Recommendation for a HP laptop

No domestic laptop made today includes an integrated DVD drive, for multiple reasons. An internal drive affects the cooling of the device. It takes up space better used for NVME drives. Most importantly, your favorite software is frequently no longer available on physical media, with Windows itself being the biggest example. If you absolutely positively need a drive you have to go with an external device.

The only manufacturer I know of still making devices with an integrated drive is a Japan-only model by Panasonic.

I am curious though why you are limiting yourself to HP. Their consumer-level devices are very cheaply made and tend to fail rather quickly compared to devices from both Lenovo and Dell. If you are committed to HP and want nothing else, you want one of their business laptops. Given the business units are expected to see hard use they are much more durable than the consumer units and are just as capable.

Excuse just always had an HP. We just started looking and said we may have to go an external drive. May have to also think about a 17 in with the eyesight not as good as it used to be.

I too would suggest you look at Dell, which I have been using for many years both as my business machine and my personal (as well as wife’s) machines. The one thing I have always liked about Dell laptops is most models are very easy for the user to modify. So my current Dell laptop from about 7 years ago became marginally sluggish when I moved to Windows 11. Factory configured it was 16 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD (about 50% full). For very low cost I upgraded it to 32GB RAM and 1 TB SSD. The mods didn't involve (mechanically) much more than removing about 8 to 10 screws.

Some good and reliable machines use soldered in memory and you can’t use that type of design to upgrade.

Amazon often has very good deals on Dell machines.

In feb 2023 I bought an hp elitebook, a 2021 model on clearance at microcenter for ~$325. 5650U cpu, 16gb ram, 256gb storage. Upped the ram to 32gb and been using that since as a desktop replacement. The screen is crap at 14" and tiny. Laptop connected to 32" monitor, full size keyboard and rodent.

It's not fast, but adequate enough. I still have my main desktop, but it draws 200w vs 25w for this, at idle.

Look for clearance and previous years models. I would not buy a consumer grade laptop, look at the business models for better longevity.

Lenovo: ThinkPad
Dell: Latitude
HP: Elitebook

I have as my travel laptop an older IBM ThinkPad with an 11-inch screen. It works well, only cost me $150 when I bought it, and the small size is perfect for travel. It's a bit long in the tooth now because the RAM is in fact soldered to the board and can't be upgraded: Windows 11 Pro doesn't really like 8GB of RAM these days. My next travel laptop will need at least 16GB of RAM. My primary laptop is a gaming laptop from about four years ago. It should last me for quite a few more years, especially knowing I can throw more RAM at it...once RAM prices come down in a year or so.

I am also starting to look around for a new 2 in 1 laptop computer.

I currently have a Dell Inspiron 13 5379 2-in-1 bought 01-18.

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8550U CPU @ 1.80GHz (2.00 GHz)

Memory: It came with 8 GB and was expanded to 32 GB.

Display: 13" LED-backlit, 1920 x 1080, 10 point multi-touch touchscreen

Graphics: Intel HD 620

Storage: 932 GB

I updated the operating system from Windows 10 to Windows 11 back in February or March 2025 even though Dell does not support Windows 11 on this device. This computer still works pretty well, but it is getting to be time for something new.

I have looked at Micro Center, Best Buy, Costco and Sam's Clubs near me. All of them sell 2 in 1 laptop computers.

AI says for a new laptop, choose Intel Core Ultra 5/7 or AMD Ryzen 5/7 for general use, balancing power and efficiency; always look for newer generations (e.g., Intel 14th Gen+, AMD Ryzen 7000+ series) for best features like AI/efficiency cores, and check for 'H'/'HX' suffixes for performance-focused models.

While I probably could get by with 16GB of RAM, I will likely go with 32GB+.

I typically connect my Inspiron 5379 to an external Samsung monitor with an HDMI cable. The laptop display essentially serves as a second monitor. I will continue to do that, but I might move up from a 13 inch display to a 14 or 15 inch. The 17 inch displays seem too big for my purpose.

As far as brands go, based on what I am seeing online, I will likely avoid HP. It doesn't necessarily have to be Dell for me. I would consider Lenovo, too.

I also prefer USB-C charging. My Inspiron came with an AC charger that is not USB-C. An online search shows conflicting information, too, whether it can or cannot charge via USB-C.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/best-laptop

Don't worry about not being able to get a new laptop with a built-in DVD drive, because external burner or writable DVD drives for laptops go for only $20, $30 on amazon and work well when needed, and these drives can be small enough (only a little bigger and thicker than a DVD disk) to be portable if you need that too.

