I'm one of those people who loves a bargain. I spend hours rummaging around in junk shops, charity stores, jumble sales and discount outlets. After playing with computers, it's probably one of my favourite relaxations. And browsing around for discounted computer kit is the best of both worlds. I just love it. But I don't do my digging in walk-in stores. When I'm looking for computer kit, I do my bargain-hunting online.

Buying a discount or surplus computer on the net is not as scarey as you might think. You don't have to trust yourself to unknown and faceless vendors on certain auction sites - we've all heard the horror stories of customers allegedly sending money and getting nothing in return. A young man in the UK was recently jailed for defrauding ebay customers of more than