for much lower than the regular price. The "refurbished" were generally returns that were reinspected, etc. The company bought a lot of them. But to have only spent $700 for a 13" Macbook Air type of machine then! :-)