mad_jock,
Trouble is, your average el'cheapo home user "black box" would fear no better under a syn flood or other DoS attack.
They are merely a poorly implemented software solution running on an underpowered COTS hardware solution with peanuts for memory.
So all they'll do is crash your "firewall" instead of your computer's network stack.
Save for one or two exceptions, if it ain't got an ASIC, it ain't a hardware firewall.
That said, adding that extra layer of defence is a Good Thing (TM), so don't misinterpret what I'm saying....
MB,
By facilitating the removal of the software firewall that's no doubt been crippling his laptop.
(and at ~£40 it's worth it purely for the stateful firewall, NAT and wireless-N - especially if the guy doesn't want the equivalent of a comms rack in his house).
Indeed you are correct in that sense. Something extra is better than nothing extra in terms of defence.
You don't need a comms rack for some reasonable software based firewall appliances, but I'll give you that you'll need more than £40 at your local computer shop.