Is it worth buying a refurbished PC for under £150?

Mark needs to replace a 10-year-old desktop computer on a budget. Is a refurbished model a good option?

I'm considering buying a new general-purpose home computer for $200 [142] or less, and I'd like a mini-tower that I can easily repair and upgrade.

I will use it on the web, to scan photographs (with a flatbed scanner), and to watch video recordings from my trail cameras. I'd like to buy the minimum PC that can handle these tasks significantly faster than my 10-year-old Dell Dimension B110. I think I'd be happy with a 64-bit Intel Core 2 Duo.

Many people are familiar with the idea of "fleet cars" that have been bought or leased by large corporations and replaced after two or three years. They are cheap and have generally been well maintained, which makes them popular in the second hand market. There's a similar market in "fleet computers", which are usually recycled after three years and sold as refurbished PCs.