Revamp Your Home or Mobile Office With a New or Refurbished HP Laptop i5
HP laptops are widely respected for their fast processors and ease of use, lending them well to personal and commercial computer tasks. eBay's market place offers a wide variety of HP laptops in new, used, or refurbished conditions. These questions address key details, features, and benefits to remember when deciding which HP laptop i5 is right for you.
What processing strengths and RAM amounts can you choose between?HP laptop i5 refurbished processor clock speeds range from 1.7 GHz to 3.4 GHz. Bear in mind that this range extends in either direction depending on product availability. Processor clock speeds require RAM, so faster processors and up-to-date operating systems typically come with higher RAM amounts. Consequently, RAM for HP laptop i5 refurbished models running an up-to-date version of Windows ranges from 4GB to 16GB.
What amounts and types of storage capacities do these include?HP laptop i5 refurbished models include either a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD flash). The former records digital data when magnetic heads "write" data onto metal platters. The latter has no moving parts, recording digital data the way your USB flash drive does. HDD is more traditional, but SSD is fast becoming standard. All drive types and capacities can be swapped out or expanded according to your storage requirements. On eBay, you can peruse an array of capacities from 125GB to 1TB (equal to 1,000 gigabytes).
What software/capabilities come with HP laptop i5 refurbished models?All HP laptop i5 refurbished models come with an up-to-date Windows operating system as well as limited trials of well-known Windows software, such as Office, or the free and open-source equivalent, such as OpenOffice or LibreOffice. Capabilities and specs vary according to HP laptop model type. Envy TouchSmart boasts a touchscreen. EliteBook Revolve converts to a tablet. Other specs include:
- Multiple USB ports, docking, Firewire
- CD/DVD drive
- Integrated Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
- Display ports/VGA monitor out
- SD card readers
SATA, or Serial Advanced Technology Attachment, is an interface that transfers data between a storage device and your laptop's main circuit board. It's your means of retrieving data from your internal storage device, such as an HDD or SSD. SATA is fairly common, corresponding to compatible internal, cabled storage. This is crucial info, since if you wish to upgrade, you must upgrade or swap out your existing HDD or SSD with a new model that uses the same interface. Other hard disk and solid-state interfaces you may encounter include:
- Parallel ATA (PATA)
- Serial Attached SCSI (SAS)
- Peripheral Component Interconnect Express (PCIe)