If you're really looking for a high-quality, inexpensive laptop, pick yourself up a used (possibly a lease return) T41-era thinkpad. I have one that I got probably three years ago, and it's been fantastic. I upgraded to a bigger HDD, added 1gb RAM (for 1.5gb total), and just a couple weeks ago had to replace the fan.
I've seen them on ebay recently for $200-300 BIN. And as far as working on them, it's the most user-friendly construction I've ever seen. I found a service manual online, and had the fan out within 20 minutes, having never opened it up before.
It's not the fastest out there, but most of them came with XP Pro, and since they were built for business, they are very durable.
I paid $500 shipped 3 years ago for mine, FWIW, and it wasn't the cheapest I could find.
Here's one with the same exact specs mine had when I got it:
Ebay link