Laptop Dilemma

Way back in 2003, I bought a Sony PCG-V505AX laptop [pcworld.com]. It's been great -- it's small, light, and is fast enough when booted into Linux.

On the other hand, it's ridiculously slow in comparison to anything on the market now. When I try to run a simulation, I almost can't tell whether it is running reeeeally, really slowly, or whether it has locked up. The video card is so slow that I can't run any games, basically. I used to play Neverwinter Nights [wikipedia.org] on it, and it was a little choppy... as long as there weren't too many other people in the game at the time (at which point the machine was just wholly inadequate).

The battery has aged to the point where I can only run for 10 minutes without having it plugged in. And my wireless card just died (at least, I hope that is what happened, and that it is not a larger problem). Not surprisingly, the lack of wireless isn't a huge deal, since I can't run off of batteries anyway.

So, I'm faced with a dilemma now. I could buy a new one, or I could buy a new battery and wireless adapter for my current machine, and limp it along for another year or two.

The decision is made even more difficult by current laptop prices. If they were any cheaper, I would definitely buy a new one. If they were any more expensive, I would definitely wait. Maybe I'll wait to see if I can score a deal right after Christmas...