Every software developer should own a potato PC. It's the easiest way to ensure your application is fast enough. Put your agents to work within it and watch the weight drop. There's no reason a machine from ten years ago shouldn't fly like superman.
This time I was fortunate enough to need the hard reset. I totally agree with you though - all resets should be banked resets. Let us decided when to use the gift, otherwise, it can be completely useless.