For years, it seemed that a decent desktop workstation's price was holding constant while you were just getting more performance per dollar. Now, that's all blown apart. It seems every time I go to buy a new computer, I'm paying less than I paid before, and that's without even taking inflation into account.
When I bought my first iBook I did so because it was the best laptop for under £1,000. The laptop in question ended up costing approx. £850 even with a discount. Nowadays there are some seriously capable and well specced laptops for under £500.