LEE’S GUIDE TO BUYING SECONDHAND
Clearly, there’s appeal to owning something brand new, but I’m going to prove that the secondhand market will deliver a better return on your £250 than anything new for that price. There are a few hidden traps in the pre-owned marketplaces, but if you keep a clear head and follow my advice, there are bargains to be found.
Start with the basics: what do you want the machine to do? £250 won’t buy a top-drawer gaming experience, but eBay and Facebook Marketplace are rammed full of computers that will satisfy most needs.
At this price, most desktops are powered by second-generation to fourth-generation Intel CPUs. These were manufactured between 2011 and 2015, so your purchase could be six to ten years old. It’s safe to presume that the motherboards will be a similar age, but the rest of
