1k was a cheap / barebones computer. (Celeron, or AMD K4 chip, with not much memory, and maybe a floppy disk and slow CD reader). A good one (in the 90s at least) was at least 1.5k-2k, which is 2.8-4k now.
It's a real blast from the past. I'd forgotten you used to be able to pay $7000 for a laptop, and $100 for a 10-megabit ethernet card.