HP Pro 290 G9 Intel® Core™ i5 i5-13500 8 GB DDR4-SDRAM 256 GB SSD Windows 11 Pro SFF PC Black

Product Overview

AI-generated summary

For £607.39 ex-VAT, this HP Pro 290 G9 looks like a sensible “workhorse office box” rather than a deal-bargain. The i5-class CPU and SSD will feel snappy for day-to-day stuff (Office, email, web apps, light database/reporting, multiple browser tabs, etc.), and the desktop form factor is good if you’ve got a desk setup and want reliability over flash. Windows 11 Pro is the right choice for businesses that need sane management and updates rather than consumer-style limitations.

That said, 8GB of RAM is the main drawback for modern office use—especially if your teams run anything heavier (Teams + 20 tabs + a few business apps, browser-based systems, or virtualisation/light dev tools). If you can budget for an immediate RAM upgrade, or you know your users keep workloads modest, it becomes much more attractive. If not, you may end up paying “entry-level” prices now and “top-up” costs soon. Overall: I’d recommend it for straightforward office roles and shared-use desks, but I wouldn’t pick it for power users or anyone who expects it to stay comfortable for several years without upgrades.