I'd like another couple of years, I reckon I bought this in January 2009
It can be big and clunky, but 2Ghz/2Gb RAM/160Gb+ HDD/15" screen is a minimum. SOme kind of TV out would be a big plus, but not essential.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 5 Sep 2011, 23:01, 2 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

Oh, and not too fucking shiney!
I fucking hate glossy laptops that get covered in fingerprints.
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 5 Sep 2011, 23:04, Reply)

You won't get that from a new £200 laptop, never mind a second-hand one.
If you want it to last, spend a bit more and get a good one. With the last two cheap laptops I got, the first one ended up taking ten minutes to boot into a usable state, and the second one literally fell to bits.

After 18 months the case had warped so much that most of the screws had fallen out and were impossible to screw back in, so all the removable panels were loose. The only thing that worked was the hard drive; everything else (power switch, monitor, keyboard, touchpad, hardware ports) had failed, and it would lock up if you left it somewhere too hot or too cold, or moved it, or didn't move it, or angered the knacked-laptop pixies in some other way.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Mon 5 Sep 2011, 23:37, Reply)

As I say second hand.
and I got those specs 2.5 years ago new for maybe £250, oh dell dell have some decent refurbed ones for about my budget.

what was that second on you got so I can avoid it?
( CQ Knows the truth, all of it., Mon 5 Sep 2011, 23:47, Reply)

Packard Bell, forget what model. It was about £400 new five years ago.
The first one (custom-built by a third party) wasn't much better, but it got stolen before it fell to bits.
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Mon 5 Sep 2011, 23:53, Reply)