This is an absolutely fantastic laptop for the price, assuming the refurbished models are in good shape. As configured, on HP’s website this would cost $3447… which is of course horribly overpriced - but for the Woot price, this is a no-brainer.
This model won Editor’s Choice at PCMag in mid 2023 - and although it is a 2023 model, it is still very much up to date, with a 13th gen Intel processor being the only thing which could potentially be improved upon by this year’s hardware.
It’s very common for laptops to have a “weak point” when it comes to their hardware - either not enough RAM, a poor webcam, etc. For a productivity laptop though, this one looks hard to beat at this price.
I’ll also say that overall I’ve had fantastic luck with higher-end HP laptops over the years. My daily driver is an Omen (which I actually use for video editing instead of gaming), I have an Elitebook 830 G6 that has also been rock solid and was easy to upgrade the RAM and SSD, and serviced a large number of various four-digit Elitebook models for years.
Their lower-end laptops tend to be craptacular, but their upper-tier models seem to last for years and are upgradeable.
Question for an uneducated mom of a tech nerd. Is this a good laptop for gaming? Like Steam games?
You’ll want to peruse the gaming laptop section here on WOOT! Which one is right for your tech nerd? Unfortunately that’s something I can’t help you with. It’s kinda like offing financial advice. What I’d do for me could be completely the opposite of what someone else is expecting in their investment.
WOOT! Gaming Laptops
What games can I play with Intel Iris Xe graphics?
It really depends on what games your tech nerd is into. The latest games will want a dedicated GPU (Graphics Card) to run well, which this laptop does not have. It has an integrated graphics card, which is inherently less powerful, but also much, much less power hungry. Having said that, the integrated graphics card that it DOES have is the cream of the crop. I guess you could liken it to an arm wrestling competition between 6th graders - this HP laptop is by far the biggest 6th grader at the school. Pit them against even an average sized high school student (dedicated gaming laptop) though, and there’d really be no competition.
With a gaming laptop, it’s almost a requirement to keep it plugged in, since they often only have a battery life of a couple hours even when doing non-gaming tasks - and likely less than 1 hour if actively gaming! With this HP however, you could expect a 10+ hour battery life while watching videos or using productivity software - much less would be expected while gaming, but likely still a few hours.
Power considerations aside, theres also the matter of size, and heat generation. Gaming laptops are bulky and heavy, simply because dedicated Graphics Cards are themselves quite bulky, and generate a ton of heat. To offset the heat generation, they then require even more room, to ensure adequate cooling via more robust fans.
Finally, screen size is also an important factor. Many gamers will want a larger screen - something in the 16-17" range on a laptop. Slim and sleek laptops like this HP, with its 13.5" screen wouldn’t be ideal for games. Having said that… if you are connecting your laptop to a larger screen - say, a standalone monitor, or a 4k TV, then the laptop’s screen size is a moot point, and shouldn’t factor into your decision.
All in all, this HP laptop will more than hold its own, and be plenty for years to come in 90% of scenarios. It’s only the newest games that it would struggle to run at a playable framerate, unless you really lower the graphics settings in the games to the bate minimum. Games that were released 3 or 4 years ago though? No problem for this thing.
Hope that helps!