Lead free's figured out. For pretty much anything made after 2005, you're in the clear.
I'm typing this on a Lenovo X61s recently bought for $100, off someone that got it in a government auction. Core 2 Duo, 2 gigs of RAM, 160 gig HD I replaced with a SSD... it's plenty fast for everything I need it to do. I could blow upwards of $1K on a decent laptop, but I'd rather throw the $900 difference at something else. I've got a finite income, and I've got things in my life that take higher priority than trying to keep up with the latest in electronics.