Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Alright, this one doesn't seem to have an in-depth review so I'll give it a shot. Before we get started, be aware that the processor in this machine performs better with dual channel RAM (that means two sticks). This machine only ships with one 8GB stick. The general performance of the chip, ESPECIALLY when it comes to graphics, will be significantly enhanced by adding another stick. This is an easy upgrade even for a novice and I'll include some instructions at the end on how to do this. But first let's talk about the laptop. The Ryzen 5500u processor included here is plenty fast for whatever you want to do. It'll plow through your spreadsheets, web browsing, movie watching and much more. It can even play some games! But not all the games. It'll handle less demanding or older titles with ease and can even play some of the more demanding titles of today if you're willing to turn the settings down. But if you're really looking for a mobile gaming machine that can do all the latest games with effects turned up you'll need to spring for a $1000+ gaming laptop with a dedicated video card and a lot more disk space. The included 8GB of RAM is more than enough to handle everyday tasks like web surfing, office work and light photo/video editing, but as stated above you'll need to upgrade to 16GB if you want to get the most out of the machine or play games. As for the 256GB SSD, it should be enough for most users. Who even saves stuff to their actual computer these days anyhow? Unless you're putting a lot of games on there, in which case it'll fill up quickly. The screen is nice for this price range. It's an IPS display so viewing angles are great and it's plenty bright with sharp colors. No complaints here. Battery life is good but not great, certainly good enough for the price you're paying. The keyboard is a laptop keyboard. It's not great, but it'll do. I've typed this whole review with it and it's been comfortable enough. The speakers are laptop speakers. They suck. They're good enough to watch a youtube video but don't rely on these to watch a movie or play music. It's got bluetooth so just grab your favorite speaker and use that instead. Your ears will thank you. Build quality is merely average as is the case with most laptops in this price range. As they say in the world of laptops "Performance, build quality, price. Pick Two." and HP went for performance and price here. That's not to say the build quality is bad, but the all plastic casing just doesn't have the sturdy feel of a more expensive aluminum body machine. That being said, just about any laptop isn't going to survive a long fall, a misplaced foot or a soak in the tub. Why is your laptop on the floor? HOW DID IT GET IN THE BATHTUB!? Take better care of your stuff dude. So don't fret too much here. It's more than strong enough to handle commuting to work or school in a laptop bag. Overall this is a good laptop for the price and I would recommend it, but you should really put in that second stick of RAM I was telling you about. It's not that hard I promise. All you need is a tiny Phillips head screwdriver and a credit/gift card you don't mind getting a little beat up. Oh, and an 8GB DDR4 3200MHz LAPTOP RAM stick. Make sure it's a laptop stick and not a desktop stick. The desktop one won't fit. I used this stick and it works great: https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-DDR4-Laptop-Memory-CT8G4SFRA32A/dp/B08C4Z69LN/ref=sr_1_4?crid=5MM4PVV45REW&dchild=1&keywords=ddr4+laptop+ram+8gb&qid=1623993425&sprefix=ddr4+lap%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-4 First, flip the laptop on its back. You see the rubber pads? Take them off. They aren't hard to pry up, but BE CAREFUL, they're easy to break if you go too fast. Slow and steady. Set them aside. Now you see the screws hidden underneath. Now take out all of the screws. Place them aside in a way that will let you remember where they go. Next, look behind the screen hinge and find the gap where the silver plastic meets the white plastic as shown in the very helpful pictures that I have so graciously provided for you. Stick your plastic card in there and pop up the plastic tabs all the way to the hinges. Now flip the machine over and look at the next picture. See the arrows? Take your plastic card and wedge it in the crack between the top plate and the side plate. Apply downward pressure until the tab releases and it pops down. From here you can slowly run the card along the entire edge of the laptop, releasing each plastic tab until the entire plate has been removed. Since you can see all the computers guts now you're not going to touch anything. You're going to google "how to install laptop ram" and watch a video because it's takes about ten seconds and it's pretty much impossible to mess up but you'll feel much more confident if you watch someone do it first. After that's done just pop the bottom plate into place, replace the screws and put the rubber pads back in place and turn the machine on. Congratulations! You're a computer surgeon now and your laptop has reached its ultimate form. You can tell this story at parties for years to come to impress members of the opposite sex. So go enjoy your upgraded computer. You earned it.