HP 17 2026, Core i3, 8GB, 256GB SSD, Silver

The HP 17 has a shockingly good CPU for the price, but the 8GB of RAM, small SSD, and low-res screen hold it back. It's a solid big-screen budget laptop for basic work. Worth it if you find it on sale, less so at full price.

That i3-N305 is genuinely impressive for the price. Eight cores and a 4.5GHz boost clock mean it handles everyday multitasking better than most budget laptops we've tested. But the 8GB of RAM is a bottleneck, and the integrated Intel UHD Graphics land in the 14th percentile, so don't expect anything beyond casual browser games. The 256GB SSD is also on the small side, sitting in the 25th percentile. It's fast enough for booting Windows, but you'll be leaning on cloud storage or an external drive before long.

Stacked against the MacBook Pro M5 or Surface Laptop 7th Edition, the HP 17 gets absolutely smoked on build quality, screen, and battery life. But those machines cost two to three times as much. The ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 is a better choice if you need durability and a better keyboard, though it's pricier. The ASUS ROG Strix G16 is in a completely different league for gaming, but it's also a lot more expensive and heavier. The HP 17 is really competing with other budget 17-inch laptops, and in that niche, the CPU gives it a genuine edge.

At $700 USD, this is a tough sell when you look at what else is out there. The CPU is great, but the RAM, storage, and screen all feel like compromises. If you can find it on sale, it makes more sense. For the list price, you're paying for the big screen and the surprisingly strong processor, not much else.

The HP 17 is a big, basic laptop that knows exactly what it is. You get a 17.3-inch screen, a surprisingly capable 8-core i3, and Windows 11 in a package that won't win any design awards but will sit on a desk and do the job. The CPU is the star here, landing in the 97th percentile for this category, which is wild for a budget machine.

But the rest of the spec sheet tells a different story. 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and integrated graphics put this firmly in the 'good enough for email and spreadsheets' camp. The screen resolution is 1600 x 900, which on a 17-inch panel looks a bit soft by modern standards.

If you need to run demanding software, edit video, or play modern games, look elsewhere. The integrated graphics and 8GB of RAM will frustrate you quickly. And if you care about portability, this thing is a 17-inch slab that ranks in the 5th percentile for compactness, so it's a desk machine, not a travel buddy.

This is a laptop for someone who wants a big screen for basic tasks and doesn't want to spend a fortune. Students, office workers, and anyone who mostly lives in a browser will be fine. Just don't expect it to do anything demanding beyond that.