Tsunade, you're not thinking creatively. Every PC manufacturer has discounts or coupons. That lenovo laptop I got for about $730 included a $250 coupon code.
Right now, the best laptop I can configure without coupons is a Dell Inspiron 15r, with 6GB DDR3 memory, 640GB HDD, i3-370M, and ATI Mobility Radeon 550v, for $720.
Near the end of last year, Dell was selling an XPS Laptop for about $650 with a $500 coupon, and it had an i5 processor, 6GB DDR3, 500 GB HDD, and a Geforce 420M, and a Blu-ray drive.
The deals are out there, but you have to do some research to find the deals.
Edit: Newegg is selling an HP Pavilion laptop with a i3-370M, 4GB DDR3, ATI Mobility Radeon 5650+Intel HD, 500GB HDD, DVD Super Multi for $650, and with a $50 MIR, it'll be $600. Which is the same specs as the Lenovo Ideapad, except for the i3 processor instead of an i5.