Recommend a good small electric guitar amp?

I don't really know how to play very well so I don't need anything special, but I have bought 2 cheap ones on craigslist that both worked when I got them but quickly started having issues that make them annoying to use. Is there a good quality small amp that is available for under $200 new that would be a good choice to replace the ones I have? 

My first amp was  Marshall mg15dfx. It was good for the money and never gave an ounce of trouble. Loud enough to be fun and sounded good for its size. A friend had a 75w Randall combo that was amazing, but I can't remember the model and it is long since out of production. The little Marshall also had some built-in effects that were fun to play with. The new one is an MG15CFX and cost around $150. That would be my recommendation.

A little more money would get you an Orange micro terror and those are stunning little things, but require an external speaker cabinet. 

What did you previously purchase and what made you dislike them?

The Marshall looks interesting, I will check that out. The ones I bought (I still have both) are a guitar research t30r, and it was fine until it started playing static instead of the sound of the guitar sometimes. Then I bought a small vox amp (ad-15vt or something like that) and I used it 3 times and the manual (clean sound) mode quit working so it only plays various distortion and overdrive preset amp models now. I liked both and when I bought them they worked but then they started having problems after using them. 

In reply to Tk8398 :

It depends on what music you're into and what your goals are, but a Line-6 might be a good option for you. They generally don't have great sound, but they offer a wide variety of decent modeled sounds, which will let you experiment more and figure out what you like/don't like.

If you're just looking to make sounds happen, CL is full of 6.5" and 8" cheapies for $20.  I have a Mark 2 M2A-20.  Its a single driver 20w thing that I bought for $25 in like-new condition from Ebay.  I use it to just make sounds happen but I don't perform, so it pulls double duty as an occasional booth monitor or piano/vocal monitor at the theater.

Bulletproof, simple.

My opinion is that anything under a 10 inch speaker just doesn't sound like a guitar amp, it sounds like a recording of a guitar amp being played back over a transistor AM radio.

Also some of those Vox modeling amps could get their presets messed up and act broken. I picked up a "non working" 2X12  30 watt version to harvest the speakers from and once I googled how to reset one to factory defaults by holding down a bunch of buttons while powering it up it was fine. 

Another cheap, small practice amp that is getting very good reviews is the Boss Katana Mini.

For practice amps, I find the cheap 8"-12" solid state amps, with no built in dsp effects to be reliable as anvils. Usually go for an old used fender, squier, or peavey. I avoid berhinger, crate, marshall, line6, and anything DSP. Some 6"ers can be okay, but as mentioned, lack the fullness I expect.

The most common failure mode of cheap transistor amps seems to be overheating. Often due to lack of any heat mitigation. Pulling the cover off and applying some thermal compound between the chip and heatsink can help bulletproof it a bit. 

I personally love the old tube stuff, and it will last for years if properly maintained, however that is rare, and the 1st maint in decades can exceed the purchase price. If thinking tubes, you want all electrolytic caps replaced, old tubes are usually sound fine. Some new tube amps are quite reasonable, I have heard good things about Blackstar.

Give this a shot on the Vox.

RESTORING THE FACTORY SETTINGS

Here's how you can restore the factory settings.

NOTE: If you do this, the programs you saved in the channels will be completely erased,

and will be reset to the factory settings.

NOTE: Effect and noise reduction settings made in the Manual mode will also be erased.

1. Turn the power off.

2. While holding down both the CH and WRITE buttons, turn the power on.

When the CH1 and CH2 LEDs begin blinking, release these two buttons.

HINT: If you decide to abort this operation, press the TAP switch at this point.

3. When you press the WRITE switch, the CH1 and CH2 LEDs will change from

blinking to lit. Initialization will be completed in a few seconds, and the amp

will switch to Preset mode.

NOTE: Never turn off the power while initialization is taking place

Are the 80s Peavey and fender solid state amps likely to be better than  a brand new one? 

I just tried the factory reset on the vox and it did nothing, it only works in the preset mode, if you press the manual mode button the light come on but nothing changes. 

Used small amps are usually more like $50-80 here, and I now have 2 that don't work properly, so that's why I was wondering if there was something better available new. 

The little Fender G-DEC's with built in backing tracks and effects could fit the bill nicely.

If you can swing it, a used Marshall class 5 gets you nice low wattage tube sound for good bargain. I loved mine for bedroom jamming.

In reply to Tk8398 :

I'm not sure if they are "better" from a technical perspective. They're certainly simpler from an electronics perspective and there is a decent chance that if they're working fine now, they'll probably be OK for the future.

I like the 80s Peavey ones with the silver bars on the side of the grille.

^^This vintage.

I was going to say a Crate amp - they're nothing spectacular, but they are cheap and durable. Unfortunately, it appears they are no longer made. But you might still be able to find one from a guitarist looking to upgrade.

How small are you looking to go?

I recently picked one of these up:

It's a Blackstar ID Core 10.  It has two tiny 3" speakers, but you could never tell. It's a stereo effects practice amp, and it sounds a lot bigger than it is! They retail for $99 new, but I snagged mine barely used for $50. I play out of this thing a lot more than my full sized combo these days. They also make it in larger 20 and 40 watt sizes. It's the best entry level amp I've ever played out of, and the tones actually sound great!

The coolest part (that I have yet to try) is that you can use it as a "physical plugin" for recording software, and you can tweak settings on a computer. I'm pretty sure you can reflash it with new tones, too. 

Do you have a trusted used guitar shop? If their reputation is behind it, it should be better than the random craigslist find.

Also, I paid like $225 for my Fender Blues Junior. I bought it used from our local shop, but that's a pretty decent tube amp for a fair price.