That was a pretty average price for "value" laptops at the time, much like the pricing of the Neo today.

At least the iBook would come out of sleep when you opened the lid, I don't think Windows laptops could manage that until 2007.

You still have to turn off USB power management on a windows machine to avoid serious problems just as you have to turn off Bluetooth power management if you don't want to be connecting and reconnecting your headphones several times a day.