These hp envys are very good. I just bought my wife the same one except intel processor. How much was yours? I found mine open box excellent for about 500
Cheap 14" Laptop $220- @bestbuy
- Thread starter Rand
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We paid $600.00. Its a great computer.
JHZR2
Staff member
Interesting. Was that a highly obsolete model?
Dell doesn’t even offer refurbished precision laptops with Xeon that I can see.
Tempted to grab the OP laptop while the deal is still up. I haven’t bought a windows pc personally since 2001 or so.
Because you have been buying macs?
I bought a Dell inspiron 2 in 1, 13" screen, open box new in feb or march 2016 for $500. Has a 2 core i3, 8gb ram and a 128gb. She used it for the last 9 years and surprisingly even the battery was still good but the screen was finicky and it grew frustrating for her.
9 years is an amazing run so it was time anyway as the machine was getting a little slow for some things.
I suggest going up to 16gb ram and at least 512gb of storage. I doubt you could even fine a machine with 16gb ram and 256gb storage. Hard drive upgrades are kinda cheap anyway.
I found a 14" 2 in 1 (foldable into tablet which she never uses but she likes the touchscreen) hp envy with a strong intel proc, 16gb hd and 1tb ssd. It was $500 in open box excellent shape. Had to drive 45 min for it but it was the only 1 available within 250 miles
JHZR2
Staff member
Yes, I run Mac. I’m ruining an i7 MBP from 2013 that is flawless still.
Wanting a windows computer is for other reasons I’ve written about elsewhere.
$219 and replaceable HDD/expandable RAM seems like a great option for a cheap unit. The Xeon high end for super cheap as was mentioned sounds interesting, but I can’t seem to find something high end components, refurbished, without the commensurate price.
JHZR2
Staff member
Well I got one. Didn’t install the 16GB Crucial RAM I bought for it yet.
It’s as stout as my work HP EliteBook 820 (as I recall that’s the model). Nicely made. I3 processor isn’t that powerful, though I suspect it’s probably as good as the i7 in my 2013 MBP, at least for routine use.
It took a few tries to set up a local login (I don’t have a Microsoft account). I had to disable the wifi adapter. I should have just selected that I don’t have internet in hindsight. I did shift F10, then OOBE\BYPASSNRO
I think I had to get to a second command prompt to get to disable the adapter to let me reboot and select no internet though
The fan spools up when installing the windows updates. It’s maybe marginally louder than my HP, and certainly the fan changes more dynamically and often. Maybe the thermal management isn’t as robust?
I verified the version of windows and it is not in S-mode. The ASUS sw is decent. It makes it easy to update bios and other stuff. It also gives more diagnostics. I like that it offers an option to limit the battery charge percentage. My old IBM thinkpad, I had a high end one maybe in the late 2000s, had that option back then… glad to see it’s available.
What software is good for windows? Browser, protection, utilities, etc.? I just have a managed pc at work, and use specific software, I don’t manage one at home.
It’s as stout as my work HP EliteBook 820 (as I recall that’s the model). Nicely made. I3 processor isn’t that powerful, though I suspect it’s probably as good as the i7 in my 2013 MBP, at least for routine use.
It took a few tries to set up a local login (I don’t have a Microsoft account). I had to disable the wifi adapter. I should have just selected that I don’t have internet in hindsight. I did shift F10, then OOBE\BYPASSNRO
I think I had to get to a second command prompt to get to disable the adapter to let me reboot and select no internet though
The fan spools up when installing the windows updates. It’s maybe marginally louder than my HP, and certainly the fan changes more dynamically and often. Maybe the thermal management isn’t as robust?
I verified the version of windows and it is not in S-mode. The ASUS sw is decent. It makes it easy to update bios and other stuff. It also gives more diagnostics. I like that it offers an option to limit the battery charge percentage. My old IBM thinkpad, I had a high end one maybe in the late 2000s, had that option back then… glad to see it’s available.
What software is good for windows? Browser, protection, utilities, etc.? I just have a managed pc at work, and use specific software, I don’t manage one at home.
JHZR2
Staff member
I don’t have huge issues with the screen for what it is. My Macs and phones/iPads have better screens. If I was doing a lot of word processing or something where color accuracy was really important on the screen I might be concerned. For internet and basic things a few feet away, it’s fine. Especially for $200 as a limited use machine.
Ya it reminded me of laptops of the early 2000's!! It's 2025 and the TP screen is a big NOPE for me
I needed a work laptop but im more of a fancier guy since I watch my latest TV shows/Stream movies when I get to my hotel lol
JHZR2
Staff member
For real use Id run an MBP, which has a far better display. I do.
I finally put some memory into this unit. Added 16GB...
Here is Geekbench 6 with 8GB RAM:
And with 24GB:
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