17 Business Laptop, 17.3” HD+ Display, 11th Gen Intel Core i3-1125G4 Processor, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Wi-Fi, HDMI, Webcam, Windows 11 Pro, Silver

SOME WORDS TO THE WISE. Overall, I'm satisfied with these HP17x laptops. BUT!!! There are a couple things to be WELL AWARE of, before buying. First, and FOREMOST. A word of caution! As most everyone knows, Microsoft has, for quite some time, been transitioning truly from a software company into a retail sales company. That fact is abundantly clear! Now, be well aware of what Microsoft has done in its latest versions of WIN11-HOME. Many (perhaps most???, perhaps all???) Windows11-HOME based computers are delivered with the OS in "S-Mode." We run HP desktop and laptop computers exclusively, so I can speak only to my several more recent HP purchases. However, I no longer subscribe to WIN11-HOME. All of my recent purchases have been ordered with the WIN11-PRO OS. My advice to those considering buying any computer preloaded with WIN11-HOME: "stay well away." "S-Mode", does not allow the user to load any 3rd-party software. All software must be obtained (think $$$$$) from the MS Store. While MS claims that the procedure required to exit "S-Mode" is quite simple, in fact, we've found that it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE!!! And, it will require the involvement of MS 'off-shore' tech assistance, which is not necessarily easily obtained. One such call that I received, after HOURS of waiting, arrived at 2AM. If buying an HP17x laptop, order with WIN11-PRO. PRO versions are not restricted by "S-Mode" software. Now, to the computer. Typical of HP products, this laptop is well built, with an excellent display. Ports are somewhat limited, but, for me, that is not a deal-breaker. I like having the 32GB of RAM, and at least 1TB of storage. I expect these laptops to be more than adequate into the foreseeable future. My one complaint with these, and it is critical, is that the integral cooling system is WHOLLY inadequate. When used for long periods of time, especially on mains power, which we do, these computers will run HOT!!! My take on that is, putting an engineer and an accountant together, on any design project, inevitably results in trouble. In an effort to make this laptop as slim and as light-weight as possible, the internal cooling apparatus has suffered for it. In these, the CPU does generate a lot of heat. The air duct is quite small and narrow, and the internal fan is a joke, except that it's not. So!!! Buy a serious laptop cooler, to go along with your laptop purchase. And, I don't mean one of those multi-fan, USB powered units, that generate heat to remove heat. High quality, AC/DC-adapter powered gaming type coolers are available from Amazon. You'll be happy you made the purchase. At first, battery life is quite short, but we've seen that over time (repeated charge/discharge cycles) battery life does improve some. In our case, having to use mains powered coolers, we simply use mains power for our laptops, and we don't rely much on battery power. Of course, bear in mind that having to have access to AC power does diminish the practicability of using a laptop computer, in the first place. The HP17x series are big computers with a healthy display. One minor complaint is the lack of a backlit keyboard. But, for the money (around $500), these were still a good buy.

I never leave reviews, especially poor reviews, but NEED to share our story in case it helps you avoid what we just experienced.DO NOT buy this laptop. The price is *amazing* for its specs, and it is indeed too good to be true. Do not repeat my mistake.It is true this laptop is on the cheaper side - that was half the draw. While $500 is not much in the grand scheme of computers, it is still a lot of money. And, for that amount, it is fair to expect the machine to work properly right out of the box.I purchased this laptop (new) as a gift for my partner, to replace their old ASUS >10 years old. It was not intended for any intensive purpose. Truly, an Internet machine.We just returned it. My partner is upset, my gift to them ruined. I am despondent.Today is Tuesday. The laptop first arrived last Monday, and I completed initial Windows setup so it would be ready to go upon presentation of the gift later in the week. No issues during Windows setup that I could discern, so I replaced the packaging and wrapped it up pretty. Yay!This is where the joy stops.Within 24 hours of my partner receiving and starting to use the laptop (Thursday), it began to blue screen. Over, and over, and over. Even if nothing was running on the laptop.Countless hours my partner spent between Friday and Monday trying to fix the issue. Interestingly, System File Checker found corruptions on this brand new machine. Odd. Anyway, factory resets and Windows 11 re-installs did not stop the BSOD's, which all but confirms a hardware problem. The dump files (countless .dmp files) suggest power/circuitry malfunction. We did everything we could to fix this problem, short of opening up the laptop itself. Additionally, when the laptop was not BSOD-ing into oblivion, it would freeze entirely. WHY? It is new.Perhaps the CPU (Intel) was faulty. I heard about problems with recent generations, so I went with this laptop that had an earlier (12th gen) CPU. Perhaps the 32GB RAM, which led me to buy this laptop, is cheaply made and caused the problem. Perhaps some other internal defect exists that we could not identify as we did not open up the machine. We'll never know why this was happening, unfortunately, because... The other half of this quandary is that HP restricts access to advanced BIOS settings so you cannot troubleshoot or fix issues. There is no way around it. Perhaps this is to keep an unsophisticated grandma from bricking her laptop. Perhaps this creates artificial necessity for HP's customer service, for which they charge more money. It is deplorable, regardless of the reason.Beyond the defective product, equally concerning is the return policy which states that a percentage (up to 50% of purchase price!) is withheld from the refund if seller and/or manufacturer decide the problem for which you returned the machine doesn't exist, and/or they dislike having to replace the original packaging. Insult to injury: if the laptop doesn't work, YOU MIGHT NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK after you return it. My purchase was fulfilled through PCOnline US. I reserve comments until I see whether they choose to wrongly deprive me of a full refund. Even so, the policy should be called out as arbitrary, inconspicuous, and unfair to the consumer. When you buy a good, you are entitled to perfect tender. When you do not receive what you paid for, you are entitled to a refund.IN SHORT: A new laptop with these specs should not run this poorly. Period.