Maths Abilities?
Hi, Kieren. Sorry you've had this inflicted on you.
About $150 being very little pay-off for the risk, the other possibility could just be the thieves are bad at maths? A $1500 laptop sounds like it <em>should</em> be worth stealing, so maybe they just haven't thought through how much they're actually making with this. There's no reason for criminals like these to be proficient in maths or economics. And it's still one of the most high-value items that people have out in public.
Anyway, I hope it gets connected to the internet soon.