Ask HN: Is it recommended to use a secondary laptop for malware analysis?

I picked up a copy of "Practical Malware Analysis" to get started with malware analysis and reverse engineering. One concern I have, especially after reading the VM setup chapter, is doing malware analysis in a VM on a primary computer. Apparently malware can detect if its running in a virtualized environment, and try to exploit any vulnerabilities to escape it's sandbox to infect the host system.

Now, I have a fancy $2300 MacBook Pro, and I'd be devastated if I messed it up by being careless. I was considering picking up a used Thinkpad for like $150, maybe installing a small SSD and upgrading RAM. Total cost would be more or less $300 and a peace of mind not caring if the laptop gets killed or screwed up.

I want to hear some insight from experienced folks about their thoughts on the topic, if its worth getting a secondary laptop or if I'm being paranoid and can safely run all malware in a VM on my MBP. Thanks!