I dunno about that, at least for gaming. I routinely see older model, but still perfectly capable, gaming laptops for $550 or less, on deals websites like Slick

I dunno about that, at least for gaming. I routinely see older model, but still perfectly capable, gaming laptops for $550 or less, on deals websites like Slickdeals. And I know that's more than $500, but not by much. You can find deals on PC laptops much, much easier than Macs.