Hardware wallets are safe but of course you've got to choose the reputable one like Trezor. But when I still don't have one before, that's what I did. I've got an old laptop and bought it brand new before and served as my offline wallet and never connected to the internet for so long until I've purchased mine. If your choice is buying a second laptop then make sure that you'll do a fresh reformat on that..
That's scary and that's why we need to be careful on what we're installing in the devices that we use to access our crypto funds.
Well, hardware wallets are considered safe, but as I mentioned earlier, there have been a few incidents with them, causing major losses in Bitcoin. It would suck believing that you've actually secured your coins, only to one day find your wallet empty. I believe using a second computer is the wisest approach, and why I haven't gone ahead into buying a hardware wallet already, because I still wouldn't feel 100% safe. I'm planning to buy a new PC and wipe my previous laptop to set it up for this exact purpose.