HP 2023 15” HD IPS Laptop computer, Home windows 11, Intel Pentium 4-Core Processor As much as 2.70GHz, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD, HDMI, Tremendous-Quick sixth Gen WiFi, Dale Crimson (Renewed)

Good value.
Got this laptop for my gma to browse and write emails, always pleased to see at least 8GB ram even if it’s ddr4, and the N200 processor should last 5+ years for her uses, far as performance. Running it thru its paces now, these 12th gen lowspec intel chips have some darn usable graphics performance, played a whole turbo dota match without performance issues on low default settings, id guess 50fps avg, cpu and gpu pegged at 100% usage and keyboard remains only barely warm. Bought the cute matching mouse elsewhere on amazon, paid for the both of them $205. Great value browsing and word processing machine, solid weight, decently low keyboard flex, really usable size, and with potential to last. Cons: mushy and soft keys, screen viewing angles and general quality are not good, power adapter isn’t good quality, quite hot, refurbished.

Hardware is great
The laptop itself is great, it has good specs for the price and seems sturdy and light. Windows 11 is terrible, of course, but I immediately installed Linux and everything works great.

Laptop itself is nice enough, Windows isn’t
This thing looks decent enough aesthetically, but it runs ridiculously slow. I had to remove McAfee for it to even run/load anything, and even now it’s really slow. It takes forever to get a tab to load. I can be sitting right next to my router and it will say I have one signal bar, sometimes randomly cutting to no signal. I think I need to go through my files piece by piece to try to decide why it’s so freaking slow, bc it’s not an old computer. I tried playing a game on it and the frame rate was abysmal and stuttery on a game that wasn’t using very many resources. (Pathetic for a laptop that has a self-proclaimed gaming mode.) I’m disappointed because I wanted to use this to write stories, manage my business, and play a few games, but I can barely build my website even sitting right next to my internet. I’ve tried turning off the WiFi of every device in the house and it still doesn’t catch the signal very well. I can’t use it in my room at all, even though my iPad has full bars in my room.When it does eventually get full signal, it still takes forever to load anything. I really wish that it came with more built in storage because the amount of it taken up by Windows files cuts it down to 1/8 of its advertised storage. If you want something to play games on, I would take the time to invest in an *actual* gaming computer. Yeah, it will put you out a lot of money, but considering how much grief I’ve gone through to even get this thing set up to be even marginally usable, you’ll thank yourself in the long run if you just invest in a better machine. It doesn’t come with Microsoft Office or any word processor other than the notepad, so I had to download a different one. Basically everything that used to be nice about Windows computers has been locked behind a paywall, and the whole OS is the opposite of user friendly. I’ve been using this for months and I can honestly say that I miss my old MacBook Pro, and if it wasn’t eight years old with a broken screen, I’d just go back to that.TL;DR—machine design itself is nice, the mouse buttons are pleasant and the keys feel good. But the Windows OS is such a bear to work with that it makes me hate this machine. I barely get a signal from my router 90% of the time, despite having no problems with any of my other devices. It’s bogged down by mountains of Windows files making it slow, and you have to uninstall the new safety mode to even do anything. If you were to uninstall Windows and use a different OS, it would be a very pleasant machine to work with in terms of ergonomics and functional feel. The graphics are pretty when they finally load, but I had to crank them all the way down to even get it to move (even then, having it be a crawl).Overall, I would only recommend this computer to someone that is a Windows acolyte. Or maybe someone that uses Linux for everything anyway. But if this is your first Windows machine (like it was mine), it will turn you off for Windows OS computers. Trash. If I could give it less than one star, I would.

Adopt a Refurb Program
They are out there. Those computers that were once loved and now wait on shelves for a forever home. Like going into the animal shelter to pick out a shelter pet. Except the computers sit silently, hoping to be adopted and loved. I adopted the red HP and it immediately went to work. No potty training, no chewed up shoes, no shredded furniture. And most importantly, no lost files. Very pleased with the purchase. I needed a laptop for use with my laser engraver. I didn’t need anything high-end. And buying a refurb was well within budget.