IN OUR headlong quest for bigger, faster, more sophisticated laptop computers, dozens of older laptop models have been superceded.

So what happens to them and are they obsolete?

Perhaps! But that begs the question, obsolete for what? Writing, e-mail, surfing the Internet, maybe. The answer to this question depends entirely on what the user expects from a laptop. Even the lowliest machine has a use.

And online auctions such as AuctionHunter (www.auctionhunter.co.uk) provide a strong and growing market for used portable computers.

A good portable with DOS 5.0 and WordPerfect was the height of sophistication in 1992 and, for under £65, they' re still good workhorses today if they've been looked after carefully.

For slightly more money, there are plenty of serviceable 386-based laptops listed and buyers should be able to clinch a deal for under £150 - as long as they don't expect a hard drive capacity of over 100 Mb. Such early Windows machines are still perfect for a variety of tasks.

The most critical questions to ask a seller is the amount of memory installed in the laptop, its modem speed,whether the machine boots and if it includes an AC adapter. Many laptop batteries were mediocre even when new and may be impossible to replace now.

With up to £350 to spend, buyers can splash out on a pre-owned Intel 486-based laptop. There's a big jump in hard drive and memory capacity as the upper £350 price tag approaches. A PCMCIA modem may be included, as may strong batteries - but as ever, demand the adapter or do not bid. The seller should also guarantee a refund if the unit fails to work properly.

If a Pentium-based machine is what the doctor ordered, expect to pay at least £400 through an Internet auction. Typically, systems in this price range will offer 850 MB to 1.2 gigabyte hard drives. Such systems are likely to draw few bids above £420.

Going even higher up the price range, the power-user's latest cast-offs start at around £750. These include hot properties such as the IBM ThinkPad, HP Omnibook, Compaq and Toshiba laptops with Pentium 133+ processors and 32MB memories.

CD-ROMs and large, active matrix screens are the standard fare too, and maybe even a few new 'surplus stock' machines from clearance warehouse-type retailers.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.