Check out the refurbished products Apple has. They come with the same warranty as a new product, and the warranty can be extended with AppleCare as well.

I've been very happy with my 15 inch Powerbook, and my overall transition to OS X that started in October of 2001.

And about the backlit keyboard. Get it if you do go the Powerbook route, even if you don't need to see the keyboard much. The other great use of it is the ambient light sensors that also dims or brightens the LCD backlight when needed.