OK, I'll bite. If a set of tests on a feature that I'm working on runs in 15 seconds instead of in 30, I'll save that 15 seconds dozens of times. The benefits of a faster computer add up fast and shilling out a few hundred extra dollars is well worth it. Luckily, my employer got that. Especially fortunate since it doesn't seem like my Z61m will be replaced anytime soon (as we aren't doing so well) and a 2GHz core-duo with 2GB of RAM is only now starting to be limiting. If he had gone for a budget option, I would be tearing my hair out by now.
Even an extra few hundred per computer is virtually nothing. You can outfit a whole 5 man shop with top of the line Dells for what a McDonalds pays for one deep fryer. My startup quite literally ran for about 6 months on what one top of the line commercial fryer costs.
