HP EliteBook HP EliteBook 830 G7 13.3" Full HD Touchscreen Review

Looking for a compact business laptop that won't break the bank? The HP EliteBook 830 G7 is a 13.3-inch touchscreen machine that's built for getting work done on the go. It packs an older Intel Core i7-10610U processor, a generous 32GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, all wrapped in a professional chassis. At around $390, it's squarely in the budget refurbished or used market. So, is this older EliteBook still a good buy for students or business users on a tight budget? Let's break it down.

Performance is a mixed bag, and it really depends on what you're doing. The 32GB of RAM is fantastic—it lands in the 70th percentile, which means you can have dozens of browser tabs and applications open without a hiccup. That's its biggest strength. The CPU, however, is its weak point, sitting in just the 13th percentile. The quad-core Intel i7-10610U is fine for office apps, web browsing, and video calls, but it will feel slow for anything demanding like video editing or heavy data processing. And don't even think about gaming; the integrated Intel UHD Graphics scores a 6.9/100 for that. For basic productivity, it's perfectly adequate, but it's not a speed demon.

At $390, the value proposition is all about that 32GB of RAM. You simply won't find a new laptop with that much memory anywhere near this price. The trade-off is that you're getting older, slower components everywhere else. If your main need is to run lots of programs at once without slowdowns—think a student with research tabs, a word processor, and communication apps—this could be a clever budget pick. But if you need faster overall performance, a better screen, or more storage, you'll need to spend more.

This EliteBook exists in a different world than the competitors listed, like the MacBook Pro M4 or gaming laptops from MSI and Gigabyte. Those are modern powerhouses costing over ten times as much. A more realistic comparison is with other budget options. Compared to a new $500-$600 laptop with a modern Intel Core i3 or Ryzen 3, those will have a much faster CPU and a better screen, but they'll likely only have 8GB of RAM. So, it's a choice: do you want more speed and a better experience today (go with a new budget model), or do you need maximum multitasking headroom above all else (this EliteBook)? Another good alternative to check is the ASUS Zenbook Duo if you find a deal, as it offers a more modern chip and that unique dual-screen design for productivity.

Should you buy the HP EliteBook 830 G7? Only in a very specific scenario. If you are on an extremely tight budget and your workflow absolutely requires tons of RAM for multitasking, this laptop makes a strange kind of sense. For most people, though, the slow CPU and poor screen are big drawbacks. You'll feel the age in daily use. I'd recommend most students or business users save up a bit more for a newer laptop with a better processor, even if it means starting with only 8GB or 16GB of RAM. You can always add more RAM later on many models, but you can't upgrade that old CPU.