You will need to pay attention to which type of USB connection your new external drive will want to use to connect to your new laptop and make sure you have an available port for it. Laptops often have limited USB ports, and there are newer (and faster) kinds of USB cables now like USB-C as seen for newer smartphones and tablets. New laptops may have more USB-C ports than the old USB-A ports you're used to.

The USB cable that makes the connection between laptop and external drive will handle both the power needs of the drive and the transfer of the data.

Besides Strephon's recommendations, if you really want to stay with HP and you're trying to spend no more than about $600, this guy on YouTube (JustJosh) just recommended, at the 0:52 mark of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKshhTHyoZU
the 16" version of the HP OmniBook 5. He strongly prefers this one to other similarly priced and lower-priced laptops made by other companies.

I think that was the only HP he liked a lot, but if you're willing to go higher than $600, his video makes other recommendations in other brands.

Why a laptop and not desktop?

I refuse to own any laptop that doesn't nave a numeric keypad. I have to admit I got a chuckle out of the "requirement" for a CD/DVD writer in a laptop these days.

No offense folks..

But why dont you figure out what you want to do with it rather thsn selecting one HW manufacture over another.

SSD size might be important.. is 128 GB SSD sufficient or do you need 2 TB for your photos / videos?

How about memory? Is 16 GB sufficient or do you have an app that could benefit from having 64 GB or more?

Battery size? Cooling system, backlit keyboards, CPU speed & mfg AMD / INTEL, OS?

All important considerations before chosing a laptop..

Would you buy a small cute sports car knowing you intended to pull a trailer with a boat weighing 4 tons?

Figure out your requirements 1st then figure out what to get

But what would I know?

This is what I recently purchased for my wife. It is an upscale but discontinued Dell laptop with a full numeric keyboard. I think the original price was north of $1000 but the current price is around $620. It came with Windows 11 Pro, non-touch screen, 32 GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. IMO, this would NOT be a machine for gaming or intensive video editing since it has an i3 processor. But it handle everything else, including Photoshop, with ease.

I forget exactly what all was in the accessory kit beyond a new rechargeable mouse, 128 GB memory stick and a USB hub.

Thanks to everyone for all the information you have provided.
Laptop over Desktop not enough room in the office and like the portability.
Most of the questions we started with was from things we have now
We are going to list the things most important to us and then start comparing. Not solid on the price as you pay for what you get and want. I use an external drive for all my excel data now.

As far as an external drive, it is probably time to consider the use of the memory stick or similar as a substitute. You will find these to be noticeably faster in terms or read/write speeds. I use the Sandisk Ultra Fit in a 256GB size and my backup software does an incremental backup every time I shut the computer down. The UltraFit plugs into one of the laptops ports and is about the size of a peanut. See https://shop.sandisk.com/products/usb-flash-drives/sandisk-u...

Since I'm generally working with about 6 to 10 files, the incremental backup adds like 10 to 15 seconds to the shutdown process.

That is a good point. There are websites that will do just that. I would suggest trying several different websites that will help you pick.

Some are likely at the manufacturer website, be it Acer, Dell, Lenovo, etc. Others can be found at retailers like Best Buy, Micro Center and New Egg. There are other places like PC Mag and CNET that can be helpful, too.

On the topic of backups I have 2 flows in place.

For the laptop, there is a network share drive, drive Z. All document type files go there as well as the browser and thunderbird (email) profile folders.

On the desktop, such files reside locally. Once a day a scan program (syncthing) will update the nas with any changed files.

Nightly, the nas replicates both of the above to a remote nas (friend's house out of state). Content on the remote nas is encrypted.

Once a week, the local nas replicates that week's change to another nas in the house. Primary nas wakes up the secondary nas. Once replication complete, secondary nas is shutdown.

Between the 3 nas's, I should be ok if a catastrophic failure occurs or house burns down.

With external ssd's available, that's highly preferred over flash drives, which can fail at any time and are usually unrecoverable.

The primary nas is a vm on the main server with direct access to the drives (sata controllers in passthrough). Nas and server also does other functions such as firewall, dns server, email server, and some others. For main storage are 2 12TB drives in mirror arrangement.

Secondary nas is old hardware (i5 6600) with 4 6TB drives in stripe/mirror arrangement - effectively 12TB of storage.

