HP EliteBook 14" 840 G5, Core i5-8350U, 16GB, 256GB SSD, Silver

The HP EliteBook 840 G5 is a refurbished 14-inch business laptop that delivers 16GB of RAM, a 1080p IPS screen, and a great keyboard for under USD 220. It's perfect for basic productivity and web work, but the old CPU and weak integrated graphics mean it's not for gaming or heavy multitasking. If you need a cheap, durable Windows laptop and don't mind refurb roulette, this is one of the better options in its price range.

The Core i5-8350U is a 4-core, 8-thread chip from 2017, and in our database it lands near the bottom of the pack compared to modern CPUs. That sounds harsh, but in practice it still handles everyday tasks fine. Web browsing with a dozen tabs, Word docs, spreadsheets, video calls, all doable. The 16GB of RAM helps a lot here, since it gives Windows 11 Pro room to breathe without constantly hitting the SSD.

The 256GB SSD is quick enough for boot times and app launches, but it's small by today's standards. You'll fill it up fast if you keep a lot of photos, videos, or games around. The Intel UHD Graphics 620 is integrated and about as weak as you'd expect. It can push the 1080p display for desktop work and video streaming, but gaming performance is a 12.2 out of 100 in our scoring. That's not a typo. This thing is not built for games, and even older titles will struggle at anything beyond low settings.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is the natural rival here, and it's a better laptop in most ways. Better screen, lighter build, and usually a newer CPU. But it also costs more, sometimes a lot more. The Dell Latitude 7400 is another business-class alternative with a similar story. You'll get a slightly more modern design and better battery life, but you'll pay for it.

The ASUS Vivobook X1407QA is a different animal entirely. It's a newer consumer laptop with a more recent processor, but the build quality and keyboard won't match the EliteBook. If you care about raw performance per dollar, the Vivobook wins. If you care about typing feel and chassis durability, the EliteBook holds its own. The MacBook Pro and Galaxy Book4 Edge are in a completely different price class, so they're not really fair comparisons, but they show up in searches a lot. If you're cross-shopping those, you're not actually in the market for a USD 200 refurb.

At USD 165 to USD 218 in the US, the EliteBook 840 G5 is one of the cheapest ways to get 16GB of RAM and a 1080p screen in a laptop that doesn't feel like it'll fall apart. The USD 53 spread between listings is worth paying attention to. Newegg tends to have the best deal when we checked, but prices shift around. In Canada, the CAD 315 to CAD 705 range is much wider, and you'll want to avoid the high end of that. At CAD 705, you're way too close to newer refurbished ThinkPads and even some new budget laptops. At CAD 315, it's a much more reasonable buy.

The HP EliteBook 840 G5 is a refurbished business laptop that keeps popping up in the budget Windows laptop market, usually somewhere between USD 165 and USD 218 in the US. It's a 14-inch machine with a 1080p IPS display, an 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8350U, 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. For the money, that's a surprisingly workable spec sheet if you just need something for email, documents, and web browsing.

We see a lot of these older EliteBooks come through our database, and the 840 G5 is one of the more common picks for people hunting a cheap refurbished laptop that doesn't feel like a toy. The build quality is a step above consumer plastic laptops from the same era, and the keyboard is genuinely pleasant to type on. But it's also a six-plus year old design at this point, and that shows up in a few places.

Is the HP EliteBook 840 G5 good for everyday productivity? Mostly yes, as long as your expectations match the price. It's not a gaming laptop, it's not a content creation machine, and the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 will remind you of that quickly. But for office work, school, or a secondary travel machine, it holds up better than most things in this price bracket.

Skip the EliteBook 840 G5 if you need any kind of gaming or graphics work, since the integrated Intel UHD 620 is one of the weakest GPUs in our database. Also skip it if you need long battery life, since refurb units often have degraded batteries and there's no way to know what you'll get. If you need more storage, the 256GB SSD will feel cramped fast. For those use cases, look at a newer refurbished ThinkPad, a Dell Latitude 7400, or a budget new laptop like the ASUS Vivobook instead.

Should you buy the HP EliteBook 840 G5? If you need a cheap, reliable-feeling laptop for basic work and you're okay with refurbished hardware, yes. The 16GB of RAM and 1080p IPS screen are the two things that make this worth considering over other sub-USD 250 laptops. The keyboard is genuinely good, and the port selection is better than most modern thin-and-lights.

But if you need any kind of graphics performance, long battery life, or a big storage drive, this isn't it. The CPU is old, the SSD is small, and refurb battery health is a coin flip. For the right person, it's a steal. For everyone else, it's a compromise.