The comparison to a $1000 laptop isn't a raspberry pi - it's a second hand ThinkPad that's three years old. It will be slower, but can do pretty much all the same things for most people, and could still cost 300 dollars.
I bought my first laptop in 2010 for about €630 and after three years switched to the current one. During that time two out of four USB ports became too loose to function properly in all circumstances. I have more anecdata like this from my friends and coworkers.