I really wonder about that - why use SSDs? A modern, regular hard drive will bring it back to life for a fraction of the cost. I did it to a 10 years-old laptop that, outfitted with 384 Mb of RAM and Xubuntu, and it can now run Google Earth like a much more modern netbook, browse the Web fairly well, open pictures and SD movies fairly well too. In short, what one would use an old computer for, except it boots fast, doesn't make you wait for ages to open an app, and if anything, its price has been paid for 3 times over - you may then consider it 'buying a netbook for a HD price': 60 bucks or less.
Knowing this, it is also possible, when the laptop finally dies, to recover the HD (if you take an average one with large cache, it may still be under warranty), put it in an USB enclosure (ten bucks) and then use it as external storage for a DSL box (no need for external power), carry it with you as a huge USB key (modern laptop drives are very sturdy), use it in yet another recovered laptop, whatever.