Inspection tagUsed laptop or desktop, checked before you pay
Test the computer before you hand over the cash.
Open Once-Over in the browser of the laptop or desktop you are looking at. In about ten minutes it lights up every key, fills the screen with test colours, plays left and right tones, reads the microphone, opens the camera and times the network, then walks you through the locks and health checks a browser cannot see. You get a plain verdict by published rules.
Start the test Print the meet-up checklist
Free to run. Nothing to install. Nothing recorded or uploaded.
01 What the page actually tests
- KeyboardEvery key lights as it registers. Dead keys stay dark.
- TrackpadClick, right-click, scroll and drag pads.
- ScreenSeven full-screen fields for dead pixels, lines, bleed and banding.
- TouchA 40-square grid that only a finger can light.
- SpeakersLeft-only, right-only and a low-to-high sweep.
- MicrophoneA live level meter, worked out on the computer.
- CameraA live picture and the resolution it gives.
- NetworkFive round trips to this site, typical time shown.
- ChargerPlug it in and watch charging start (Chrome, Edge).
02 How it goes at the meet-up
- A
Open it on their computer
Ask the seller to start the computer and open laptopdesktop.online. A computer that will not start or reach the internet has already told you something.
- B
Work down the bench
Ten minutes, top to bottom. Mark each test Works, Problem, Not tested or Does not apply. Then the locks, serial number and battery checks.
- C
Read the verdict
Walk away, Ask first, Test more first or Looks good, with the reasons. Save it to your shelf to compare with the next one.
03 A report looks like this
This sample is judged by the same code as a real one. One screen problem is enough to move a computer from Looks good to Ask first: a stuck pixel may be fine to you at a lower price, and that is a conversation to have before you pay, not after.
Sample: 2021 14-inch laptop, asking $340
Verdict
Ask first
- Screen has a problem.
13 work1 problem1 not tested1 do not apply
04 What a browser cannot see
No web page can read the health of the drive, find bad memory, stress the processor or look inside the case. Once-Over says so on every report and walks you through the built-in checks that can: Get-PhysicalDisk on Windows, Disk Utility and Apple Diagnostics on a Mac, the battery report, and the locks that make a computer unusable to anyone but its owner.
05 Price
Free
$0
- Every test and check
- The verdict on screen
- Meet-up checklist
- Shelf of 2 reports
Once-Over Pass
$1.95/month
or $19.50/year
- Shelf of 50 reports
- Read-only link to send the other person
- Compare up to 4 side by side
- Print layout
Free during preview
7-Day Pass
$1.00 once
- Everything in the Pass for 7 days
- Made for one computer hunt
- No renewal
Free during preview
Payments are not switched on yet. While the site is in preview, everyone gets the Pass features free and no payment is taken. Pricing details
06 Who it is for
Buying
Run it at the meet-up, before money changes hands. Save each computer you see and compare them at home.
Selling
Run it on your own computer before you list it and send buyers the read-only report, so they know what they are coming to see.
Got one back
From a repair, a loan or a relative: check that everything still works before you sign for it.