Amongst HP, Acer, Gateway, EMachines, Toshiba, Dell, Compaq, and Sony - as of right now, only Dell provides full sets of recovery discs with their consumer level PCs. Up until roughly 6 months ago, most Toshibas came with discs and about a year ago Gateway/EMachines had the OS disc but not drivers/apps. All other discs had to be created by the user for the last 4 years or so.
Seems like a profitable scam to me - especially on laptops. In my profession, at a large electronics chain, wearing a tie - it seems like the average laptop hard drive only lasts 2 years with some dying much sooner and some dying later. At that point 99% of users don't have discs so they have to call the manufacturer, usually dishing out another $30 (give or take) and waiting a week or two.
It's not a way to save money, it's a way to make money.