HP 15-dy1731ms Laptop (15.6″, 10th Gen Intel Core i3, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD)

The HP 15-dy1731ms is going to be one of the best selling laptops this holiday season. That’s because it will be offered for only $299 during Microsoft Store’s Black Friday 2019 sales. It’s a great price for a notebook with the latest 10th Gen Intel Core i3 processor, 8GB of system memory, and fast solid state drive storage with a 128-Gigabyte capacity.

Besides its relatively cramped data storage space of 128GB, the main drawback of the 15-dy1731ms is its entry-level 15.6-inch screen. The panel provides the basic HD resolution, with less sharpness than on the now common Full HD 15.6″ laptop screens. Furthermore, the screen lacks wide viewing angles because it is based on TN technology instead of IPS.

Otherwise, the plastic-clad 15-dy1731ms at the $299 price point is a good deal. Primarily thanks to its great performance delivered by the 10th Gen Intel Core i3-1005G1 dual-core processor and 8GB of system memory (RAM). This combination together with fast SSD storage allows butter-smooth Windows experience even when you use multiple programs at the same time. Getting a laptop with a faster processor, such as the 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G1 and i7-1065G7 found in the similar but pricier HP 15-dy1751ms and 15-dy1771ms laptops, makes sense if you do a lot of heavy processing. For instance, video editing or audio production. For the usual daily home and office computing tasks the difference is negligible. An exception here is noticeably better gaming performance of the i7-1065G7 chip with Intel Iris Plus graphics in the 15-dy1771ms model, instead of Intel UHD graphics of the Core i3-1005G1 and i5-1035G1. But, none of them are gaming-class solutions. They are suitable only for light games or some heavier titles on the low graphics detail settings.

The 15-dy1731ms has an averagely capacious battery of 41 WHr. It should be good for up to about 5 hours of “normal” laptop use off the grid.