In certain situations, buying used equipment may be a better option than buying new. Some possible scenarios: Your requirements aren’t that high–it’s for use by grandma for emailing her grandkids. Or, the computer is expected to be used in not-so-friendly situations–it will be used by your preschool-aged kids for games and practice activities. Or, perhaps you intend it to be just your backup laptop (for some reason that you need one).

Of course, if you’re budget-constrained, then it’s probably the only option. Either you go for a budget, low-end laptop, or a slightly used machine that’s more powerful.
Powerbook G3 Pismo
My “new” PowerBook

You can even go cheaper if you opt for last year’s models or even those older than that. Some laptops are, after all, built tough, and still have decent capabilities a few years down the line. You won’t probably need a Core 2 Duo laptop if all you do is send five emails a day and visit your favorite news sites and blogs a couple of hours coming home after work.

What’s great is that you can usually even purchase old models from the manufacturers or dealers themselves–whether these are refurbished units, unsold stock, or leased units already returned, you can still get good deals. If you do decide to purchase or bid online, be sure to ask for photos and specifications from the seller (or the dealer). Of course, with used units, I would prefer to be able to manually inspect the computer myself.
All right, what do I need to kno