HP ProDesk 600 G4 Black/Silver 2018

A dirt-cheap, tiny office PC that's perfect for web browsing and spreadsheets. The CPU and graphics are old news, but the price is right if you find a good refurb deal. Skip it if you need to do anything more demanding than streaming video.

That 8th-gen i5-8500T is no speed demon by today's standards, landing in the 15th percentile for CPU muscle in our database. It's perfectly fine for Office 365, a dozen browser tabs, and Zoom calls, but don't expect to edit video or run heavy spreadsheets without some waiting. The integrated Intel HD 630 graphics are a real weak spot, sitting in the bottom half of our rankings, so forget about anything beyond Solitaire. The 8GB of RAM in the base config is tight for Windows 11 and sits near the bottom of our charts, but some listings bump that to 32GB, which makes multitasking much smoother.

Stacked against a modern Apple Mac mini M4, the HP gets absolutely smoked in raw performance and efficiency, but it also costs a fraction of the price. A Dell Optiplex 7070 is its true rival, offering a similar refurbished business experience with a bit more consistency in build quality. If you want new and tiny, the ASUS NUC 14 Pro is in a different league for speed but will cost you significantly more. The HP's only real trick is being the cheapest way to get a legitimate Windows 11 Pro license on a functional desktop.

Value is the whole story here, and it's a weird one. Prices we've seen range from a totally reasonable $300 all the way up to a laughable $8799, so you absolutely have to shop around. At the low end, this is a steal for a basic office terminal or a homework machine. The best deals we spotted were on Amazon, where you can often find the 32GB/1TB config for a few hundred bucks. Just don't overpay, because a modern mini PC with a much faster chip isn't much more.

The HP ProDesk 600 G4 is a refurbished office workhorse that gets the basics right for a very low entry price. You're getting a capable 6-core i5, a fresh Windows 11 Pro install, and a tiny footprint that disappears on a desk. Just know that the exact specs you receive can vary wildly depending on which refurbisher you buy from, so read the fine print on RAM and storage.

If you need reliable dual-monitor support out of the box or want to do any photo editing, look elsewhere. The port selection is below average and the GPU will frustrate you. Gamers and content creators should save up for something with a dedicated graphics card.

This is a sensible buy for someone who needs a cheap, no-frills PC for a reception desk, a point-of-sale system, or a kid's first computer for web-based homework. It's quiet, small, and handles office tasks without complaint. Just don't buy it expecting to do any gaming or creative work, and definitely don't pay more than $400 for it.