Old Thinkpad X40

In 2005 I taught a Python class and made enough money to buy myself an IBM (pre-Lenovo) Thinkpad X40:

  IBM ThinkPad X40 2371
  Dimensions (WxDxH) 10.6 in x 8.3 in x 1.1 in
  Weight 2.6 lbs
  Processor Intel Pentium M 713 1.1 GHz ULV
  Cache Memory 1 MB - L2 cache
  RAM 256 MB (installed) / 1.28 GB (max) - DDR SDRAM - PC2700 - 333 MHz
  W7P9838   FREE 512MB PC2700 CL2.5 NP DDR  $0.00
  Hard Drive 30 GB - 4200 rpm
  Display 12.1" TFT active matrix XGA (1024 x 768) - 24-bit (16.7 million colors)
  Telecom Fax / modem - CDC - 56 Kbps
  Networking Network adapter - Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g
  IBM 11 A/B/G WIRELESS LAN MINI PCI ADAPTER II 

I am in a state where I'll be between laptops so I've installed an XFCE spin of Fedora 20 Beta RC 5 and I'm surprised how usable it is. I bought a new battery (IBM-22-4400) from laptopbatterydepot.com so I can travel with it and I'm getting decent battery life (~5 hours so far) but my bottle neck is disk IO. sweclockers.com has a nice write up on installing $15 PATA to mSata adaptor along with a ~$100 SSD on the exact same model of laptop to speed it up and increase the reliability of an 8 year old battery that doesn't owe anyone anything anymore. Now the temptation sets in. Do I want to spend ~$115 and a few hours on an old laptop?