Go to Wal-Mart's Web site and you'll find cut-rate brands such as eMachines and Everex competing with low-end machines from Hewlett-Packard (nyse: HPQ - news - people ).
So while you won't buy much horsepower for half a grand these days, Everex's latest StepNote can get your feet wet with Vista without breaking the bank, but waiting on that CPU to catch up with your clicking finger just might negate any value that was here.