Computer Guys: Is this a good laptop deal?

I need to get a new laptop for the wife and kid. Wife will use it for light duty word processing and internet. She uses Windows at work, so switching to a Mac is not the best choice for her at this point. Kid is in second grade and will use it for homework, which often includes educational gaming which, at this point, have fairly crude graphics.

I suspect that this is more capable than they need, but I want it to have room to grow with the second grader. Big time gaming and watching movies are not concerns of mine.

Thank you.

$599

http://www.bjs.com/hp-pavilion-15-ab257-nr-laptop-intel-core-i5-5200u-processor.product.286008?dimId=2000631

The HP Pavilion 15-ab257-nr laptop features an eye-catching design that is sleekly stylish inside and out, with a gradient design around the keyboard. It boast a powerful Intel Core i5 processor for impressive speed and 12GB of memory to make your daily multitasking actions seamless. The massive 1TB hard drive makes it easy to store tons of files for both work productivity and entertainment. What's more, audio by B&O Play enables you to immerse yourself in amazing quality sound.

Product Features:

Includes Windows 10 Home operating system

Powered by 2.2GHz 5th generation Intel Core i5-5200U processor with 3M cache

Turbo boost technology speeds up processor to 2.7GHz when you need more speed

15.6" diagonal HD WLED-backlit touchscreen display at 1366 x 768 resolution

1TB 5,400rpm hard drive

12GB DDR3L SDRAM memory

SuperMulti DVD burner

802.11b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth wireless connectivity

10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN Ethernet connectivity

2 USB 3.0 ports and 1 USB 2.0 port

Intel HD graphics 5500

Multi-format digital media card reader

B&O Play audio with dual speakers

HP Imagepad pointing device with multi-touch gesture support

HP TrueVision HD webcam

Silver finish with horizontal brushing

Software: Wild Tangent Games for HP (10 free sessions each of Delicious Emily's Wonder Wedding Premium Edition and Runefall), HP Support Assistant, HP Recovery Manager, HP ePrint, TripAdvisor, Netflix (paid subscription required), CyberLink PhotoDirector , CyberLink PowerDirector, CyberLink Power Media Player, CyberLink YouCam, Snapfish, Dropbox (25GB free online storage for 6-months), Evernote Premium (3 months), Meet the new Office, McAfee LiveSafe (30-day trial), HP 3D DriveGuard 6, HP CoolSense

ENERGY STAR certified and EPEAT Silver registered for environmental friendliness

Kensington MicroSaver lock slot

Full-size island-style keyboard with numeric keypad

2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, 1 HDMI port, RJ-45 (LAN) port, headphone-out/microphone-in combo jack

4-cell 41WHr 2.8Ah lithium-ion battery powers up to 7 hours and 45 minutes of run time

Includes laptop, battery, AC adapter

Warranty: 1 year limited on hardware

Not a great deal...I'm not even sure if it's an OK deal. I remember someone was looking for a new laptop for under $300, there are some good deals in that thread on laptops that are plenty good enough for what you need. They were in the same ballpark as this laptop's specs minus the RAM (for that money you'll get 4-6GB, which again is good enough for "pedestrian" work and light gaming) I'll see if I can find that thread.

Found it:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/considering-getting-swmbo-a-new-computer-for-christmas-budget-300/108199/page1/

GameboyRMH wrote: Not a great deal...I'm not even sure if it's an OK deal. I remember someone was looking for a new laptop for under $300, there are some good deals in that thread on laptops that are plenty good enough for what you need. They were in the same ballpark as this laptop's specs minus the RAM (for that money you'll get 4-6GB, which again is good enough for "pedestrian" work and light gaming) I'll see if I can find that thread.

What he said. Its got the specs to be kinda fast, but theres better in that range for the $$$, and tbh, i dont trust hp as far ss i can throw them.

Bottom line: it should be more than adequate for what you're suggesting.

Further thoughts: I'd rather at least a 1920x1080 display on that size screen and a smaller SSD than a 1TB HDD. I'd rather go down to 8GB of RAM and a slower CPU for a higher-res display and SSD. You can go to an SSD later if you want, but you're not going to be able to upgrade the screen. The screen is moot if you're going to connect an external monitor all the time, however.

GameboyRMH wrote: Found it: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/considering-getting-swmbo-a-new-computer-for-christmas-budget-300/108199/page1/

Thanks. I'm surprised that I missed that.

I'm not a big fan of cheap laptops, but I also agree that this doesn't seem to be that great a deal. My main concern would be the resolution of the monitor, but I'd trade resolution for display quality. In fact that's what I ended up doing when buying a new laptop for my wife last Christmas.

As to "will this do what you need it for", yes, with a lot of power to spare.

My brain is just not wired for this stuff and I just can't make that happen. Computers are one if the few areas where I'm at the mercy of salespeople.

Maybe an All-in-One Desktop is what they need.

spend some time at http://thewirecutter.com/