Remote nas is an old dell sff box with a single 6tb drive. It started out as an experiment to see how well it would work, what kind of remote throughput, etc. Using wireguard as the vpn, both of us on att 1gb fiber, actual speeds are around 850-900 mbps in either direction. When i'm up there again next year I will bring a more robust box with, with multiple drives (mirror).

Nas software on all 3 is truenas community edition https://www.truenas.com/truenas-community-edition/ . It's free, but does require some level of linux knowledge to configure.

It mostly depends on what you will be using the new laptop for. I like Dell myself. I would see if you can find one that includes an HDMI port to connect to your tv. I have had my last 2 or 3 desktops connected to the tv. Also get it with at least a Core I7 cpu and as much ram as you can afford.

…but many of the items you mention are overkill for the typical user. While good to have for a gaming machine, general use of a PC like doing email, photo editing, taxes, using Microsoft apps, etc. do not need a machine maxed out on RAM nor an i7 processor. An i5 is more than ample and 32 GB is the “sweet spot” for RAM in the eyes of most experts. A 1 TB SSD is common and I’ve it to be more than ample.

You might not want to wait too long, however.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/lenovo-and-dell-warn-you...

Duplicate.

If you have them with data io them, then get a USB CD / DVD drive for the purpose of extracting / retrieving the data thats on them..

Recognize the largest DVD media is 8.4 GB and reading / writing is slow as molasses in.. August?

In fact.. if my old memory doesn't trick me.. I do think they've actually quit producing CD / DVD media...

Personally, I'd recommend getting an external drive 2 - 4 TB SSD and using a high speed USB like

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/portable...

Or

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/portable...

And for goodness sake, if someone tries to get you to put your data in the cloud as backup id not say no but "HELL NO"..

If you've got some really sensitive data back up to. An external SSSD like one of the two listed above and store it in a safety deposit box or a really good fire-proof ( 1500 F° - 4000 F° certification ), theft proof safe and swap them every time you back up.

But thats my personal thinking..

The only reason I have an external CD/DVD drive is for ripping music and the occasional movie. In fact I got rid of virtually all my blank media years ago.

I have a ton of blank disks remaining... not sure what to do with them. dual layer verbatim dvdr's.

To the OP, here's your cheap hp laptop

https://slickdeals.net/f/18951490-hp-elitebook-845-g8-refurb...

This is the same one I got at MC nearly 2 years ago for $325 (more with the 32gb of ram). It's adequate for many things and works great with a monitor/keyb.

…what you linked to is 14 inch and the OP wants a 15 inch. I would also use some caution with this unit at 256 GB SSD and to a lesser extent the 16 GB RAM. The OP should look at his current disk capacity and how much is being used. 256 GB could be limiting.

It is also no less than a 4-year old machine and sold as reconditioned. Note as well there are two “reconditioned” definitions and this is the lower of the two categories. This is likely an end of lease situation.

As I was surfing online I ran across this. CNET does a nice job reviewing products. As always, I recommend determining what product will satisfy your requirement first. Then, look for a great price.

Best Laptops of 2025: Top Picks Tested by CNET

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/best-laptop

Sacrifices.

I too didn't care to get an older device but the price was too good to pass up.

At $200 it's an even better deal. The machine is plenty fast for productivity work. Both the ram and ssd are socket and can be upgraded. The power plug is a separate module inside so easily replaceable if damaged.

Two usb 10gbps type C and 2 5gbps type a ports + hdmi port.

1TB m.2's can still be had around $100 if needed.

I am tempted to buy right now.

https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/why-you-might-not-want-t...

Target practice. Skeet shooting... "PULL!"

Or Frisbee Golf... less messy.

I definitely prefer portable external SSDs for backup. As long as a new laptop has a USB-C port to support the SSD you're going to use, they are jaw-dropping fast doing backups compared to anything running on USB-A.

…but it is an i3 processor. It will be more than adequate for general computing, just not measure up to gaming. It comes with an external DVD drive., 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD

https://www.amazon.com/HP-250G-Premium-Business-Laptop/dp/B0...

John From PA, we just ordered two of those last ones you recommended. If they don't work out my wife will be looking for you. "HA HA just kidding" she looked all of the information over and felt they would more than satisfy our needs. Will be here Monday. Thanks for everyone's input.

and a timely decision. See https://www.tomshardware.com/laptops/dell-preps-massive-pric...

What you purchased is essentially what I bought my wife about 6 months ago although in our case the “accessory” package didn't include the DVD drive which I already had.