You could pull the old drive from the dead computer and put it in an enclosure, will cost about the same as buying a new one.
I have the samsung external from Amazon, $36 with shipping. My local Walmart sells the LG external for about $40.
Externals work well, but not really fast as compared to a desktop machine, about what the average laptop does.
You might want to think about a powered USB hub, to keep the power draw lower on the new computer, also keeps the drive running better (and, hopefully longer)
