>>So the truth is that my i7 brick of a laptop I bought two years ago with 16 GB of RAM is now serving as a desktop, connected to a big 28" LG monitor. :)

LOL. I've got one of the last of the aluminium HP Envy 17 with the 1080P 3D screen (not that I've ever used the 3D but it's bright and very clear) with 256SSD and 2TB spinner. I expect it's the last PC I'll ever own. It has traveled the world with me and it's never needed an external monitor (though apparently it can drive 4 of them.) I don't see it as a brick, but then my previous machine was one of those 18.5" HP did for a while. Seems to me the main issue to decide whether a machine is nice, is speed. SSD plus a good fast i7 or i5 is what matters. I got the 3820QM which was a mobile speed demon at the time and still looks respectable, though the T9600 in the previous 18.5" machine felt just as quick if you're not doing 5 things at once.