This $299 laptop from HP with 10 cores is actually NOT hot garbage! (Fired Intel CEO not included)

HP 15 laptop with Cyber Monday badge
(Image credit: HP | Future)

If you’re looking for a basic laptop that won’t be some sad sack potato for performance, look no further than the HP Laptop 15t-fd000 for Cyber Monday.

Normally, this laptop costs a modest $820, but HP has a 12-hour “flash sale,” knocking the HP Laptop 15 price to just $299, or 63% off. While supplies last, of course.

HP Laptop 15t-fd000Was: $819.99Now: $299.99 (63% OFF)
Budget but good

HP Laptop 15t-fd000
Was: 
$819.99
Now: $299.99 (63% OFF)

Average customer review: ⭐⭐⭐⭐½

✅Perfect for: Everyday use, creative work, couch surfing, Office, web, watching videos

❌Avoid if: You're looking to do some heavy gaming or need long battery life.

Display: 15.6-inch 1366x768 HD, anti-glare, 250 nits CPU:  Intel Core i5-1334U (up to 4.6 GHz) GPU: Iris Xe RAM: 8GB DDR4-3200. SSD: 256 GB M.2 PCIe NVMe. AI PC: No Copilot+ PC: No Launch date: Late-2023

👉See at: HP.com

🔥The hottest Cyber Monday deals🔥

Is the HP Laptop 15 any good?

You might wonder what you're getting for $299.

The good news is that this laptop does not use an Intel Duo or “budget” processor but a full-fledged Core i5-1335U (up to 4.6 GHz) with 10 cores. Yeah, that’s just a normal Core i5 processor for Ultrabooks—no Centrino here!

You also get 8GB of zippy DDR4-3200 RAM (1x 8GB), so you can always add more later. For storage, you get a 256GB SSD, which is plenty fast (and, like RAM, is user-upgradeable).

Even the 15.6” display is OK at HD (1366x768), anti-glare, and 250 nits of brightness. It is no HDR OLED display, and it’ll struggle outdoors, but if you’re talking in your home office or on the couch, you’ll be just fine.

Ports are also basic but welcomed with 1 Type-C (but only for data, not charging), two Type-A legacy ports, a barrel charger port (with Fast Charge), HDMI 1.4b, and your headphone jack.

What's neat is IF you have a bit more budget you can actually customize this laptop at HP.com and improve RAM (up to 16GB), storage (up to 1TB), CPU (up to a Core i7 P-processor), and even the display (up to Full HD) to something you may prefer.

Finally, at least on HP.com, it has 4.4 out of 5 stars out of 520 reviews, which is pretty solid. The biggest complaint seems to be that the battery life isn't the best (it's on the small side at 41WHr).

Who should get this laptop?

This HP 15 Laptop is great for general family use, as a first or second house computer, couch surfing, students, or anyone who needs to get the basics done, such as Office, email, writing, web browsing, watching YouTube/Netflix, and other productivity tasks.

Due to the 'meh' battery life plan to leave it plugged in most of the time, or when you only need a few hours of usage on-the-go.

Expert reviewer’s opinion

Look, this isn’t a super-premium laptop, but it’s also no throw-away device, either. For $299, you get some solid internal hardware that won’t make this laptop feel like a slouch, as the processor is found in $1,000+ laptops.

As someone who has handled a lot of budget laptops (I’ve been on this site for 18 years now), I can tell you the biggest knock of them was performance. But with a Core i5, an SSD for storage, and fast RAM, when you combine that with a full HD display, you’ll get a laptop that feels like something much more, and that’s what matters for day-to-day use.

When does Cyber Monday end?

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday tend to start earlier each year, the worldwide sales event often ends on a similar note. Cyber Monday, which this year is Dec. 2, 2024, is the final day for many of the most major and aggressive sales and discounts from the deals bonanza. While some promotions may continue after Cyber Monday ends at Midnight on Dec. 2, you really shouldn't wait to take advantage of any deals that have caught your attention.

When does Cyber Monday start?

Cyber Monday began as the online retailer equivalent of Black Friday, but most shopping has gone online over the last few years. This has resulted in Black Friday and Cyber Monday being blended into one massive sales event spread across an entire weekend, with Cyber Monday marking the tumultuous finale. This year, Cyber Monday falls on Dec. 2, 2024, which (as you might expect) is the Monday after Black Friday.

It's best to take advantage of sales you're interested in the moment you spot them to avoid stock shortages and limited-time discounts, but Cyber Monday does frequently boast its own batch of last-minute deals separate from Black Friday.

💽More last-minute Cyber Monday deals💾

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Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.