Review on HP EliteBook Display I5 6300U Windows by Corey Katchem

See update at the end. Buying a refurbished PC (desktop or laptop) can be risky. You never know if you might end up finding a hidden gem or an incompetently restored piece of junk. I bought about a dozen of these and quickly returned just over half. This laptop is by far the most completely refurbished PC I have purchased. It looks new - the screen, the case, even the touchpad (which almost always shows signs of wear) look pristine. This is definitely the best laptop I've ever owned. Specs are exactly as advertised, right down to the DDR4 memory and a battery that only has 24 prior discharge/charge cycles, which is far better than most refurbished ones. Don't expect something to work out of the box. You have to spend some time to get it working. Think of wasted time as making up for the dollars saved buying a reconditioned car! (No, it's not because the restorer didn't do its job. Once everything is up and running, Windows just installs clean. The rest is up to you, just like a new computer.) - The first thing you do on any Windows -Your computer can do after you complete the guided setup (IF you are connected to a Wi-Fi or wired network), begin installing Windows updates. (You can check the progress by selecting "Check for updates" from the Start menu.) Until all updates are complete, the process will be slow. It can even restart seemingly randomly. Once you have decided that all updates are installed, reboot and check for updates until you see the "You are up to date" message. This can take quite a while on a slow network connection, so make sure to use a fast Wi-Fi or even connect an Ethernet cable until ALL the updates are complete. - While installing updates, check the specs to make sure they match what you purchased. guess not. The built-in Windows System Information app is a good place to start. There are many free applications for reporting disk, memory and battery. Check Google. If SOMETHING seems wrong, ask the seller about it. If you don't like an answer, return it! -Next, visit the manufacturer's support site and install any available driver updates (including BIOS!). I cannot stress enough the importance here. Many manufacturers have an app you can download to simplify this process (for HP it's HP Support Assistant). A NOTICE. If something stops working at this point (most likely function keys or bluetooth stopped working), don't google until you find a solution. Someone had the same problem before and the solution will probably be found. -After these steps you should have a fully working computer. Try it out and see if it really suits your needs. If not, please contact seller. If you are unhappy with an answer, send it back! A warning: the touchpad is textured. I can see that this bothers some people, but I like it. This makes it very easy to move the mouse exactly vertically, according to the lines of the texture. Hope this helps someone who is about to buy this or not. Thanks seller! ----------- UPDATE: After using this laptop for a few weeks I thought I should add an update. I would have liked a slightly better display. Colors wash out easily, especially at low levels. It's also worth noting that this model's processor isn't listed as compatible with the Windows 11 upgrade. Not critical for me, but worth mentioning.