Forget irc/facebook and any computer related stuffs.

I would suggest these:

- billards table, darts, mahjong etc..
- wii, ps3
- cards (with chips)
- stick hockey table (make tournaments for fun)

iPad:
- boots faster
- is lighter
- digital compass
- ips lcd
- looks cooler

I think it depends on what are you using it for. And yes, I will pay extra $200 if it boots fast and much lighter. I don't need a computer I need an appliance.
It's like comparing a home-based firewall solution celeron server + iptables and linksys routers + dd-wrt. I'll get a linksys (cheaper electricity and smaller).

Can you share your cdkey?

I would like to recommend these brands:

Enermax (http://www.enermax.com)
Hec (http://www.hec-group.com.tw)
Acbel (http://www.acbel.com)

Our HP servers uses Acbel.