HP 15-db0020nr Review

When it comes to budget computers, you can easily find a ton of them. But how good are they for the price you are paying? Are they truly a bang for the buck? We can’t talk for all the models out there but we’re going to take a look at one in this HP 15-db0020nr review.

The HP 15-db0020nr is a super budget laptop that comes with entry-level specs. This laptop is made with light users in mind. If you’re a school student with limited needs, a home user, or if you’re looking for a simple secondary device, then this laptop might be of interest to you. Let’s dive into the full review and see how good this laptop really is.

Design

Being a budget device under $300, you would expect an underwhelming design but fortunately, that is not the case. The HP 15-db0020nr comes in a nice matte coat of gray which looks pretty good. It has a nice feel on touch and you won’t be able to tell this is a budget device just by looking at it.

One thing HP has done well is keeping the laptop portable. The laptop around 4 pounds which makes it one of the most portable laptops out there in this size category. You can just slide this in your backpack and take it with you to school.

The keyboard here is a full keyboard complete with a dedicated number pad. The number pad can be super handy if you’re someone who works with numbers a lot. The typing experience is okay as the keys come with a bit of key travel. The keyboard does not have backlighting which is disappointing. This will prevent you from using the laptop in extremely dark conditions. The touchpad is decent but nothing special.

HP 15-db0020nr Specs

The HP 15-db0020nr comes with a 15.6″ display with an HD resolution. Now, we’re used to seeing displays with full HD and QHD resolutions. Is this resolution still relevant in 2019? For a budget device, Yes. The picture quality is decent and it can get bright enough to use it in a well-lit environment.

You can enjoy watching movies and series online without any issues. The display is a widescreen one so you can use two windows side by side. If you’re a multitasker, you’ll enjoy this feature as well. The audio output of the laptop can fill a small room. At full volume, you’re not going to hear the sound at its best quality. So if you can afford, you should get a decent speaker for better sound.

The HP 15-db0020nr comes with an AMD A6 9225 processor. This is a dual-core processor that comes with a base clock speed of 2.6GHz. With the help of turbo, you can reach a maximum clock speed of 3.0GHz which is nice.

This is an entry-level processor and that’s how well it performs. The laptop is good for simple everyday activities like browsing the web, enjoying media, playing some light games, and doing some occasional office work. If you’re planning to do anything intense, then this is not the laptop for you.

We have 4 gigs of RAM in the memory section. This is not a lot of memory for a laptop in 2019, but we certainly can’t underestimate this as well. You can still do a lot of multitasking with this memory without bringing the performance of the device. One caveat here is that the memory is not upgradeable. So if you choose to go with this laptop, you’ll be stuck with these 4 gigs forever.

Storage, Battery Life, and More

The HP 15-db0020nr model comes with a 1TB hard drive for storage. This hard drive is a spacious one and gives you all the storage you need for your movies, photos, docs, and other valued data. At this price point, we don’t think it is fair to think of more storage space.

But this is the age of SSDs, and this one here is a 5400RPM hard drive. It is a very slow hard drive and you can feel that when you’re using the device. The operating system takes a while to boot up and the same is true for a lot of applications as well. Sadly, there is nothing you can do for a budget device without rising the costs substantially.

The laptop does not come with a discrete graphics card. We only have an integrated graphics card and with that, you might be able to do some light gaming at best.

The battery life is one of the best areas of the HP 15-db0020nr laptop. With very light usage, the laptop can last for about 9 hours which is fantastic. Also, this means you’ll get a pretty good standby time as well. With a bit of mixed usage, the laptop should last for about 5 hours which is still a good battery life in our eyes.

The HP 15-db0020nr comes with a quite of a number of ports for connectivity. You get a couple of USB 2.0 ports, a USB Type-A 3.1 port, an HDMI 1.4 port, an Ethernet port, a headphone jack, and an SD card reader. There is also a DVD writer here as well. If you still use CDs and DVDs, then you’ll find this handy.

Bottomline

The HP 15-db0020nr is an entry-level laptop that comes with a super-budget price. It can take care of your everyday computing needs as long as they are light and simple. You might even be able to pull off some light gaming as well. The excellent battery life is definitely an advantage. If you’re looking for a basic, simple laptop under $300, then this one is a good buy.