At work, I was given a reasonably-spec'ed machine (dual quad 2GHz, 4GB RAM, 160GB 7200RPM drive, Win7), but it was lacking in a few places (HDD / RAM). The IT staff was OK with me replacing hardware with my own, so now I'm sporting an SSD and an extra 8GB of RAM (so I can run multiple Visual Studios & virtual machines). I realize it was the company's business decision to pick the machines they did, but at the same time faster hardware made me happier and more productive at work.
I guess my question is, am I the only one (self-employs not withstanding :) who's willing to spend personal money on their work hardware for a better quality of life, and should I approach it in a different way? Is it possible to retroactively say "I think you should reimburse me for this $500 in hardware because [blah]"?