Used OptiPlex PCs with XP Pro pre-installed and pre-activated are still available on eBay. Got my last/current one over three years ago, and it's still going strong. Unfortunately it's use for surfing is very limited by the last three remaining browsers, which is the only reason I'm in process of moving on to Win 7 Pro.

I am not a fan of Win 7, but I can put up with it for a year or two, til I teach myself Linux. My 'new' used PC is Dell Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower, Quad Core i7 3770 (3.4GHz), 16GB DDR3 SDRAM, 1TB Hard Drive: Windows 7 Pro 64-bit. I had computer shop modify it. Mobile rack in the spare 5.25 bay which holds a SSD for MX Linux, and a regular hard disk for bare-metal/clone backups of Win 7.

AntiX is more on par with Linux Mint, both being slightly less intuitive than MX Linux, but I think AntiX is a smaller install than MX, so might be better for a laptop.

https://embeddedinventor.com/mx-linux-vs-antix-similarities-differences/