Should I return or upgrade by HP 15-bw055sa 15.6" Laptop?

[umarfooty]

So i got this new laptop for £300. Its specs are generally good so i thought it would be quite fast although it is not. It is sort of slow and laggy at times. Also, earlier today when i put my password in to unlock the laptop the laptop would show a black screen although this was fixed after turning it off and on. I was thinking maybe it is slow because of the 4GB RAM. So it is worth upgrading it or should i return it and get a new one?
Here is where i got it:
https/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/112615417594
Here are the specs:
Operating system Windows 10 (64-bit)
Processor - AMD A6-9220 APU- Dual-core- 2.5 GHz / 2.9 GHz (Turbo Boost)- 1 MB cache
RAM 4 GB DDR4
Storage 1 TB HDD, 5400 rpm
Touchscreen No
Screen size 15.6"
Screen type WLED
Resolution 1920 x 1080
Screen features WLED backlighting
Wireless 802.11 b/g/n
Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000)
Bluetooth Bluetooth 4.0
Video interface HDMI x 1
Audio interface 3.5 mm jack
Optical disc drive No
Memory card reader SD card reader
Speakers Stereo speakers
Camera HD webcam
Microphone Yes
Mouse / trackpad Multi-touch trackpad
Keyboard Full-size island-style keyboard with numeric keypad
Security features Kensington security lock slot
Battery type 4-cell Lithium-ion
Battery life Up to 11 hours
PSU 45 W

 

[GreyCatz]

I don't think there's an awful lot you can do with this HP. RAM is capped at 4GBs and the AMD CPU is designed for 'fuel efficiency' rather than all-out speed. Here's notebookcheck's verdict on this APU from October this year:
https/www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-A6-9220-SoC-Benchmarks-and-Specs.261412.0.html

I suppose you could use an SSD and get faster boot-up times and data transfer, but even the fastest SSD won't be able to improve on the rather sluggish APU and the modest RAM capacity. The HP isn't a bad machine - you do get what you pay for - and the 1080p screen is actually a rare sight in this price segment. It's just designed for very basic business tasks and meant to be sold by the hundreds to large corporations.

Your biggest problem really is that in this price range - £300 to £400 - it's not really going to change that much, unless you stumble across a bargain on Amazon UK or John Lewis or similar sites.

Sorry,
GreyCatz.

 

[jaguarskx]

If by "slow and laggy" you mean that it takes a bit of time for the laptop to boot up and programs to launch, then that would generally be due to the 5400RPM hard drive. Laptops with SSDs generally feel more responsive because of the much higher read and write speeds.

The A6-9220 APU is a rather weak APU. It is less powerful than 4th generation Intel Core i3 CPU. Quad core AMD A8 series APUs are generally about on par with 4th/5th gen Intel Core i3 CPU. Therefore, the weak APU can also be the cause for the laptop to feel sluggish because it would mean the APU needs more time to process program codes that have been executed (started).

The Radeon R4 (Stoney Ridge) graphics core is pretty weak as well. It is less powerful than the Intel HD 4000 found in 3rd generation Intel Core CPU series. On top of that, the laptop may only have one slot for RAM. I can't find any information whether or not the laptop 1 or 2 RAM slots. When it comes to integrated graphics performance you want to have two RAM sticks installed so that the RAM will operate in dual channel mode rather than single channel mode. Single channel mode means the RAM operates at half speed. For everyday use you would not notice the difference. But for games that can mean anywhere between a 10% to 20% decrease in performance (depending on the specific game) compared to the RAM operating in dual channel mode.

 

[mannbarry2]

I bought one of these, new for use as a Torrentbox in my cupboard. It is terrible. They shipped it with MacAfee which slowed it down, even more, I cannot even sell it on eBay so I have been forced to upgrade it. It needs a new CPU but i can't find any information aboyt what to upgrade it with. SSD would help, but it really needs a new processor. It cannot even handle light chrome browsing! Its a HP 15-bw068.

 

[DSzymborski]

No, it's soldered on. I'd download the drivers and do a fresh install; it should be able to handle browsing, so something else is going on. But start your own thread about your issue, don't glom onto someone else's solved thread from six months ago.