New or pre-owned: which is actually the better buy?

The rule of thumb we give people is simple: buy pre-owned where the failure modes are known and cheap to fix, and buy new where they are not.

Consoles, monitors and speakers age well. They are simple, they are repairable, and a tested second-hand unit will usually outlast the warranty you would have got on a new one.

Laptops are the awkward middle. The screen and the keyboard are fine second-hand, but batteries are consumable and swelling is common on older machines, so factor a replacement into the price.

Anything with a sealed battery you cannot replace yourself is where new starts to make sense again, particularly if you plan to keep it more than three or four years.