You're right. You can't win for losing in these situations. :-)
At the office they just gave us the new Dell flat panel LCD monitors which are simply awesome. When I was merely downloading my mostly spam email on Friday the machine crashed again. That did it. To heck with this crashing computer and the monitor that doesn't really fit on my desk. I ordered out of anger. Not a particularly cost-effective solution, but sort of like Dick Cheney's remark to Pat Leahy, I felt better afterward for doing it.