HP 255 G10 255 G10 15.6" Full HD Black

The HP 255 G10 packs a punchy 8-core Ryzen 7 and 16GB of RAM into a light 3.3-pound body. The display is dim and the battery is small, so it's best used plugged in at a desk. It's a solid budget workhorse if you can find it for under $600, but skip it if you need all-day battery life or a vibrant screen.

The Ryzen 7 7730U is a genuine workhorse for productivity. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it chews through browser tabs, Office apps, and light photo editing without breaking a sweat. The integrated Radeon graphics sit in the 70th percentile, which is fine for streaming and casual use but don't even think about gaming beyond Solitaire. The 16GB of DDR4 RAM is enough for most multitasking, though it's worth noting it's a bit behind the curve compared to newer DDR5 systems. The 512GB SSD is snappy for booting and loading files, but it's a middle-of-the-pack performer in our database.

Stacked against the competition, the HP 255 G10 is a budget brawler in a ring full of heavyweights. The Apple MacBook Pro M5 and Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro absolutely demolish it in display quality, battery life, and build, but they also cost several times more. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is in a different universe for gaming and GPU power. Where the HP makes sense is against other budget business laptops. It holds its own on CPU performance, but the ASUS Zenbook Duo offers a more innovative dual-screen setup and the MSI Prestige is typically lighter with a better panel. You're trading screen and battery for raw CPU cores here.

Pricing on this model is all over the map, with a spread from $575 to an absurd $138,927 across vendors. At the low end around $575, it's a decent deal for a Ryzen 7 laptop with 16GB of RAM, especially if you can snag a cheap Windows license. But if you're seeing it listed anywhere near the higher end, run. You're getting ripped off. For the best deal, stick to the lower-priced listings on Amazon where it's actually competitive.

The HP 255 G10 is a straightforward business laptop that focuses on getting the basics right without flashy extras. You get a capable 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 chip, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD in a lightweight 3.3-pound chassis. It ships with FreeDOS, which is a bit of a head-scratcher for a machine clearly aimed at office work, but the specs are solid for spreadsheets, video calls, and multitasking.

That said, the display and battery are where HP cut corners to hit this price. The 15.6-inch screen is a dim 250 nits and covers a washed-out 45% NTSC color gamut, so don't expect vibrant visuals. And the 41Wh battery is small for a laptop this size. It'll get you through a meeting, but you'll want to keep the charger nearby.

If you need a laptop that lasts a full workday away from an outlet, look elsewhere. The small 41Wh battery combined with a power-hungry 15.6-inch screen means you'll be hunting for a charger by lunchtime. Creative pros who need accurate color should also steer clear, as the display just doesn't cut it for photo or video work.

This laptop is for the no-nonsense office worker or student who needs a big screen and plenty of RAM for multitasking on a tight budget. It's not flashy, the screen won't wow you, and you'll need to sort out the operating system yourself. But if you find it priced right and you value CPU performance over a premium display, it'll get the job done.