Fingerprint reader: Yes
Upgrading RAM: There are two slots: One occupied with a 4GB stick and one free.
Upgrading WiFi: The slot is compatible with both M.2 PCI-E and M.2 CNVi. For WiFi 6, you can use either an Intel AX200 (PCI-E) or Intel AX201 (CNVi). CNVi is Intel's proprietary interface to couple an Intel WiFi card with an Intel CPU and is generally less expensive and preferred.
Upgrading SSD: The slot is compatible with both SATA and NVMe; it is a M.2 2280 slot. There are no additional M.2 slots and no support for 2.5" drives.
Clean-installing Windows: You need to load Intel storage drivers during a clean Windows install
|
Quote
from code65536
First, download Intel's "F6 floppy" driver (f6flpy-x64-vmd.zip) from the following link (back in the 90's and early 2000's, the Windows installer would ask you to press F6 if you needed to load storage drivers before proceeding, and you'd pop in a floppy drive containing the storage drivers and press F6... things work a bit differently these days, obviously, but Intel continues to use that name to label the drivers that you're supposed to use during an OS install):
:
https://www.intel.com/content/www...forms.htm Next, make a folder on the USB flash drive that you're using to install Windows. Doesn't matter where you put it or what you name it. And unzip the contents into that folder. During the Windows install, when you come to the screen where you are supposed to select which drive to install to, you'll see an empty list, since Windows is not able to recognize the drive without the storage driver loaded. Below that list, there should be an option called "load drivers" (or something like that, don't remember the exact wording). Click that, and select the folder that you had created earlier, and follow the prompts. |
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c06983517
WARRANTY NOTE:
For anyone still watching this thread (@jackharvest adding to Wiki here) please note:
The HP support agent showed "May 2022" as the expiration for the warranty on the two machines I purchased. Noticed it while setting them up prior to Christmas time.
FIX: I got on chat support, and after sending them my invoice from Target, they modified it to be accurate per my purchase date and not the date that Target likely stocked them or unloaded them. This doesn't happen that often, but I guess these were cheap enough, its possible something got screwed up, and the warranty kicked off the timer early by mistake.
MAX RAM Likely 64GB
Here's a screenshot of it running 32GB + 4GB sticks:
Top Comments
This is so much better than the Wal-Mart one.
Display: IPS panel by LG, with vastly better viewing angles and colors than the Chi-Mei TN panel on the Wal-Mart version
CPU: 4-core Tiger Lake i3 vs. the 2-core in the Wal-Mart version
WiFi: The spec page indicates a 1x1 card, but the actual card contained within is a 2x2 card; the Wal-Mart version only had a 1x1 card
Price: $10 cheaper than the Wal-Mart version
And just like the Wal-Mart version, it has two RAM slots, with one populated (DDR4-3200) and one free.
The one and only downside is that the SSD is half the size and is SATA. But if you're going to be opening the computer anyway to throw an extra stick of RAM in, it's not hard to also replace the SSD and upgrade it to something like 500GB. The other upgrade that I'm making, since I'm opening the system up anyway, is replacing the WiFi with an Intel AX201 (can find them for around $10 used on eBay) so that I get WiFi 6.
I've been looking for a laptop in the sub-$300 price bracket to replace the aging dinosaur that my parents are using, and this is by far the best I've seen yet (though it does involve a few simple upgrades to make it great).
If I had to settle for a budget laptop, I'd rather have a faster CPU and an IPS screen. Especially if RAM and SSD can later be upgraded (which I haven't verified).
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"worst purchase I have made. I had really high hopes. Laptop comes with windows 10 S Mode witch limits you unless you switch out. I switched Out and then my computer had an upgrade and the laptop went back to S mode and now won't let me out. I have had it less than 24 hours."
"On your PC running Windows 10 in S mode, open Settings > Update & Security > Activation.
In the Switch to Windows 10 Home or Switch to Windows 10 Pro section, select Go to the Store. (If you also see an "Upgrade your edition of Windows" section, be careful not to click the "Go to the Store" link that appears there.)
On the Switch out of S mode (or similar) page that appears in the Microsoft Store, select the Get button. After you see a confirmation message on the page, you'll be able to install apps from outside of the Microsoft Store."
Above is from "https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/switching-out-of-s-mode-in-windows" followed by a long code.
After switching out of S mode to Windows 10 home, is there any way it can then switch back itself after an update and then be stuck in S mode permanently? I am concerned because of the review stating "the laptop went back to S mode and now won't let me out." In addition, a search returned: "Stuck in S Mode - no option to change it - 'get' button is greyed out. HELP PLEASE...!."
Any help would from anyone familiar would be appreciated.
This is a great deal for a budget laptop. Another 4gb stick of ram is $19.99 on Amazon. Great little laptop to have around the house.
Edit: Link for ram (since ppl are asking) - Samsung 4GB DDR4 3200MHz PC4-25600 1.2V 1R x 16 SODIMM Laptop RAM Memory Module M471A5244CB0 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091DT3...8BDFX
Things are getting tougher all the time here on SD!
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For example, Intel's AX200 card originally launched with BT 5.0. But the Intel spec page has slowly revised it, and now it says BT 5.2. And if you load the latest driver, you'll get BT 5.2, even though the actual hardware was never updated.
Realtek does the same thing. This card was originally designed as BT 4.2 and the "friendly name" shown the Device Manager even still says BT 4.2. But if you examine the card's details in device manager, you'll see that its HCI and LMP versions are 9.x, which is BT 5.0.
In any case, the laptop does support CNVi, so I went ahead and replaced it with an AX201 anyway because Intel is better and I wanted WiFi 6. But the reality is that the BT version of the stock Realtek card is actually 5.0, despite what the spec sheet says.
The i3 CPU in this laptop is almost twice as fast as the i7-8565U in my Dell XPS 13. I can assure you I'm doing much more than youtube and browsing on my XPS.
Q: Hi there, can the RAM on this HP laptop (15-ef1041nr) be upgraded to a higher amount, such as 8GB or 16GB?
submitted by oliviajo6 — 7 months ago
A: Hello! Thank you for your question. You are able to upgrade the ram for this model to a maximum of 16GB. It is currently using 4 GB DDR4-2400 SDRAM.
submitted byHP Team — 7 months ago
Brand expert
Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank code65536
HP specs sheet https://support.hp.com/us-en/prod.../c07224657
says has DDR4 2666 RAM and SATA3 SSD, 250 nits 45% NTSC screen
Realtek RTL8821CE-M 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (1x1) Wi-Fi® and Bluetooth® 4.2 combo
The RAM is actually 3200. The same thing happened with the Wal-Mart version of this laptop: spec sheet said 2666, the actual stick was 3200. This is not surprising, since I don't think 2666 sticks are even being made these days.
The WiFi card, though, is surprising. But I have this laptop, which I've already opened up and dissected and upgraded. And the card is definitely a 8822, not 8821, and it's a 2x2 card with 2 antenna lines connected (the Wal-Mart version is a 8821 with just a single antenna line).
In any case, spec sheets don't always match the actual hardware. And in the case of the laptop that I have in my possession, the RAM and WiFi cards are both in reality better speced than what is listed on the sheet.
It is a very good deal for what you get.
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