Chess is on a big upswing right now, fueled by the surge in online play during the pandemic. Of course, this excellent program on Netflix has more people talking about chess as well.
If you are thinking about buying a dedicated chess computer, it really depends on your playing strength. No fun playing a super strong computer and having it beat you to pieces. Radio Shack made plenty of reasonably priced computers that have enough strength to beat most chess players out there. Of them, I prefer the Radio Shack Master Chess as it has enough strength for me to be a challenge, around 2000 ELO, and I can still take a point from it now and then on its highest level. It is cheap, too.
If you want to spend more money, no problem. Millennium has a model out called the Chess Genius Exclusive that retails around $600, but you can find it on sale from time to time. It is strong enough to beat anyone, especially when paired with the King Element. The DGT Centaur is rather unique in that it will match your playing strength so you can beat it all the time, or play it on challenging mode and you will beat it once in a while, or play it at a GM level and you will never beat it at all.
Some of the best vintage chess computers from the 1980s and 1990s are pricey and have interesting programs. Some of the wood models fetch over $1000 regularly depending on the model and condition. Fidelity made some beautiful wood models in the Elite Avant Garde line that play a strong game and are a joy to play. My favorite among them is the Fidelity Elite Premiere, it combines the Mephisto Vancouver program with the Fidelity Elite V2 program.
Novag made a number of computers with an excellent soft touch playing surface in all strength levels. Their Diamond models, Diamond, Diamond II, and the Star Diamond are their best models. Hard to find less than a few hundred dollars and the Star Diamond is much more than that.
All the information you will ever need on dedicated chess computers is at schachcomputer.info
I love chess, too. Disclaimer, I have more chess computers than pinball machines.