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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https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-1...Id=6461985
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But other than that, no real worry about specific brand and I wouldn't worry about timings (i.e. specs for "latency" or "CAS latency" or "CL").
You might see "non-ECC" specified. Don't let that deter you, that's what you want.
Don't worry about "Single Rank" vs "Dual Rank," (specs like 2Rx8 or 1Rx16) just get whatever's cheapest.
Here's one for $45 LINK [amazon.com]. Cheapest I found after a quick search.
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.
Thx.
This is so much better than the Wal-Mart one.
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).
Looks like the included SSD is m.2 SATA. Presumably an m.2 NVME SSD would work, does anybody know what length the included drive is? (Hopefully it can take the most-common 2280 size.)
More importantly, is there a space for a 2.5" SATA drive?
A reviewer on Target indicates they upgraded to 2x 8GB sticks of RAM so the 4GB included RAM must not be soldered. That is good. Like this reviewer said, this system should max out at 64GB of RAM with 2x 32GB sticks. (HP likely claims to only "officially" support something like 16GB, this is common practice, but technically inaccurate.)
The system comes with Windows in "S mode" which is a grandparents-friendly super safe mode where only apps from the Windows store are allowed. It is easy to take the system out of "S mode" into normal mode.
As far as upgrading the RAM by installing a single stick to add to the included 4GB stick, a brief search revealed the following current prices, some shopping might give a bit better deal....
4GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM - $19 [amazon.com]
8GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM - $27 [amazon.com]
16GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM - $45 [amazon.com]
32GB DDR4-3200 SO-DIMM - $105 [amazon.com]
One can absolutely mix-and-match sticks of different sizes. E.G. installing a 16GB stick along with the included 4GB stick will work fine and provide 20GB of RAM (note Windows will report less system RAM because a chunk is required to be allocated to the on-chip graphics processor.)
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$48 16gb ram upgrade kit
$340 total so far.
Looking for a 1tb ssd
Western Digital 1TB WD Blue 3D NAND Internal PC SSD - SATA III 6 Gb/s, M.2 2280, Up to 560 MB/s - WDS100T2B0B https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073SB2MXT/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_glt_fabc_7SZ2FVVR80T61FPP7AF0?psc=1
$89.99
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